July 9-10, 2013
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Samsung just can’t get enough of styluses.

After its disappointing Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, Samsung is trying again with the Galaxy Note 8.0, a smaller stylus-equipped tablet with a completely new design.

The new tablet aims to bring the best of the recently released Galaxy Note II smartphone and the previous Note 10.1 into a single device. At first glance, the tablet’s design seems free of the gaudiness from the Note 10.1, with a minimalist style that’s been noticeably absent from Samsung’s devices so far. It’s poised to be a direct competitor to the iPad Mini (though Samsung is quick to point out it originated the small tablet market with its first 7-inch Galaxy Tab slate).

The Galaxy Note 8.0 is powered by a 1.6 gigahertz quad-core processor, 2 gigabytes of RAM, and Android 4.1.2 “Jelly Bean.” It features the same S Pen stylus technology as the Galaxy Note II, and an 8-inch screen with a 12800 by 800 pixel display.

It’s worth paying close attention to the Note 8.0′s refined style — the most recent Galaxy S IV rumor points out that Samsung’s next flagship phone may share some its design elements. The Galaxy S IV is also expected to debut at a March 14 event in New York City.

Judging from the pictures of the Note 8.0, it looks like Samsung is still sticking with plastic cases, instead of introducing more metal into the design. That’s a shame, as I’ve found that solid metal cases, like the iPhone 5′s and HTC’s most recent lineup, tend to feel much better than plastic.

The Note 8.0 comes equipped with an improved version of Chat-On, Samsung’s multimedia messaging client, and Awesome Note, a new note-taking app. It also supports Samsung’s multitasking Dual View feature, which lets you run two videos at once, and there’s a new Reading Mode, which lowers the brightness and makes the Note 8.0 more comfortable for reading e-books.

July 9-10, 2013
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You may think Samsung is crazy for bringing back the stylus in the touchscreen smartphone age, but the surprisingly strong sales of its Galaxy Note smartphone line don’t lie.

Now Samsung is committing itself even more to the stylus market by purchasing 5 percent of Wacom for $58.2 million, the company announced this morning. Wacom is famous for its pressure-sensitive stylus technology, and it’s also provided the stylus tech in Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones and tablets.

While it’s not a huge investment for Samsung, it’s a clear sign the company doesn’t plan to back away from the stylus market anytime soon. Wacom says the investment will be used for product development, manufacturing, and supply chain enhancements for Samsung-supplied products by March 2013. Expect even more Samsung devices to sports styluses over the next few years (it seems only inevitable that the Galaxy S line will eventually get some sort of stylus support).

Samsung made a good effort with the stylus in the first Galaxy Note, though it wasn’t as accurate as I would have liked. With the Galaxy Note 2, Samsung vastly improved the stylus accuracy and pressure sensitivity. The company also added a nifty “hover” feature, that lets you manipulate objects on the phone’s screen without actually touching it.

Via Android Authority; Photo by Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
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Given the huge number of Android-based tablets on the market, you’d think the Android hardware market for tablets would be massively fragmented.

But according to new data that app analytics service Localytics is publishing tomorrow, that’s not what’s happening. Rather, the big tabs are getting the lion’s share of the market, increasing their lead on other tablets.

That’s especially true for Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Samsung’s stable of tablets.

For example, the number of Amazon’s 7″ Kindle Fires that Localytics saw grew 322 percent from November to the end of December. Samsung’s Galaxy Note II grew 80 percent, it’s popular Tab 2 10.1″ tablet grew 78 percent, and the smaller Tab 2 7″ grew 72 percent. The Nook also grew, though not as swiftly, picking up an additional 62 percent.

Localytics provides data on user behavior for tens of thousands of apps that were installed on over 60 million devices as of mid-2012, which should form a significant enough sample size to at least be indicative of what’s happening in the market. Each device that runs any app that uses Localytics’ services registers as a unique devices in the company’s numbers.

The data also showed a move in iDevice market share. According to the company, the iPhone 5 now constitutes 18 percent of all iPhones in use, with the 4S still retaining the crown of most popular iPhone, with 40 percent of the market.

And the new iPad mini? Localytics’ data suggests it’s selling a little slower than the iPad 4, with the 4th-generation iPad clocking in at about eight percent of the overall iPad market, and the mini picking up six percent.

We’ll know for sure if those numbers are accurate in just a couple of weeks, when Apple reports its Q1 2013 results.

July 9-10, 2013
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Huawei, you’ve successfully built the world’s largest smartphone with the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate. Congratulations?

This CES has been fairly quiet when it comes to new smartphone announcements, so Huawei’s reveal yesterday of the massive Ascend Mate was a nice little reminder of previous years. But after playing around with the phone for a few minutes, I can confirm that it’s about as silly as you’d imagine.

