The manual gadget

Samsung Electronics on Monday unveiled bigger successors to its popular Galaxy S smartphone and Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet computer at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Samsung unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S II, an update to Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The new smartphone and the tablet will run on Googles Android operating system, although Samsung indicated that it will stick to a multi operating-system approach.

Samsung makes phones that run on Android but also on its own operating system, called Bada, and on Microsofts Windows Phone 7.

"The Galaxy S II is a natural and powerful evolution of the Galaxy S. In 2011, we will take Samsungs leadership in speed, screen and content to a whole new level," Shin Jong-kyun, president of Samsungs mobile communications business, said.

The new devices would help the South Korean electronics titan maintain double-digit operating profit growth at its mobile division in 2011.

Samsung also said today that it will continue to gain share from competitors this year, outperforming the 9% to 10% shipment growth it predicts for the industry as a whole.

The Galaxy S II is a super slim smartphone with a 4.3-inches super Amoled screen, a dual-core chip and an 8 megapixel camera. The handset can also record and play back video in high definition.

Galaxy S, launched at last year’s event, managed to sell 10 million units in 2010.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 runs on the latest version of Android, called Honeycomb. The Tab 10.1 features surround-sound speakers, an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera.

Samsung launched its first tablet in the fall and sold more than 2 million units within three months.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will launch in Europe in early March with mobile operator Vodafone.

Samsung expects to ship around 60 million smartphones and tablets this year.