Bluetooth SIG: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 on it’s Way to Europe

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 has now been approved by the Bluetooth SIG and is on its way to European users. In addition to this leaked Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, Samsung had this morning announced a Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 tablet with a 7-inch display that may be the range’s entry-level slate.

According to documentation made available by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the Wi-Fi only version of the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, whose model number is SM-T311 is destined for European users. In the filing, a field for “Geographic Availability” lists only Europe.

It isn’t uncommon for a company to create specific versions of a device for different regions around the world since different countries sometimes have different standards for what frequencies and software can be sold to consumers in their country. Whether North American users will get the chance to purchase this variant of device is still up in the air.

According to sources who talked exclusively with TechBlog.GR in early April, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 will ship in two different screen sizes, 10.1 inches and 8 inches sometime this June or July. Its certification by the Bluetooth SIG would appear to confirm a release around that time frame.

Read: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Photos & Specs Allegedly Leaked

Recent leaks indicate that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0 will ship with the latest in Android tablet specifications including a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of Ram, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and a 3 megapixel rear-facing camera. In addition to support for Bluetooth 4.0, the device will also include the ability to connect to Wi-Fi networks using 802.11N. DLNA streaming support will allow users of the device to stream content wirelessly to their DLNA television or set-top box.

Given these leaked specs, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 won’t be as powerful a device as the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, which has a quad-core Exynos processor, 5-megapixel camera, and S-Pen functionality.

These leaks also indicated that models of both the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 would support 3G, HSPA+, or LTE 4G data networks. Each of these standards are supported by at least one of America’s mobile carriers, possibly indicating an American release, however since we’ve yet to encounter any information on the specific wireless bands that the devices support, there’s no way to be sure.

Read: iPad 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

The Samsung Galaxy Tab line is one of the many Android tablets attempting to wrestle both mindshare and market share away from Apple’s iPad. GottaBeMobile previously took a look at how the last generation of the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 stacked up against each other. In our final thoughts we concluded that a more powerful Galaxy Tab could compete well against the iPad.