The Ascend Mate simply looks and feels massive. I can’t imagine anyone finding it comfortable enough to use as their daily phone (let alone fit it into their pocket).

I had similar initial reservations about Samsung’s Galaxy Note in 2011, but at 5.3-inches, at least it looked like a typical phone and fit into your pocket. Samsung also managed to make its successor, the Note II, thinner and lighter (while also squeezing in a slightly bigger screen).

Avoiding just about everything great about modern smartphone designs — light weight, thin frames, a focus on pragmatic features — the Ascend Mate simply seems to say, “Fuck you, I’m big.” That may not be the best way to market a phone.

Below, we’ve compared it to the iPhone 4, Nexus 4, and the iPad Mini. Not surprisingly, when placed against the iPad Mini, the Ascend Mate looks far more like a tablet than a phone.

Ultimately, I can sum up the way I feel about the Ascend Mate with my response to Huawei’s rep when I first held it. “No, just no.”

July 9-10, 2013
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If size is all that matters, Huawei has just won: Its Ascend Mate smartphone boasts a 6.1-inch touchscreen, making it either the largest phone ever or the most compact tablet. Just try holding it up to your ear when you need to answer a call.

Sure, we made these jokes last year about Samsung’s Galaxy Note, which, with a 5.3-inch screen, seemed massive at the time (and entirely too big to hold up to your head like any other phone). The Galaxy Note II has a 5.5 inch screen, but that’s just a tiny bit more than the first model. And the Galaxy Note went on to become a huge hit in 2012.

So why not go even bigger, Huawei’s executives must have asked. Why not, indeed? The Huawei Ascend Mate is big in almost every way. It has a 1.5 GHz Hi-Silicon quad-core processor and a 4050 mAh battery, plus an 8 megapixel camera on the back (it looks like it sticks out a bit, which is odd given how much room there is inside the case) and a 1 megapixel front-facing camera. It has stereo audio recording capabilities, with noise reduction, and includes Dolby audio enhancements. It’s running Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, the latest shipping version of the OS. The only thing that’s not huge is the screen’s resolution, a relatively paltry 1,280 by 720 pixels. Good enough for HD, sure, but way too small for showing 4K media.

Huawei says the phone will be available in China only, starting in February, but has not announced the price.

The company’s press release includes a quote from Richard Yu, the chief executive of its consumer business, that hints at the reason for making such a large device: “The Huawei Ascend Mate breaks barriers to deliver a supercharged entertainment, communication and creative experience for all your personal and professional needs.” I interpret that to mean that they want this phone to do everything, including entertain you, and perhaps the size isn’t such a barrier to usage among Chinese users.

My question is, why stop at six? Add phone capabilities to a Nexus 7 or a Kindle Fire, and you’d have a seven-inch smartphone instead of a tablet. Even a 10-inch iPad could become a phone, if only Apple had Huawei’s crazy, stop-at-nothing genius. Or 27 inches, like Lenovo! Go for it, Huawei engineers!

July 9-10, 2013
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Coming off of Samsung’s troubled Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, I wasn’t too eager to dive into yet another stylus-equipped Samsung device. But the Galaxy Note II still managed to intrigue me by squeezing a bigger 5.5-inch screen and tons of power into a device that weighs the same as the original Galaxy Note.

To be clear, the Galaxy Note II won’t do much to change your mind if you thought the original model was obscenely large. But since I found a lot to like with the first Galaxy Note (even though it was incredibly dorky), I’m impressed that Samsung managed to make the phone even more interesting this time around.

In a small New York City press gathering last week, Samsung let me fondle the international variant of the Galaxy Note II. Even though it sports a 5.5-inch screen, compared to the original Note’s 5.3-inch display,  I was shocked to find that it weighed pretty much the same, around 6.3 ounces. The Note II also isn’t much bigger than the original; it’s slightly taller but also less wide. Samsung also removed much of the top and bottom front bezel, which makes the massive screen even more of a centerpiece.

Given its rounder shape and smoother case, the Note II actually felt more comfortable in my hands than the original Note. (If you have tiny hands though, stay far away.)

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note II two weeks ago at the IFA conference in Berlin. In addition to its gorgeous 5.5-inch screen, it also features a quad-core 1.6 gigahertz Exynos processor (which is even faster than the Galaxy Note 10.1′s CPU), 2GB RAM, and a huge 3,100 mAh battery (25 percent larger than the original Note’s). It’s also shipping with Jelly Bean, the latest version of Android.

Unfortunately, Samsung had nothing to say about the Galaxy Note II’s U.S. availability, but we’re hearing details will be announced soon.

