Earlier this week we saw Samsung unveil its newest Android-powered tablet, the Galaxy Tab 7.7, to event-goers at IFA in Berlin. If you were to go back to Samsung's booth today to check the device out, though, you'd find that all mentions of the Tab 7.7 as well as the device itself have vanished. Why the disappearing act? Many feel that it has to do with Apple's injunction against the Tab 10.1 in Germany.
Originally the Tab 7.7 appeared at IFA with a "NOT FOR SALE IN GERMANY" label, which was likely Samsung's attempt to get around the Apple injunction. Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents suggests that either Apple got a new injunction against the Tab 7.7 or that it may have asked the Düsseldorf court to hit Samsung with a fine for breaking the existing injunction, since it likely feels that the Tab 7.7 is similar to the Tab 10.1. German site AndroidPit.de asked a Samsung representative about the disappearance and was told that the Galaxy Note was chosen to be the company's highlight product at IFA, so it simply replaced all of the Tab 7.7s with Galaxy Notes since the Tab 7.7 wouldn't be going up for sale in Germany anyway. When asked if the move involved Apple in some way, the Samsung rep said that it couldn't comment on the legal proceedings.
It's kind of a bummer for both Samsung and IFA attendees that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been erased from existence from the trade show, especially since the device has garnered quite a bit of attention for its Super AMOLED Plus display and simply for being a new 7-inch Honeycomb tablet. The Tab 7.7's disappearance is just the latest happening in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung that originated back in April when Apple sued Samsung over several of its Galaxy phones and tablets.
UPDATE: Bloomberg is reporting that Apple won a new injunction against the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany on September 2nd. A Samsung spokesperson says that the company "respects the court’s decision," although it also feels that the move "severely limits consumer choice in Germany."
