Can a bold tablet-smartphone merger pay off?
Posted 09.01.2011 at 4:00 am
27 Comments
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Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung
Taking a unique approach to device convergence, Samsung has chosen not to incorporate a phone into a tablet, or even a phone that clips into a computer. The Korean electronics company today announced a device that guides the smartphone and tablet together, meeting in the middle. The 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note may at first glance appear to be a bloated Galaxy smartphone, but with the inclusion of a stylus and a totally new type of screen, Samsung claims the Note will take its place as the only device you'll ever need.
Running on Android Gingerbread 2.3, the latest iteration of Google's smartphone OS, the 6.3-ounce Note (comparison: the iPad 2 is 21.28 ounces, the iPhone 4 is 4.8 ounces) tilts more towards its cellphone brethren than its Galaxy Tab cousins--at least the newer, better Galaxy Tabs, which run Android Honeycomb. Granted, the device essentially has to run Gingerbread (designed for phones) over Honeycomb (designed for tablets), given the fact that Honeycomb doesn't have a native phone app. But beyond that, Samsung has taken pains to give the Note the multi-pane feel of a larger-screen tablet. Within its upgraded version of TouchWix UX--TouchWiz is Samsung's custom-made Android skin--users can split the screen into multiple panes from different apps, including the native TouchWiz IM, email and music apps. That means you can actually view, though not interact with, multiple apps at once--a tablet-like ability, and a unique one at that. Still, an eight-megapixel rear-facing and two-megapixel front-facing camera also smack significantly of a top-tier handset.
But what does the most to set the Note apart from being just an overblown smartphone is its stylus input. (We've seen styli before, even one we quite liked, but it never feels quite natural--perhaps it'll feel better on the Note, since it's been designed from the ground up for stylus use.) The approximately five-inch-long pen slips neatly into the posterior of the handset. While the 5.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen is by nature a touch-sensitive touch panel, once the stylus nears the screen, it triggers a magnetic current that switches the screen to a resistive panel. That switch allows the Note's stylus-based input to respond not only to touch, but pressure. None of Samsung's launch apps wil respond to such pressure, but the company says that third-party developers are already working with the stylus SDK to code pressure-responsive doodle and note-taking apps. Like a return to the Palm Pilot days of yore (note: RIP Palm/WebOS), the Note translates scrawled notes to editable text, it captures doodles, and it allows you to annotate and embellish existing files. It's also a quicker and easier way to cut and paste text and images on-screen. There's a concern with resistive screens that the layer of film required for resistive input can impair the clarity of the screen--it remains to be seen if that's true for this screen in particular.
A bigger question, though, is if a half-tablet can succeed as a phone, and if a half-phone can succeed as a tablet. Holding the nearly six-inch slab up to my smallish face was, to say the least, odd-feeling. The microphone landed well below my chin, in a place sure to be muffled and obstructed by even the least-animated of conversations. For those with smaller pockets, the phablet (tablone?) may not be pocketable at all, which could be a deal-breaker for some.
On the more tablet-centric side, the Note is equipped with a 1.4-gigahertz dual-core processor and compatibility with both LTE and HSPA+ networks, meaning it could land on Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile. We all know what that means: plenty of power and bandwidth to stream high-def web video -- that is, should Netflix ever roll out to the entire Android community (ahem, ahem). And the screen, while it's not exactly as substantive as the much-lauded 10.1 Galaxy Tab, nor the also-just-announced 7.7-incher, is just enough of a step up from a Galaxy smartphone to make a noticeable difference in the viewing experience.
There's currently no word on which U.S. carrier will release the Note, so naturally there's also nary a clue as to how much it will cost. An educated guess would land a device like this somewhere around the $500 range; but again, that's just one gal's guess. We'll keep you updated on the Note as we learn more.
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Santa, I like this phone and the Sony 3D video helmet, a stay at the space hotel, a clear mouse to play with and.....
I ate all the clear mice, the space hotel was shut down because of clear rats, the phone gives you cancer when paired with the helmet, and also Santa is not real.
I'm amazed at how often you're on this website BubbaGump I just made an account only to say that. :S
@Freh, Does noting me and counting get you a prize? Do you believe negativity will bring you good results? God bless you and have a great day!
No physical keyboard--no thanks!
Galileo Galilei by the great scope of all his achievements influence change in people’s minds. He convinces the world the sun was the center of our solar system and not the earth.
Of course in standing up for his own ideas he faces lots of opposition, threats and punishment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei
But imagine some other smart people before him, who may have had the same idea before Galileo, but was smack in the head for having a different idea. "Obviously the earth must be at the center of the solar system, don't you believe in GOD; what you still think the earth is not at the center of the solar system, somebody burn him or get rope. This man is evil."
People can just show up and whine, but be shy to put their own opinions and see how the world responds. Don’t be a coward.
Your anonymous, say what you believe and think!
Oh and be nice!
I believe in Santa Claus!
@BubbaGump
I don't know why people hate on you so much. I really like reading your comments. Keep it up :)
As for the article, I always get a funny feeling when I read about these gadgets. Granted, the technology hasn't been available until recently to make such a small, stylish, functional package. But it's like it wasn't until Apple released their phone, and then tablet that people started "needing" these things. It feels like the demand is all based on marketing, and not an actual need. Or something.