Not surprisingly, Samsung is still pushing all of the media sharing functionality that debuted with the Galaxy S III on the Note II. The phone also brings over many of the S Pen improvements from the Note 10.1 — it’s far more pressure sensitive, and the stylus can also hover over the screen, which unlocks some useful functionality. For example, you can hover over a video stored on your Note II to see a short preview.

Perhaps what’s most striking this time around is how commonplace the Galaxy Note II seems. Its huge display isn’t exactly that far off from the Galaxy S III’s 4.8-inch screen. Samsung is clearly reaching the limits of how big it can make its phone lines — the Galaxy S series can’t get too much bigger without reaching Note territory, and future Note’s can’t get too close 7-inch tablets either.

For Samsung, bigger is better. But that can’t last for too long.

July 9-10, 2013
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Say hello to the Galaxy Note II.

PocketNow has gotten its hands on images of the new device, which is set to be officially revealed today at IFA in Berlin.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Note II is how big of a departure it is from its predecessor. In fact, the new Note looks more like a super-sized Galaxy S III than an upgraded Galaxy Note. It’s a welcome change.

Along with the new design, Samsung has also upped the device’s screen size to 5.5-inches, though that improvement comes with a slight increase in weight.

As for its internals, the Note II features a 1.66 GHz processor, 2GB RAM, and an 3,100 mAH battery, which is going to be essential. Samsung has also improved the S Pen stylus with a few new features, including the ability to hover over on-screen items before they’re selected.

Fortunately for carriers, 4G LTE support is on board, which means the device could land not only on Verizon and AT&T, but Sprint as well.

Last, the device will be one of the first to run Android Jelly Bean, which is sure to be one of its biggest selling point.

July 9-10, 2013
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Samsung’s latest tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1, has just about everything you’d want, as well as many things you’d never even think to ask for. But while its theoretically an impressive device, the Note 10.1 is a good example of why cramming in too much hardware and features without a cohesive direction can lead to disaster.

If you couldn’t tell by the name alone, the Note 10.1 is what happens when you marry Samsung’s Galaxy Note smartphone (which has sold surprisingly well despite its bulky 5.3-inch size) with its Galaxy Tab slates. The Note 10.1′s key feature is the S Pen stylus, a radically improved version of the one found with the Galaxy Note, which lets you treat the tablet like a piece of digital paper for scribbling notes and drawings.

With the S Pen and clever multitasking capabilities, Samsung is hoping to elevate the Note 10.1 beyond its tablet trappings and position it as a true productivity device. That’s smart: A common complaint with tablets is that they’re great for consuming media, but without a keyboard, they’re not that useful for doing actual work. But for all of its effort, Samsung has ended up crafting a tablet that could actually make it more difficult for you to get things done.

The Good: It dares to be different

The best thing about the Galaxy Note 10.1 is more conceptual than an actual feature. After being assaulted by dozens of similar Android tablets over the past few years (the Nexus 7 is the only one I’d ever recommend, unless I don’t like you very much), it’s nice to see Samsung actually trying to do something different with this one. Samsung’s vision may not have been entirely successful, but like Ridley Scott’s pretty-but-dumb movie Prometheus this summer, you can at least appreciate the effort.

Even though the Galaxy Note 10.1 was officially unveiled in the U.S. last week, we first saw it back at Mobile World Congress in February. Samsung representatives told VentureBeat that it almost released the Note 10.1 several times this year, but constant retooling held the tablet back. Since February, Samsung has added a slot to hold the S Pen stylus at the bottom of the device (a useful feature, but one that really should have been there since the beginning), and the capability to multitask apps by running them side-by-side.

Samsung was clearly desperate to get this tablet right. Ultimately, we see more desperation than success from the Galaxy Note 10.1, but I’m hoping that Samsung will eventually refine some of the interesting features in this tablet. For one, running apps side-by-side is actually useful on a tablet: You could, for example, browse the web and jot down notes at the same time. But Samsung only offers the feature with a few apps on the Note 10.1, and occasional slowdowns make it a chore. I’m impatient for the day when we can multitask on a tablet as easily as PCs (or at least some PCs), but it looks like I’ll have to wait a bit longer.

I found the S Pen to be an interesting curiosity in the original Galaxy Note, a phone that’s so dorky I couldn’t help but dig it. The stylus is even more useful on the larger tablet screen, since your hand can rest more naturally and you have more room on which to scribble. With 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity and Wacom technology (beloved by digital artists), the S Pen is by far the most powerful tablet stylus we’ve seen. Handwriting feels more accurate than that of the original Galaxy Note, and I have a feeling that artists will love the S Pen’s flexibility when it comes to drawing and manipulating images with the bundled Photoshop Touch app.

