Looks like LG is back in the tablet game. After putting tablets on the backburner in mid-2012 in order to focus on its smartphones, LG today officially re-entered the tablet space with the G Pad 8.3. As its name suggests, the LG G Pad 8.3 sports an 8.3-inch display that sports a 1920x1200 resolution, a feature that the Life's Good crew hinted at in the G Pad 8.3 teaser that it released earlier this week.
Along with its display, LG is highlighting the G Pad 8.3's overall size as one of its biggest features. The device measures 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm and weighs in at 338g, which LG says allows for comfortable one-handed use.
Buried inside that 8.3mm-thick frame is a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, 4,600mAh battery, 16GB storage and 2GB RAM. A 5-megapixel rear and 1.3-megapixel front camera help to round out the G Pad 8.3's hardware feature set.
On the software side of things, LG is preloading its new tablet with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean as well as some of its own customizations. One special feature of the G Pad 8.3 is QPair, which will allow users to pair the device with another smartphone or tablet (including those from other manufacturers) and then receive calls and messages and also send replies using the G Pad 8.3. Also included with the G Pad 8.3 is Slide Aside, a multitasking feature that lets users slide running apps off to the side of their display using a three-finger swipe, and KnockON, which allows a user to wake the display by tapping on it twice.
LG plans to begin rolling out the G Pad 8.3 in both black and white in the fourth quarter of 2013. The new slate will launch in "key markets" around the globe, including North America, Europe and Asia.
It's been quite a while since we've seen an LG tablet on the market, especially in the U.S., which last played to host to an LG-branded slab back in early 2011 with the T-Mobile G-Slate. Now LG is back with the G Pad 8.3, and it'll be interesting to see if the knowledge that the company gained during its absence from the tablet space will help it to steal some market share away from existing players like Samsung, Apple and Asus. How do you think that the LG G Pad 8.3 will fare against competition like the new Nexus 7 and Apple's upcoming iPad mini refresh?
Via LG Newsroom
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