July 20, 2011 (AFP) – South Korea’s Samsung Electronics launched a new version of its Galaxy Tab in its home market Wednesday in a bid to lure consumers away from Apple’s iPad.

Samsung, the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, also said it would in August launch an updated version of its Galaxy S smartphone in the US market, which is dominated by Apple’s iPhone.

The company has already released its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in five overseas countries including the United States.

The tab, powered by Android’s Honeycomb 3.1 developed for tablet PCs, features a 10.1-inch (25.6 cm) touchscreen display rather than the seven-inch display for the previous model.

It is the world’s thinnest tablet, measuring 8.6 millimetres, Samsung said. The price will start at 671,000 won ($634) in the home market.

Samsung said the seven-inch tab was optimised for portability, while the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was best suited for multimedia consumption and web browsing.

“It is very thin… and weighs just as much as a cup of takeout coffee,” the company said in a statement.