Samsung also added some additional functionality to its S Note software: Now you can draw shapes and write mathematical equations within the app, and they’ll be translated into cleaner versions that look like they were created on a computer.

With all of those improvements, it’s just too bad that Samsung’s Android tweaks hold the S Pen back.

The bad: Just about everything else

The Galaxy Note 10.1 sports a gorgeous 10-inch screen and some blazing fast hardware, including a quad-core 1.4 gigahertz Exynos processor and 2GBs of RAM, and yet the tablet inexplicably feels slow when performing simple tasks. It’s sometimes sluggish when moving between home screens or switching between apps, and it’s particularly problematic when you try to run two apps side-by side.

You can blame Samsung’s TouchWiz software for those issues, which rests atop the Note 10.1’s Android 4.0 operating system. TouchWiz was one of the few glaring issues with the Galaxy S III smartphone, but Samsung is clearly too eager to put its stamp on Android instead of slimming down its software. Not only does TouchWiz make the Note 10.1 occasionally slow, it sometimes gets in the way of the S Pen, which is supposed to be the tablet’s core feature.

Samsung could potentially offer some software updates that makes TouchWiz perform better, and it might improve the Note 10.1’s speed when it upgrades the tablet to Android 4.1, but that’s a long shot. From what we’ve seen in the past, Samsung doesn’t move very quickly with Android updates, and I haven’t seen TouchWiz performance get better over time on any other Samsung devices.

While Samsung touts the tablet as a productivity machine, the speed issues actually make it more difficult to get work done than on Apple’s iPad, which has no stylus and lacks side-by-side app multitasking. It’s particularly disappointing given that the Note 10.1 has more than enough hardware to be speedy. Instead, it’s betrayed by sloppy software.

The Galaxy Note 10.1’s speed issues are even more troubling after the release of the $200 Nexus 7, which offers the fastest Android tablet experience we’ve ever seen. Given that the Note 10.1 is priced the same as the iPad, starting at $499 for the 16GB version, and sports some of the most impressive hardware in a mobile device, there’s just no excuse for not being as fast as a tablet less than half its price.

For $499, the Note 10.1 also feels surprisingly cheap, thanks to Samsung’s love of glossy plastic cases. The rear of the device feels shockingly flexible, and the glossy material is also a terrible fingerprint magnet. Again, the Nexus 7 beats the Note 10.1 on this. The Nexus 7 just feels like a more expensive and luxurious device, which is simply inexcusable for Samsung.

The verdict: The biggest tablet disappointment of the year

Ultimately, the Galaxy Note 10.1 feels like a hodgepodge of great ideas mixed in with plenty of bad ones. It’s almost as if there was no one at Samsung who could simply say “no” to the pile-on of features. In its attempt to create a powerful multitasking tablet, Samsung has created a monster.

I’m notoriously cynical about tablets, especially those of the Android variety. At this point, I’ve grown numb to the “me too” Android tablets, which generally offer nothing unique to differentiate themselves from the competition. But the Galaxy Note 10.1 is an even bigger disappointment to me because Samsung actually tried to be innovative — it just missed the mark by a mile.

There was plenty of promise in bringing the S Pen to a tablet, but the Galaxy Note 10.1 unfortunately fails to live up to that because it’s ultimately not a very good tablet. No amount of extra accessories, however useful, will fix that.

I’m hoping this isn’t the end of the S Pen. Samsung should keep refining the technology and continue to feature it in upcoming devices (the Galaxy Note II is expected to debut next month). The company has hit on an interesting concept, it just needs to get the execution down.

July 9-10, 2013
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Before you ask, yes, Samsung did make a pretty big deal about the Galaxy Note 10.1 way back in February at Mobile World Congress. But the stylus-equipped Android tablet we’re actually getting is another beast entirely.

Samsung officially unveiled the U.S. version of the Galaxy Note 10.1 at a crowded press event in New York City this morning (after spilling most of the beans a few weeks ago). The device sports a more powerful version of Samsung’s S Pen stylus, which first appeared in the gigantic Galaxy Note smartphone, as well as a bevy of features that aim to differentiate from the crowded (and mostly sad) Android tablet market.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 will be available in stores tomorrow, August 16, starting at $499 for the 16-gigabyte version and $599 for the 32GB variant. The tablet runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and Samsung also confirmed that it will get upgraded to Jelly Bean”sometime this year.”

Samsung almost released the Galaxy Note 10.1 several times this year, but it kept finding new features and tweaks it wanted to implement before it hit the market, company representatives told a small gathering of journalists last week. The Galaxy Note 10.1 is being referred to as Samsung’s “hero product” for 2012, and it’s evident from the constant retooling that the company was desperate to get this tablet right.

