Samsung’s latest tablet will be making its American debut sooner rather than later, if the Federal Communications Commission can be believed. The FCC got their hands on the new 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 just days after its official announcement, declaring the WiFi-only version fit for surfing American wireless waves. While an FCC filing isn’t always an automatic precursor to US sales, Samsung’s been pretty universal with their myriad Galaxy Tab models, so finding a Galaxy Tab 2 at a retailer near you in the two or three months is a safe bet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 is the second major revision to the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab, which launched almost 18 months ago. The Tab 2 has a lot in common with the newer Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, with the notable addition of Android 4.0. The Galaxy Tab 2 will be the first Samsung product to launch with Ice Cream Sandwich (aside from the Galaxy Nexus) and will bring along the tablet version of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface on top of ICS. The hardware retains the 7-inch 1024×600 LCD, and pairs it with a 1Ghz dual-core processor, 3 megapixel rear camera and 8, 16 or 32GB of internal storage.

Given the pricing announced in Europe, you can expect the Galaxy Tab 2 to fall into the $350-400 range for the WiFi model in the US. As some of you have pointed out, that’s a long way from budget-friendly (especially considering upcoming models like the $250 Asus MeMO 370T) but in Samsung’s current lineup it’d be at the bottom of the barrel. Samsung tends to put a premium on its tablet hardware even while its competitors strive for lower and lower prices. If mobile broadband versions are debuted as well, expect them to carry an even higher price tag.

[via Engadget]