AT&T Says Galaxy Note Will Reduce Device Clutter
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012Is it a smartphone or a tablet? Or both?
Consumers will soon have a chance to find out with a hands-on look when Samsung’s Galaxy Note arrives in AT&T stores Feb. 19th.
The carrier is calling the Note, with its 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, “one of the most talked about devices announced” at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month. It sells for $299 with a two-year voice and data contract, and will run on AT&T’s new long-term evolution high-speed data network.
The Android 2.3-powered Note comes with a stylus-like Samsung S-Pen, something rarely seen since the waning days of the Palm Pilot. Unlike a traditional stylus, though, the S-Pen is electronic and contains a button used to enable some app functions. It can be used for drawings, notes, e-mails or text input from free-form handwriting.
‘Carry Less Stuff’
In a promotional video, AT&T points out that the S-Pen can be used to quickly jot down notes, and the device is intended to help consumers — who carry an average of 2.7 devices every day — reduce that load, since the Note has the “functionality of a smartphone, the larger view screen of a tablet [and] the convenience of a notepad.”
AT&T and Samsung clearly hope to create a new niche for consolidated devices. Although Apple’s iPhone and similar Android phones can be used as a reader or media viewer, smaller screen sizes limit their use for productivity.
“Try answering a phone call on your e-reader — not happening,” writes Dante Martin on AT&T’s Consumer Blog. “The Note’s hybrid nature allows you to do a lot of cool stuff that has traditionally required multiple devices….The S Memo app lets you compile your pictures, screen shots, voice recordings, typed text, handwritten notes or drawings — and turns them into a ‘memo’ that can easily…
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