On the surface, the Galaxy Note 10.1 doesn’t look much different than the tablet we saw back in February. It still sports a plastic case with metallic accents, and of course, it has a gorgeous 10.1-inch display. But thanks to all of the retooling, the tablet now features a slot for storing the S Pen (just like the Palm Pilots of yore), a 1.4 gigahertz quad-core processor, and 2 gigabytes of RAM.

The tablet will also support an additional 32GB of storage via SD card. Taken as a whole, the Note 10.1′s specs make it seem more like a traditional PC than a mere tablet.

Samsung also implemented some unique new software features, including the ability to run multiple apps on the same screen, which brings a nifty dash of multitasking to the sometimes stale world of single-screen tablet apps, and an intriguing hover mechanic with the stylus, which lets you mimic a desktop computer’s ability to hover the mouse pointer over certain links. Currently only a few apps support Samsung’s Multiscreen technology, but already there’s plenty of productivity potential with it. For example, you can view the Android web browser on one half of the screen, while taking notes in S Note on the other.

Apple has been arguing fiercely in court for the past week that Samsung is nothing but a copycat, but the unique features of the Galaxy Note 10.1 prove Samsung can also put its nose to the grindstone and innovate as well.

To prove just how useful the Galaxy Note 10.1 is, Samsung brought film director Baz Luhrmann on stage. Luhrmann seemed really excited about the tablet (or maybe he was just excited about the paycheck in his wallet) and how it’s changed his workflow. He mentioned that he had to literally cut and paste paper to make storyboards for his hit film Romeo & Juliet, but the Note allows him to do much of that work digitally for his next project, The Great Gatsby.

Samsung showed off the Galaxy Note 10.1′s GroupCast feature in a demo with the press, which lets you collaborate on a presentation in real-time with other Galaxy Note tablets. (Much like the group sharing features on the Galaxy S III, GroupCast is really only useful if you’re surrounded by identical Samsung devices, fat chance of that.)

We also saw how Adobe’s PhotoShop Touch app can take advantage of the S Pen’s 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity. Photoshop Touch will be pre-loaded on the Galaxy Note 10.1, and it’ll work together with your existing Photoshop files on Adobe’s Creative Cloud service.

I had a brief amount of hands-on time with the Galaxy Note 10.1, and I still echo my sentiment from back in February: this is what the S Pen was made for. The larger screen makes handwriting much more intuitive than on the Galaxy Note phone, and there’s a noticeably better level of response too with the new stylus. And thanks to the Note 10.1′s speedy processor and RAM, nothing seems to slow the tablet down, something that will be particularly important for app multitasking.

While Samsung’s tablets in the past have been among the best Android had to offer, they still felt restricted by Google’s seeming inability to comprehend the tablet market. There still aren’t many great Android tablet apps out there, but the custom tweaks that Samsung has made with the Galaxy Note 10.1 more than make up for Android’s other tablet deficiencies.

While it hasn’t displaced the Nexus 7 as my favorite Android tablet (and the only one mainstream consumers should consider buying), the Galaxy Note 10.1 could be a dream device for consumers who can take advantage of the S Pen.

Look for my full review of the Galaxy Note 10.1 soon.

July 9-10, 2013
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For all the criticism tossed at Samsung’s Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet hybrid, Samsung has seen some big success with the device. And the company aims to add to the Note product line with its upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.

Samsung says that the tablet-sized Galaxy Note 10.1 will be available globally by the end of this month. The news comes six months after Samsung announced the tablet at the 2012 Mobile World Congress.

The 10.1-inch tablet comes with a 1.4GHz quad core processor, 2GB RAM, and, most importantly, stylus support. Not only is that a key differentiator from other tablets, but it’s also a big improvement over the Galaxy Note, which, with a 5.3-inch screen, was often criticized for not being quite big enough to support stylus writing.

Last week Samsung told Reuters that it planned to unveil its next Galaxy Note at an event on August 29th. While it still isn’t clear which device Samsung plans to talk about during the event — an upgraded Galaxy Note phone or the new tablet — our money’s still on  a 5.5-inch follow up to the Galaxy Note. We’ve contacted Samsung to get a better idea of what its plans are and will update here when the company responds.

Below is a promotional video that extensively showcases the Galaxy Note 10.1′s wide palette of features.

We owe the Galaxy Note an apology.

The butt of many, many jokes since its announcement, the not-so-little Galaxy Note defied criticism to become a hit. And now Samsung’s planning its successor.

The company will announce the next Galaxy Note (likely called simply the Galaxy Note 2) at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin on August 29th, a Samsung representative told Reuters today.

