Finally! We've got some informations about Samsung's fusion of a smartphone and a tablet. The picture above shows you the brand-new 5.3 inch monster - called the Galaxy Note. With a screen of this size, at the moment it's the only device worldwide blurring the lines between tablet and smartphone. The only clue we have, that it is indeed supposed to be more like a smartphone, is its software. It's running Android Gingerbread - the smartphone version of the OS - and not Honeycomb.
To say something about the specs, it sports Samsung's self made dual-core processor with 1.4 GHz - the same one you'll find in the just-announced
Galaxy Tab 7.7 we reported about. Further on it got a 8MP rear and a 2MP front camera and a 2,500mAh battery.
The Super AMOLED display packs a resolution of 800x480 1280x800 pixels. Seriously, Samsung? WVGA again? At least with this device, we would certainly have expected at least qHD (960x540). 800x480 pixels may not sound too bad for you, but have in mind that this is a high-end device, most certainly going to have a high-end price, too. As for the pixel density it gets to 285 PPI (pixels per inch). Let's compare this value to some other smartphones:
- Samsung Galaxy Note: 285 PPI
- Motorola Atrix: 275 PPI
- HTC Sensation: 256 PPI
- Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc: 233 PPI
- LG Optimus Speed: 233 PPI
- Samsung Galaxy S: 233 PPI
- Samsung Galaxy S II: 216 PPI
- HTC HD2: 216 PPI
- Nokia N8: 209 PPI
- HTC Wildfire S: 180 PPI
Samsung Galaxy Note: 176 PPI- HTC Wildfire: 125 PPI
As you can see, the Note sports the highest pixel density available right now. And if that combined with Super AMOLED isn't convincing, what is?
As you can see, the Note has even a lower pixel density than the Wildfire S - a low-budget and much older smartphone. That doesn't mean, you can't look on the screen without to get eye cancer. But - as mentioned already - it's a high-end device and the customers want a high-end screen.
Done with the screen, let's come to one very special feature: a built-in stylus called the "S Pen". It's gonna work similar to the stylus we know from the HTC Flyer and TouchWiz is going to be optimized for it. There will be a native calender, a to-do list, a note-taking app called "S Memo" and much more to come because Samsung will definitely release the SDK to third-party developers.
And all this comes at thin 9.65mm (0.38 inches) and only 178 grams (6.3 ounces). Unfortunately, there is no statement about pricing or the release date, yet.
To sum up, it's a very very interesting device, merging together smartphones and tablets. The specs are overall really good. The only bad point, as mentioned already: the pixel density. But if that won't be as annoying as we unfortunately believe it will, Especially the high pixel density impresses us and this could really become the device for everyone who wants a bigger smartphone and a smaller tablet. Stay tuned and enjoy the pictures below.
click to enlarge each picture
