Samsung on Wednesday unveiled the 10.1 Galaxy Note tablet aiming to knock Apple's iPad off its market throne.

Key feature of the GALAXY Note 10.1 is its sophisticated "S Pen" that can be used as if it were a pen on paper or a computer mouse.

Samsung built technology from Japan-based Wacom into the tablet screen to create a layer that can sense "S Pens" so precisely it can tell how hard they are being pressed or even if they are hovering, slightly out of touch.

The tablet also knows to ignore pressure from the palm of someone using an S Pen, freeing users to write or draw naturally.

Note 10.1 software can convert handwriting to text or crudely drawn objects to crisp geometric figures, and even correct written scientific or mathematical formulas, according to Samsung.

Adobe's premium creative application, Photoshop Touch is also preloaded and optimized for Samsung's S Pen.

The device also introduces a new Multiscreen feature, which allows users to actually operate two different apps side-by-side, simultaneously, on the same screen.

Apps supported for Multiscreen are S Note, Internet Browser, Video Player, Email, Gallery and Polaris Office.

The GALAXY Note 10.1 also offers the Pop up Play feature first introduced on the GALAXY S III Smartphone. With it, users can play back videos in a floating window that can be overlaid anywhere on the screen, providing a "picture in picture" experience. New for the GALAXY Note 10.1 is the ability to adjust the size of the video window.

In addition, GALAXY Note 10.1 offers a mini-apps tray that can launch a selection of mini-apps on top of others apps and freely moves around the screen. These include Alarm, S Note, Music Player, Email, Calculator, World Clock.

To allow collaboration with others, the GALAXY Note 10.1 offers a free two-year subscription to Dropbox, giving users 50 GB of storage space ? a $100 value.

Samsung Smart Remote, powered by Peel, utilizes the built-in IR emitter in the GALAXY Note 10.1 to transform the device into a universal remote control that can control an entire home entertainment system and even recommend programs.

Finally, Polaris Office lets provides robust word processing, spreadsheet and presentation capabilities, while S Pen support makes it a snap to mark up and annotate documents.

The device is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of internal RAM. It also includes a 5-megapixel main camera and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.



The tablet also carries over several features first introduced with the GALAXY S III smartphone. ShareShot which makes it a snap to automatically share photos in real time between the GALAXY Note 10.1 and the GALAXY S III.

Smart Stay, first introduced with the GALAXY S III, uses the camera in the GALAXY Note 10.1 to prevent the device from going into standby mode while it detects a user in front of the device.

Finally, with AllShare Play, users can share content with a large group in real-time by connecting GALAXY Note 10.1 to Samsung HD TVs, phones, mobile tablets, laptops, and other consumer electronic devices on the same network. With Group Cast, users can also share and collaborate on documents, presentations, or images in real time, without loading the files separately.

GALAXY Note 10.1 will be available beginning Aug 16th at Best Buy, Amazon, Tiger Direct, HH Gregg, CDW, BrandSmart, Conn's and Fry's.

The tablets are Wi-Fi enabled to connect with the Internet at hotspots and will be available in the United States on Wednesday at prices of $500 for a 16-gigabyte model and $550 for a 32-gigabyte model, according to Samsung.

The launch of the Note 10.1 will be accompanied by a massive promotional campaign.