Sadly,that’s all the company revealed about the device — but that isn’t stopping anyone from speculating. According to the latest round of rumors, the next Note will feature a 5.5-inch screen, which is a hair larger than the already-sizable 5.3-inch screen on the current Note. Samsung, it appears, knows the Note’s greatest asset and wants augment it further.

While originally released last October in Germany, the Galaxy Note didn’t see a North American release until February of this year, which is probably why the announcement of a newer version of the device feels so premature.

Still, it’s possible that the “next Note” isn’t a phone at all, but rather the previously-announced Galaxy 10.1, as AllThingsD points out. Either way, we’ll know for sure at the end of the month.

July 9-10, 2013
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Apple and Samsung may be selling the most smartphones, but it’s Samsung that has the most fun talking about it.

Samsung is updating its global sales numbers with some new milestones: The company says that its sold 24 million Galaxy S phones and 28 million Galaxy S IIs, bringing the total sales for the line to over 50 million units.

That’s bigger news for the Galaxy S II, which has sold better than the original Galaxy S in half the time.

The Galaxy Note story is also, er, notable. Like many people, I scoffed and wrote off the oddly-sized phone-tablet hybrid. But people have still been buying the thing — a lot of people in fact: Samsung says that it’s sold 7 million of the devices since its release last October. So maybe there’s a demand for absurdly large phones after all. (We couldn’t get over how dorky the Galaxy Note was in our review, despite being impressed overall.)

As with all announcements of this kind, its worth keeping in mind that for Samsung’s purposes, “sold” actually means “shipped to retail channels.” So when Samsung throws any number out, the consumer-level reality is probably slightly more subdued.

Technicalities aside, all of Samsung’s success comes as the Android smartphone market has become increasingly cutthroat and painfully homogenous. LG, HTC, Motorola have all attempted to carve out their own positions in the market, but it’s Samsung that’s coming out on top. There’s a reason why Samsung likes making these sorts of swaggering announcements: It has a lot to brag about, and modesty’s no fun.

The question now is whether Samsung can replicate this success with the third Galaxy S iteration, which will hit the U.S. in the next few weeks. Something tells me Samsungwon’t have a problem — and we’ll certainly hear a lot about it.

Design is determining the winners in everything mobile. The most successful players are focusing on one thing: How to make products, services, and devices as compelling and delightful as possible – visually, and experientially. MobileBeat 2012, July 10-11 in San Francisco , is assembling the most elite minds to debate how UI/UX is transforming every aspect of the mobile economy, and where the opportunities lie. Register here.

July 9-10, 2013
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The Galaxy Note was one of the more interesting Android devices to launch recently, but in my review I couldn’t help but find it hopelessly dorky. Clearly, that hasn’t stopped many buyers though, as Samsung reports today that it has shipped 5 million units of the hybrid smartphone/tablet since it launched last October.

It’s well below Samsung’s fast-selling Galaxy S II flagship, which hit 5 million shipments in 85 days, but that’s not surprising given that the Note targeted a smaller audience. It’s unclear how many of those 5 million Galaxy Notes have actually reached consumers, though — Samsung’s shipment figure just counts what it sends to retailers.

The Galaxy Note sports a massive 5.3-inch screen, but its real claim to fame is its S Pen stylus, which lets you draw and take hand-written notes on the device. I found that there was a lot of potential in the stylus, but I think it’ll ultimately be better served on a bigger screen (like Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1).

In other news, Japanese carrier NTT Docomo announced that it would receive an LTE version of the Note in April. That’ll likely bump up Samsung’s shipment figures even more over the next few months.

Below, check out an elephant playing with the Galaxy Note. Yup.

Via The Verge

VentureBeat is holding its second annual MobileSummit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of themobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
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Turns out all those phone-tablet hybrids are actually a hit with consumers. A survey released Thursday from Strategy Analytics found that people want their next phone to have a large screen.

The research organization showed American and British research participants several prototype phones with small and large screen sizes and different thicknesses. A vast majority, 90 percent, preferred phones with bigger screen sizes than their current smartphones.

So what’s the magic screen size? Strategy Analytics says between four and four and half inches diagonal was the most popular choice in the survey. But screen size isn’t all that matters; people want large phones that are also thin. It seems Motorola already knew this when it released the Droid RAZR last fall, a smartphone measuring only 0.28 inches thick with a 4.3-inch screen.

Samsung and LG are also perhaps feeding this trend with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note and the LG Optimus 4X HD and Optimus Vue. The Note and the Optimus Vue both have five-inch screens, and the Optimus 4X HD’s screen is just shy of five inches at 4.7 inches diagonal.

The survey found that cellphone owners want phones that they can use to easily browse the Internet and watch video, hence the desire for a large size. The survey does beg the question, do people want bigger screens because manufacturers have been making them, or are manufacturers responding to consumer desire for more screen space? What do you think?

