Samsung lengthens Note phone-cum-tablet to 10 inches
Pen is mightier than the finger
Samsung's pumped up Galaxy Note phone will be inflated to full tablet size this month as the Galaxy Note 10.1.
As the numeral suggests, this is a 10.1in device - the resolution is 1280 x 800 - and it comes running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on a 1.4GHz quad-core CPU. Storage: 16-64GB plus Micro SD.
Like the 5in Note, the 10in version comes with a stylus and a set of apps that can make use of it as something more than a thin finger-alternative. Or maybe it's a handy 'sidestep Cupertino lawyers' tool. Who can say?
Unlike the smaller Note, the Galaxy 10.1 comes in both cellular-enabled - HSPA 3G over here - and Wi-Fi only versions. It has dual-band 2.4/5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. The whole thing weighs upwards of 600g.
There's no official word yet on pricing. ®
COMMENTS
Why do they bother?
...it'll only get banned anyway.
If you photoshop the grey vertical (if you hold it landscape) lines away, and the Samsung logo on the front and the back, and present it portrait and add a 'square*' button and make it look just like an iPad then it looks just like an ipad to any jury that has been promised a free ipad after the 'right' verdict.
Round 4 (or is it 5, or 6?)
* I'm pretty sure I saw that on a Playstation controller before there were iPhones.
Cheeky Sony again, copying the gloriuos Apple design before it even gets out.
Shame on them.
This has its ups and downs
On the one hand, you'd probably feel pretty silly holding a full-sized tablet to your head to make a phone call. On the other, you now have a large plastic rectangle covering your face so nobody will know who you are.
3 cheers for Samsung!
The thing I still miss about my old Windows tablet PC is the pen.
St Steve said pens were horrible. And lo! He expelled them from the land, and everyone rejoiced because the interface of Windows Mobile was old and made them sore vexed. Except a man not called Spartacus, who grumped and moaned at the back, to general indifference. Saying that styli on phones may well be an abomination, but that they were Godly on tablets. And why didn't they ask Moses about it?
But the people shunned him, and drove him from the land with their derision. And lo! He bought an iPad anyway. And was forced into the outer darkness, to wail and gnash his teeth. And whine on internet forums...
So well done to Samsung.
Please Samsung, get Dom Joly to advertise this in the UK.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j6DpdJCf5dg/TZhXoZ6kYKI/AAAAAAAAD7w/-k8Wt74Hv8M/s1600/dom_joly_phone.jpg
The Note 10.1 was already held back
I think this is probably a case of Samsung getting it out the door after a delay to change out Tegra 2 chips for Tegra 3. I can't remember when this happened but it was much earlier in the year so with that delay and various sales bans they probably just want to get this out the door as quickly as possible to see some return.
With regards to Google and Android they have asked (?) manufacturers to support devices for at least 18 months with updates and such. Whether those manufacturers are timely is another issue entirely but the new initiative they're doing where partners are involved far sooner than when the code drops for all should see delays drop from the current 3 - 6 months or more we get stuck with.
I like Nexus devices for their pure Google experience but aside from the Nexus 7 they haven't exactly been leading the way in tech. terms and things like this tablet from Samsung are a welcome change.
