Samsung Electronics will soon release a super-fast but lower priced tablet in a new bid to defeat the market leading iPad.

The new iPad launched last month has been lauded for its significant improvements that included a spectacular Retina display, an A5X chip that has a quad-core graphics processor and 4G LTE capability.

But Samsung is setting the bar higher with the next generation Galaxy Tab in hopes of finally putting up an "iPad killer."

The new tablet, which was previewed at the Mobile World Congress in February, was originally slated for a March release, then pushed back the date to May 13. But reports this week suggest that Samsung is again delaying the release of its new 10.1-inch tablet in order to make further improvements to the new tablet.

Ubergizmo, citing an insider from Samsung Korea, the Korean electronics giant is temporarily halting production of the new tablet, originally set to have a dual-core CPU, so that a quad-core CPU can be installed inside instead.

The new tablet is now expected to have a super-fast processor, i.e. the Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core processor. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 in shelves today just has a 1 GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The iPad 3's A5X chip, while having a quad-core graphics processor, just has a dual-core 1 GHz CPU.

Prior delays have been attributed to Samsung's decision to have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich built-in to the device. Device-makers have been having problems upgrading existing Android devices to ICS or even installing the software to new devices. ICS is still in less than 3% of Android devices even though the software was launched together with the Galaxy Nexus in October last year.

Aside from the quad-core chip and the ICS software, the new tablet has a built-in universal remote control. The Smart Remote feature allows you to switch channels of your TV or Blu-ray player (doesn't have to be a Samsung set), and if you have a Samsung TV, you mirror what's playing on the TV to your tablet.

"One of the big cornerstones of the Galaxy Tab 2 is based on some research we have done with consumers that shows that the vast majority of them use the tablet on their couch, in front of their TV, and while they are watching TV," ABC News quotes Samsung's Travis Merrill as saying.

Samsung announced last week that that the entry level Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 will be priced at $400. The original Galaxy Tab was priced at $500 during launching, same as the iPad 3. The more than a year-old iPad 2 saw its price slashed to $399 following the new iPad's launching in March.

Here are the UPDATED features of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1:

* Design: Tablet has rounded corners and sports a titanium silver finish on it its backside. The device is slightly thinner than previous model and slightly heavier.

* Measurements: 6.9 inches Width x 10.1 inches Height x 0.34 inches Depth. The original Tab 10.1 retained the same screen dimension although it was thicker at 0.38 inches thick.

* Weight. The new Tab weighs 1.28 pounds. Original Tab weighs 1.25 pounds.

* Screen size: 10.1-inch display size, with 1,280 by 800-pixel resolution, capable of 1080p playback at 30 frames per second.

* CPU: Exynos 4412 quad-core processor.

* Storage: 16 GB flash memory plus microSD card. The original Galaxy Tab had 16/32/64 GB flash memory variants.

* Rear camera: 3 mexapixel.

* Front camera: VGA camera (640 by 480) for video calling. The original Gab had a 2 mp fronth camera.

* Connectivity: GPS, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0

* Platform: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

* Unique Features: Smart Remote (infrared port for controlling TV), Samsung Media Hub (buying music and videos), AllShare integration (for media-sharing), and 50 GB of free storage from Dropbox.

* Price: $399.99

To contact the author, e-mail: c.fernandez@ibtimes.com.au