The newly announced Galaxy Note combines a large touch screen phone with a Stylus.
This new device can be categorized as a giant phone or mini tablet.
Here are some quick specs to start,
- 5.3 inch 1280 x 800, 285 PPI screen
- HD super AMOLED display, first ever
- Android 2.3
- 4G LTE / HSPA+
- 1.4GHz Dual Core Processor
- 8MP back camera with flash, 2MP front
- 1080p video record and playback
- Bluetooth 3.0
- Multi touch + Advanced smart pen stylus
- Accelerometer
- Digital compass
- Barometer (helps lock GPS signal)
- 16GB internal memory with microSD slot
- 9.65 mm, .38 inch thin
These are very impressive specs already and the device seems very thin and light at only 178g. You can start by comparing this to the Galaxy S2, its basically a larger version with the added stylus.
Now the stylus option is not a ground breaking feature. Special pens have been available for any device including Android and Apple iOS. What’s interesting in this device is it ships with special apps designed to be used with it, it even has a button on the side that activates some features as yet to be seen.
So far what we can see from the promotional videos and demos at shows are the ability to highlight Excel files and images, add handwritten notes and drawings before emailing attachments. Also “Any screen can be instantly captured and annotated in detail. In addition, captured screens can be freely cropped in any shape or form using the precision S pen.”
This is already a great benefit for people who have trouble navigating a touch based screen due to nails and the added benefit of custom software is even better. Hopefully these apps are constantly improved and new ones added and not just introduced and then never updated. We all know what it’s like when a new product comes out, the hype is usually over by the time you pay for it. But hopefully this will encourage other developers to create more pen specific apps.
The recent announcement of Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich also included support for a stylus, so we may be seeing more devices like this. It’s unfortunate this device does not come with the new 4.0 software. But this has been the torn in Android’s side from the beginning. Devices coming out faster than updates can be applied.
We are happy that larger than the average smartphone devices are finding their way into consumer markets, which is great. We personally have enjoyed using the larger Samsung Tab 7 inch Android device. It is a great device to take with you for updating blogs, catching up on your RSS news feeds and then you can even take the occasional phone call with the built in speaker. It was more pocket able than an iPad, which is just too big sometimes to take. It now has a new Plus model coming out, but more on that in another post. You will most certainly get some stares when you hold a 7 inch device up and speak into it but that’s part of being cutting edge… I think. This device should be even easier to pocket but large enough to do some serious work, if the apps are indeed up to par.
We can’t help but remember the Apple Newton from the early nineties, like many others we thought it was way ahead of its time. This device could bring back the stylus that Microsoft and so many other companies have tried and failed to adopt in consumer or business markets.
Here are some videos from Samsung
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxjopfC1Gs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fhuyJIj5ZBo