VentureBeat is holding its second annual Mobile Summit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
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More than three years after Android launched, all too many Android devices look the same. But you can’t say that about Samsung’s mammoth Galaxy Note.

It’s far from a perfect phone, but it’s among the most interesting I’ve seen recently.

With its 5.3-inch screen, the Galaxy Note ($300 with contract on AT&T) sits somewhere between a phone and a tablet.

Samsung didn’t just dare to be big with the Galaxy Note, it also resurrected the stylus, a remnant from the Palm Pilot era of mobile computing, and gave it a place of prominence.

While an oversized phone with an archaic input mechanism doesn’t exactly sound like an iPhone killer, the Galaxy Note has enough going for it that it deserves a second look. That is, as long as you don’t mind looking like a huge dork while using it.

The Good: Crushes other puny smartphone screens

The Galaxy Note sports Samsung’s largest Super AMOLED display yet, clocking in at 5.3 inches with a 1280 by 800 display (which means it can display 720p HD video at full resolution). As is typical for a Samsung display, the Note’s screen is uniformly gorgeous, featuring bright colors and deep blacks. When it comes to viewing photos or video, the Note resembles a tablet more than a smartphone, which works to its advantage.

The Galaxy Note’s unassuming stylus, dubbed the S Pen, is its other major selling point (it’s not called the Note for nothing). Powered by Wacom technology, the S Pen allows you to treat the phone just as you would a typical notebook with Samsung’s S Memo app. You can jot down text, pictures, or whatever your heart desires.

The S Pen offers 250 levels of pressure, which could make it very useful to budding artists, and it also sports a button for added functionality. You can, for example, hold down the S Pen’s button in any app to pull up a miniature version of S Memo. You can also take quick screenshots by holding down both the stylus’ button and S Pen itself on the screen. It’s also useful for games where you need a bit more accuracy, like Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds.

I found the S Pen was more useful for drawing than writing, though I’m sure the latter would come easier with a bit of practice. Ultimately, the S Pen can never be as smooth as pen and paper, since you’re literally attempting to write on glass.

While the S Pen has issues (more on those below), it’s the sort of unique addition I hope to see more of from Android manufacturers. Samsung could easily bring the S Pen to future mobile devices, and it would be even more useful in one of the company’s larger tablets. Samsung tells me that the S Pen requires additional hardware to function, so it won’t be backwards compatible with existing devices.

In a way, the Galaxy Note fulfills the promise of Microsoft’s ill-fated Courier project. The Courier was supposed to be a dual-screen tablet that relied heavily on a stylus, resembling a sort of digital Moleskine notebook. The Galaxy Note is more notepad than Moleskine, but it’s still nice to see a device pushing mobile interaction forward (even if it’s bringing back an accessory from the past). Sometimes, you just need more precision than your fingers can provide on a multitouch screen.

The Note also supports AT&T’s LTE 4G network, which allows the device to reach some shockingly fast speeds. While testing the Note around Brooklyn and Manhattan, I saw download  speeds between 12 Mbps and a whopping 45 Mbps (faster than the premium cable Internet service I use at home). Upload speeds hovered between 2.5 Mbps and 10 Mbps. While these numbers may seem to blow away Verizon’s typical LTE speeds, AT&T is likely helped by the fact that it only has a handful of LTE devices out and not too many 4G customers hogging bandwidth.

The Note’s camera performance was about on-par with Samsung’s current high-end lineup. It took colorful and clear photos, and the 1080p HD video recording looked sharp (though still not as great as the iPhone 4S).

Battery life on the Galaxy Note was surprisingly robust thanks to its large 2,500 mAh battery, which is significantly bigger than typical smartphone batteries. (Still, it’s surprising Samsung wasn’t able to squeeze in the 3,300 mAh battery used in the Droid Razr Maxx.) I was able to use the device for an entire day on LTE without needing a recharge. That’s a good thing, since LTE is typically a huge battery drain on smartphones. Unfortunately, the phone also tends to lose a significant amount of charge overnight, so be sure to keep it plugged in before you hit the sack.

The Bad: Crushes your puny ego

As a mobile computing device, the Galaxy Note offers the best of both the tablet and smartphone worlds. As a phone, it’s a bit of a mess.

Samsung was vague about the Note’s exact role when it announced the device, but now that it has finally hit the U.S., it’s clear that the company is presenting it as a phone. The problem is that as a phone, it’s just too big. The Galaxy Note is far better suited to being held in both hands like a tablet, rather than being held one-handed like a typical smartphone.

