By Claire Reilly

Apple lost a final High Court appeal to block the sale of its iPad 2 rival, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, on Friday. Shortly after the judgement was handed down, Samsung issued a statement announcing it would be launching the “long-awaited” Galaxy Tab 10.1 to the Australian market.

“As the High Court has today rejected Apple’s leave to appeal, Samsung Electronics Australia is pleased to announce the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available in stores in time for the Christmas shopping period.

“Samsung Electronics Australia is pleased with today’s judgment by the High Court of Australia to deny Apple’s request to appeal the decision of the Full Court.

“The Full Court of Australia decision on November 30 clearly affirmed our view that Apple’s claims lack merit and that an injunction should not have been imposed on the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The tablet will be sold at retailers including Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Myer, Bing Lee and Office Works for RRP $579 (16GB Wi-Fi only) and RRP $729 (16GB 3G model). Most importantly, the tablet will be available to consumers during the busy Christmas sales period – the sticking point that could have proven to be a deal-breaker for Samsung if the legal action with Apple continued any longer.

“Much anticipated by Australian consumers, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is testament to Samsung’s dedication to innovation in designing a premium tablet which accommodates the unique needs of consumers today, from entertaining, e-learning or business through its powerful multi-tasking and web-browsing experience,” said Samsung Electronics Australia vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee.

“With content exclusive to our device, we believe the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a new class of product that will lead the tablet market.”

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Named for its 10.1-inch display, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor and runs on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb Operating System. It features a 3 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash; a 2 megapixel front-facing camera; 1080p video playback; Wi-Fi, USB 2.0 and Bluetooth connectivity; and Adobe Flash Player support.

Both the 16GB and 64Gb models feature Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz user interface which is designed to offer “superior multi-tasking and enhanced user interaction and navigation,” and also features a Live Panel menu that displays content (such as pictures, websites and social network feeds) on the home screen.

Galaxy Tab users will be able to access magazine content on the Tab – thanks to a partnership with ACP magazines – as well as over 2,000 newspapers from 95 countries through the PressReader app, which will be available for free download from December 16.

The device will also come pre-loaded with content from ABC Reading Eggs, an educational platform designed for children that focuses on tactile learning, and can be used to stream music with Samsung Music Hub.

Keen to get the device out to consumers and under Christmas trees across the country, Vodafone has already begun presales for the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The device, which the telco claims is “available first from Vodafone” is being sold starting at $15 per month for a plan, or $24 per month for the tablet only (over 24 months).

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been promoted with the Whitlam-esque slogan "It's Time to Tab".