I do love gadgets though. And if I had an extra pile of money I'd buy one for sure. So whatever. Maybe it's just that they seem more functional on Star Trek. I guess all the civilians you don't see on the show have this stuff too. But humans in the 24th century aren't really depicted as people who perform trivial tasks. Maybe they are all playing games and posting various updates. Only time will tell I suppose.
@everyone
Santa is a commie
@Delko
So that's why he wears that red suit?
@kook916
That is correct sir! Finally someone else sees the LIGHT!!
When I was in college, in a criminology class, the teacher mentioned how Manson said he'd volunteered to go around to schools giving lectures/talks. He wasn't allowed of course, and a bunch of people in my class were appalled at the thought for some reason. But how interesting would that be?
@ Emmahenrygus
i think that would of been awesome if you were in that field to hear the words from someone like that....how better to get in the mind of someone so litteraly sick and twisted by todays society standards. I can't believe he was denied or it was not some how approved....but that is the problem with today's society things that would ACTUALLY benefity we refused to do.
For sure. He's just sitting in a cell costing money. Put him to work. Give his life some purpose. People need to get over their egos big time.
P.S. I had to go back to the top of the page to see what this article was actually about. Pretty funny.
if you encourage bubbagump she will grow more fat and retarded!
when she reaches maximum ingested painkiller buildup her liver will enter the initiative DEATH PHASE causing retardedness and blatant idiocy to reign supreme over earth for a thousand years!
YOU FOOL YOU ARE KILLING US ALL!!!
@bjorn, I have turned a new leaf, I am going to be a more kinder, gentler person in life. In fact, you truly know nothing about me, point of fact. I wish to thank you for all the nice and wonderful things you say to me. Bu-bye.
I have just spent $600 or more on a computer phone. Now I get spam and junk mail every where I go and as I browse my favorite internet website PoPSCi, I can not get rid of this stupid blogger "BubbaGump"... now he's everywhere, how annoying. Dang it! I just dropped my $600 phone in the toilet.... stupid expensive technology!
I am sure happy, I bought my $38 Motorola Cell phone off ebay. Ye-haw!
ah christmas...my favorite pagan holiday. celebrating carnage and lawlessness. so funny how most ppl believe its christian. btw santas suit is red because thats how coca cola made it.
Neat little triva; correct me if I am wrong, but, Enoch and his calendar suggest that our Dear Lord Jesus was born in April.....
But, no worries, we should all be thankful all days!!!
@BubbaGump you do realize your nothing but a f$$$ing troll (I know you know this because dozens of other users have pointed it out to you 2 JUST in this article).
I know you think you are cute, or being cute, and people want to read every single little thought that comes out of your brain, but we dont and guess what. your not nearly as clever as you think you are.
I wish the mods would do something about you.
I didn't know this website is called
BubbaGump's Popsci
out of 1000 users (estimated) you have 10% of ALL comments . you don't think thats a little over kill. branch out a little would you? there is more than one website out there.
most people post a comment a move on. you have to reply to EVERY single comment that you and someone else put then comment 3 more times on it. go back an look. some article you have 30% of EVERY comment posted. honestly you don't think thats a bit much?
Hey popsci admin: I am not going to come here anymore (and I am sure I am not the only one) because you have some extremely annoying users that think they can dominate the message boards with every little thought they think is funny or clever.
actually his birthday was in the fall.
@beefymclovin, i appreciate your own opinion. Please provide a source of which others can search and verify a fact, thank you.
I have ever use a useful mobile SMS backup software to tranfer my SMS messages to computer for samsung and other Android mobile phone,you can free to get in:
http://www.recovery-iphone.com/godswmobile-sms-transfer.html
@Bubba
I don't know? Can I has a prize?
Sure why not.
Thanks! You too!
Merging a phone and a tablet isn't as novel as it seems. In circa 2000, I saw a hybrid phone/palm computer, whose model and maker I have forgotten. Advancements in technology aside, the only difference between the hybrid I saw and the Samsung gadget is that Samsung got the form factor right. The hybrid I saw had a 640- by 480-pixel VGA touchscreen, which had an aspect ration of 4:3. It was a couple of inches wide, with the speaker and mic above and below it. To fit the screen and to keep the height around that of a tallish phone so it lined up with the ear and mouth, the result was an unwieldy square that was far too wide to hold in one's hand as a phone. I believe one held it by pinching a side for phone use.
nice idea but it still too big to be a phone
@ bjorn
you are awesome
@ bubbagump
i f*cking hate your guts and i wish you would shut the hell up!
We need an ignore-list feature.
Article itself, no mention of Asus Eee Pad MeMo? (Which is also in this size range and a tablet/phone with a stylus?) Blech.
@Dirk McBratney, Sir, My knee jerk reponse to having a ignore-list feater is I AGREE with you. But maybe to yours and my suprise, we both may find both of ourselves being ignored, lol. Be careful what you wish for.
I did a google search of Eee Pad MeMo and found this.
"....Bad news if you were holding out for ASUS’ 7-inch Eee Pad MeMO 3D tablet, with word that the glasses-free 3D slate has been delayed until 2012 at the earliest and may not, in fact, launch at all. Chris Davies, Aug 2nd 2011..."
Maybe it was not mention, because it kinda on the back burner currently. Second, I do not believe this article would ever mention it, because this article is about a SAMSUNG product and not a product of ASUS. Take care.