To lure consumers away from Apple’s (News - Alert) iPad, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics has unveiled a new version of its Galaxy Tab for the home market. This announcement comes at a time when the South Korean consumer electronics giant is embroiled in a patent dispute with US iPad maker Apple.

Concurrently, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker also indicated that it was preparing to launch an updated version of its Galaxy S smartphone in the US market next month. The US market is dominated by Apple's iPhone (News - Alert).

Meanwhile, the South Korean manufacturer has already released its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in five countries including the United States. The Samsung’s latest tablet, powered by Android's (News - Alert) Honeycomb 3.1, features a 10.1-inch (25.6 cm) touchscreen display and measures only 8.6 mm thick. According to Samsung, it is the world's thinnest tablet. The pricing is expected to start at 671,000 won ($634) in the home market.

Samsung (News - Alert) said that the 7-inch tab was optimized for portability, while the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was best suited for multimedia applications and web browsing. "It is very thin and weighs just as much as a cup of takeout coffee," the company said in a statement.

In essence, the patent struggle between the two electronics giants started in April when Apple filed a lawsuit accusing Samsung of infringing iPhone and iPad patents. The South Korean firm responded with a counter claim in Seoul, Tokyo and Manheim, Germany, that Apple was in violation of several of its smartphone patents.

Last month, wrote Yahoo! New, the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPhone maker lodged a second lawsuit against Samsung with a district court in Seoul, asking for a sales ban on Samsung's latest products. While this month, according to Yahoo! News, the technology giant has further intensified the pressure on Samsung by asking the US International Trade Commission to block imports to the US of some of Samsung's smartphones and tablet computers.

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