The Return of the Stylus
The Samsung Galaxy Note is 5.3 inch phablet with a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels – which is what people are calling oversized phones that can function as smallish tablets. This is much the same size screen I had when I used a Motorola Envoy but at 2x+ the resolution (480 x 320 pixels). The Motorola Envoy ran the MagicCap operating system and was quite frankly was my all time favorite mobile device. I know, I know this dates me but it irks me that I still don’t have a device as good as the device I used back in the early 90s. The Galaxy Tab is the closest thing I’ve seen to device nirvana.
Right now I am experimenting with using the Galaxy Note as a replacement for a notepad in meetings and for business-type tablet activities, especially accessing sites and applications I rely upon on a day-to-day basis to run Open Marketing and to handle my client’s business. For my phone, I currently use an iPhone and am having some trouble getting accustomed to Android.
Here’s what I like about the Samsung Galaxy Note
Beautiful large, crisp display
Incredible battery life
Stylus bay – meaning you can tuck the stylus away into the device neatly
Ability to write notes in “ink” – as back in my MagicCap days … I don’t particularly need handwriting recognition
Addressable file system – meaning I can send documents back and forth to the file system and figure out where stuff goes
Wicked fast
Great integration with Google
Tethering
What I don’t like
Or at least am having trouble getting used to
Android. I know, I know. That’s supposed to be the point. Normally, I move from one operating system to another quite fluidly but Android and iOS are similar enough yet different that I am having problems. The biggest issue is that Android applications all work differently. Plus the myriad of home screen options / launchers is very confusing … at least to me.
Integration with Microsoft Active Exchange is awkward
Samsung has sold 1M of these puppies since the product launched in September 2011 which is a large number in a relatively short time. I purchased mine through Amazon as an unlocked phone and then went down to my local smoke shop (really) and bought a SIM card from Simple Wireless ($40/month no contract). My experiments with the phone suggest that without a SIM card, you cannot change the language from the default German to English and get the language changes to stick … but on this I may be wrong.
Will I move off my iPhone and onto the Galaxy Note as my main phone. I don’t know yet. Right now I’m going to use both phones, one as a phone (my iPhone) and one as a tablet (the Galaxy Note) and see how I feel. I’m traveling to Europe shortly and will pick up a screen charger at that point. For those of you on AT&T, the Galaxy Note is expected to come to AT&T sometime in the first half of 2012. I moved off of AT&T to Verizon in April 2011 so there’s more involved here than a simple switch of one phone to another. I’d also have to change carriers yet again.
Relevant Links
Solid reviews of the device are here from TechRadar in the UK and video review here from Slashgear
Article from Tech Crunch on sales velocity and the formation of a new category