Apple iPad Pro now available for purchase, ships within a day

  Owning up to its promise, Apple has started accepting orders for the iPad Pro in the US. The 12.9-inch tablet is now available for purchase both online through the company's website, as well as in Apple stores.

  Obviously the more eager among you will choose in-store pickup, meaning you can go ahead and grab one today, provided your local Apple store has it. Online orders will be shipped within a day and can be sent with next-day delivery (at an extra cost) so it will arrive at your doorstep on Friday. Free delivery means a long wait until Monday.

  You won't be able to have a fully equipped iPad Pro from day one, however, as the Pencil and Smart Keyboard won't ship for another week or two. The earliest you'll be able to get yours is November 19, but that may stretch as long as November 30.

  Prices are as initially announced - the iPad Pro itself starts at $799 for a 32GB Wi-Fi only model, upping the storage to 128GB results in a $949 price tag, while adding cellular connectivity means $1079. The Pencil is a hefty $99, while the Smart Keyboard is an even more eye-watering $169.

  Unfortunately for users on the other side of the pond, the iPad Pro cannot be ordered just yet. Throughout Europe Apple still lists the tablet as "Available November" with no further details.

  Update: European orders are now open as well, with next-day shipping and prices starting from €899/£679.

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Samsung Galaxy View fully detailed by online listing

  The market for kitchen tablets is expanding and after the Alcatel OneTouch Xess from a few months ago and the two-year-old Sony Tablet Z Kitchen edition, the Samsung Galaxy View is next in line. The 18.4-inch monster has been a regular at the rumor mill for a while, but has now been listed for pre-order at Adorama.

  The listing reveals key specs of the tablet, not that they were exactly a secret. The large display comes with FullHD resolution for a density of about 120ppi, hinting that it's not to be used at arms length. The Exynos 7580 SoC powers the Galaxy View, its processor clocked at up to 1.6GHz. Interestingly, the retailer calls the chip Carmen2, the first time we've seen that moniker.

  The specsheet goes on with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which can be expanded by popping in a microSD card up to 128GB. You get a 2.1MP front-facing camera with FullHD video recording, and thankfully you are denied the opportunity to use the View as a camera - there's no rear shooter.

  There's a full connectivity suite aboard the View, with quad-band 3G and Cat.6 LTE, and a Wi-Fi-only model may be available too. Either way, the entire WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac range of standards is supported. There's Bluetooth v4.1 and GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, though we're hard pressed to imagine a case where you'd use the 18.4-inch for in-car navigation.

  The battery inside the tablet has a rather modest 5,700mAh capacity, though Samsung promises 8.5 hours of video playback out of it. Not much detail is revealed on the kickstand, but by now we're expecting it to be a permanent fixture.

  What Samsung is trying to pitch as the missing link between your Galaxy tablet and your Samsung TV is yet to become official, but you can pre-order yours today for $599. Details on actual availability are yet to be revealed, though.

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First look Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 hands-on

Introduction

  Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 is the Korean giant's latest entry into the market for premium full-size tablets. Launched alongside a compact variant with 8" display, the ultra-thin newcomer is aimed squarely at Apple's iPad family in its segment.

  In a bid to attract the attention from current and prospective Apple iPad buyers, Samsung has made the Galaxy Tab S2 the thinnest and lightest slate in its class. With a 5.6mm waistline and 389 grams of weight, the Tab S2 is sleeker and lighter than the already impossibly thin Apple iPad Air 2.

  Of course, as expected from a flagship tablet by Samsung, the specs of the Galaxy Tab S2 aren't too shabby either. Take a quick look at what the tablet has to offer below.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 at a glance

• Display: 9.7" Super AMOLED unit with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels; 264ppi; 4:3 aspect ratio
• CPU: 1.9GHz quad-core Cortex-A57; 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A53
• GPU: Mali-T760
• Chipset: 20nm Exynos 5433 SoC with big.LITTLE architecture
• RAM: 3GB
• Memory: 32/64GB of built-in memory; microSD card slot
• Dimensions: 237.3 x 169 x 5.6 mm; 389 grams (Wi-Fi model); 392 grams (LTE variant)
• OS: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with TouchWiz UX
• Cameras: 8MP main camera with 1440p video capture @ 30 fps; 2.1MP front-facing unit
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1; microUSB v2.0 with MHL TV-out; GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS; optional 4G LTE network connectivity
• General: Built-in fingerprint sensor; dual speakers

  Displays with 4:3 aspect ratio have quickly become the norm in the Android tablet realm, so it is hardly a surprise that the Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 features one. Samsung first introduced a 4:3 screen on the budget-friendly Galaxy Tab A series of slates earlier this year.

  Samsung's own 20nm Exynos 5433 chipset/3GB of RAM combo found in the Tab S2, while not as capable is the beastly Exynos 7420 found in the Galaxy S6 family, is surely not a slouch. The SoC was featured in a variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

  With all that said, follow us on the next page for an unboxing of Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, followed by a closer look at its design and build quality.

Synthetic benchmarks

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 features a 64-bit Exynos 5433 SoC with 1.9GHz quad-core Cortex-A57 CPU and 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, coupled with 3GB of RAM. The GPU is Mali-T760.

  This particular chipset was featured a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 variant last year, so we know that it is no slouch. We put the tablet through the usual set of synthetic benchmarks. Take a look at its results below.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 24464
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.74275
• HTC Nexus 93470
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.93276
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.52881
• Nokia N12835
• Apple iPad mini 32486

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• HTC Nexus 960297
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.752170
• Nokia N146547

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 270.4
• HTC Nexus 960.2
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.953.1
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.736
• Nokia N129.7
• Apple iPad mini 328.2
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.125
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.522.5

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 252.2
• HTC Nexus 946.2
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.939.6
• Nokia N125.3
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.725
• Apple iPad mini 323
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.117
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.514

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 232.6
• HTC Nexus 931.5
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.927.3
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.714
• Apple iPad mini 313.1
• Nokia N113
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.18.1
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.55.6

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 224.7
• HTC Nexus 922.6
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.919.8
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.712
• Nokia N19.6
• Apple iPad mini 38.9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.14.7
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.52.9

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• HTC Nexus 93953
• Apple iPad Air 24054
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.74135
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.94647
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.54777
• Nokia N15154
• Apple iPad mini 35382

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• HTC Nexus 92588
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.71953
• Nokia N11693
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.51515
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9952

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 21937
• HTC Nexus 91890
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.91192
• Apple iPad mini 31099
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.71039
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5829

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air 229753
• HTC Nexus 928244
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.924456
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.717434
• Apple iPad mini 314781
• Nokia N112839
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.56875

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• 
  

• HTC Nexus 93777
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.73224
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.52394
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.91999

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• 
  

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.713708
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.98547
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.57493
• HTC Nexus 97187

  Overall, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 offers improved performance over last year's model, especially on the GPU side. However, it isn't as powerful as the 14nm Exynos 7420 found in the Samsung Galaxy S6 family and Galaxy Note.

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