Maybe they target for kids, rich families. Durable for kids to hold 

rumor said samsung working on it, don't think google will forgot cellular support.
just like Nexus 7 first come with Wifi only and now HSPA+ support model also available.

convince your wife, nothing to beat nexus 
vanilla UI, pure android experience are the best 
worth to wait.
yeah, same though. no matter how's the stock on screen or softkeys come with, nexus user always in Flash Flash    custom rom rules    ton of developers or largest community in Nexus devices. I'm sure any kind of customization/combination modify afterward 

not sure about Note 10.1 user, but all my friend who using Note phone never fully utilize the S-Pen, not practical for daily usage at all, according to them. Yes, some XDA folks have mentioned before, any device come with 2GB ram, are possible to make it multi task windows support. but I don't think so is ideally or perfect accuracy for S-Pen support, coz Note 10.1 hardware build is double digitizer screen.
refer comment above, beside hardware spec we looking for when purchase, as long as nexus line of device then no worries. any software modify/porting are possible as nexus always have largest community or ton of developers ready. unless consider non-nexus device, the software update/features are only important during purchase, waiting for OTA after sales are pain.

Google PLAY pricing is $399 for 16GB, Malaysia Samsung usually slightly higher than that. let's see how is the official pricing.

I'm buying one directly from states on 12th.. 32gb is the way to go man.. especially without expandable slots.. kinda tough to sync to cloud without 3g connections..

the thick bezel....is holding me back on buying this tablet