At the IFA in Berlin this morning – a big ol’ electronics and gadgets fair that showcases new products – Samsung officially launched the Galaxy Tab, their high profile tablet PC.

Actually, it’s difficult to say whether it’s a tablet or an oversized phone. It has a 7 inch screen, runs on Android 2.2 and is 3G capable, so it’s creating a curious sub-market inbetween large screen smartphones and iPad-sized tablets.

It’s available in two flavours – 16GB or 32GB, which is expandable by 32GB more. Connectivity allows for 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth, and the device also supports Adobe Flash Player 10.1. It also serves up front and rear-facing cameras – functionality that Apple should have included in the iPad from day one.

Vodafone (shudder) have already confirmed they will be European distributors for the Galaxy Tab from October – the only question now is price.

A 9.7 inch 3G iPad weights in at £529, a 5 inch Dell Streak is £449, but if Samsung attempts a price point between the two, it’s unlikely to establish the company as the market leader it clearly wants to be. Without Apple’s dominence in the market, the Dell Streak hasn’t managed any traction; if Samsung want to be first choice for tablets – and they’ve plans for plenty more products in the coming months – they probably need to be aiming for below £400, otherwise mainstream consumers are unlikely to look beyond their shiny iPads.