Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 resurfaces with quad core processor

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, the 10-inch tablet version of the company's popular Galaxy Note stylus-enabled smartphone, has popped up again online, this time sporting a quad core processor.

We'd previously seen the device debuting at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February, where it looked very similar to the 10-inch Galaxy Tab 2 which Samsung is also working on. Back then, the tablet had a 1.4GHz dual core Exynos processor and the rest of the spec wasn't exactly earth-shattering.

By mid-April rumours were circulating that the Galaxy Note 10.1's MWC unveil was ‘testing the waters' and that Samsung wanted to gauge public and critical reception before going full steam ahead with the project.

It was then suggested that the Galaxy Note had achieved the desired level of interest, but the design would be undergoing a bit of a revamp before being launched.

Fast-forward to now and we're looking at what appears to be a re-designed Galaxy Note 10.1, with pictures cropping up on the web following a German industry show.

The images reveal it now features a storage socket for the S-Pen stylus, something its smaller cousin shipped with and which was curiously missing from the MWC demo model.

The pen itself has also been slimmed down and is now seems to be as dinky as the one found on the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note phone.

Samsung has showcased an aftermarket kit that lets you slot the stylus inside it turn it into a more substantial pen. There are also pictures of an in-car tablet holder kit.

More importantly, the Galaxy Note 10.1's processor has been upgraded to a quad core Exynos, presumably the same 4212 model found in the Galaxy S3 smartphone. The new processor should mean it has no trouble running Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.

We found the Galaxy Note smartphone a bit sluggish in places despite its dual core Exynos setup, which we think may be down to the firmware that runs the pen functionality, but the two additional cores should mean this isn't an issue any longer.

The rest of the spec remains unchanged from the earlier reveal and includes a 1280x800 pixel resolution display, 1GB of RAM and a 3-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture.

We'll bring you more news as we hear it.