South Korean electronics giant Samsung on Thursday launched its new tablet the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, unveiled in the United States, Britain and South Korea. This is being seen as a direct fight with Apple.

Samsung is fighting a legal battle with Apple which has accused it of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone.

With a split-screen feature that allows users to have two apps active side-by-side, the Galaxy 10.1 is slightly larger than the 9.7-inch iPad.

According to an analyst at research firm Reticle "Launching a tablet with a new name gives Samsung a chance for a fresh start.

Samsung, however, has higher hopes for its Galaxy Note 10.1. Despite initial skepticism that the original Galaxy Note's 5.3-inch display was too big, the device has surpassed expectations, with the company quick to claim a hit product, CNET said.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1:

Price: $499 for 16 gigabytes of storage, $549 for 32 gigabytes.

Screen size: 10.1 inches diagonally.

Screen resolution: 1280 by 800 pixels.

Weight: 1.3 pounds.

Cameras: low-resolution front camera, 5-megapixel back.