For one thing, it’s a pain to hold up to your ear for extended conversations (it makes me long for the slightly concave screens of the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S). Call quality sounded fine, but it’s hard to forget you have a huge slab of glass pressed against your face. If you’re primarily using a Bluetooth headset or headphones with a built-in microphone, the Note’s unwieldiness may be less of an issue.

It’s also impossible to use the Note as a phone and not look like a major dork. While plenty of smartphones sport screens between 4 and 5 inches, the Note seems to pass a magical threshold with its 5.3-inch display that instantly makes you look uncool. Instead of projecting the aura of a modern smartphone, the Note feels more reminiscent of Gordon Gekko’s iconic and ancient Motorola DynaTAC. The S Pen doesn’t help the situation, as it instantly makes you look like a throwback from the PDA era.

You’ll certainly get some attention when using the Galaxy Note — just don’t expect all of it to be favorable.

I’m also not entirely sure how Samsung reps managed to create neat hand-written notes on the phone, as I found it to be mostly frustrating. It could just be that my handwriting is terrible, or as I mentioned above, it may require a bit of practice. But the S Pen undoubtedly has trouble when it comes to accurately writing letters next to each other. Partially it’s related to the glass separating the stylus from the screen, but there’s also a noticeable delay before your swipes translate into on-screen results.

I’m hoping that future devices featuring the S Pen can smooth out its current issues, as it has the potential to be a truly powerful accessory.

Another big downside to the Galaxy Note right now is that it ships with Android 2.3.6, and not the much-hyped Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich.” AT&T says it will offer the ICS update at some point, but hasn’t clarified when. At this point, you’re taking a gamble with the Galaxy Note’s Android updates, but that’s also true for many other Android phones.

The Final Word

It’s unclear who Samsung is aiming at with the Galaxy Note, and that may be its biggest problem. It’s too large for most hands, and hardcore note takers will still prefer the feel of pen on paper. At the same time, it’s nice to see a new Android phone that looks completely unlike any other.

The real question: Is it worth your hard-earned cash? The Note is too large and complex to satisfy smartphone newcomers, and those with more refined tastes will likely lean towards the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus. That leaves a small portion of viable users for the Note.

The Note may not be a home run for Samsung, but interesting elements like the S Pen show that the company can still innovate beyond its more sluggish Android competition.

Specs at a glance

• 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display at 1280 x 800 pixels
• 1.5 gigahertz dual-core processor
• AT&T 4G LTE
• Android 2.3.6 (with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface)
• 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera
• 1080p video recording (rear), 720p video recording (front)
• 16GB storage (with support for up to 32GB microSD expansion)

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Despite numerous rumors to the contrary, Samsung has confirmed that it will not debut its much-anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.

“Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012,” Samsung told The Verge. “The successor to the Galaxy S II smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.”

The Galaxy S II is one of the best-selling Android smartphones ever, so news about its successor is anticipated from Android fanboys and tech watchers alike. Sales from that phone and the Galaxy Note phone/tablet hybrid helped Samsung earn a record profit of $4.7 billion for its startling fourth quarter.

In my hands-on with the U.S. versions of the Galaxy S II, I found the phone to be one the best Android devices ever at that point. On top of the phone’s powerful hardware, Samsung will update the software to Android Ice Cream Sandwich in the first quarter of this year.

While the Galaxy III will not debut at MWC, the company will likely introduce other powerful smartphones and tablets. Our own Devindra Hardawar will be on the ground at Mobile World Congress when the event starts on Feb. 27, so look out for more details at that time.

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Skinny jeans wearers need not apply. AT&T announced Tuesday that Samsung’s massive 5.3-inch Galaxy Note — which was one of the most intriguing devices at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show — will be available in the U.S. on February 19 for $300 with contract.

The Galaxy Note occupies a weird space between a smartphones and a tablets, but for some it may just be the perfect balance of the two form factors. Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note will start on Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, and AT&T promises the devices will arrive by February 17 for early birds.

The device features a huge Super AMOLED screen with a 1280-by-800 resolution (so it can play 720p HD videos at full resolution), and it also packs in support for AT&T’s LTE 4G network. The Note comes with a stylus Samsung calls the S Pen, which takes advantage of the large screen space to scribble notes and draw.

Given that the stylus has gone out of fashion in tech (unless you’re Nintendo), it’ll be interesting to see if Samsung’s advanced take on the tool can attract buyers.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Note is similar to most other modern Android devices. It features a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz CPU, as well as an 8 megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel front-facing camera.

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It’s good to be the Android king: Samsung today announced its record fourth quarter earnings, in which it saw operating profits of 5.3 trillion won (around $4.7 billion) on revenues of 47.3 trillion won (around $42 billion).

That’s a decent jump over last year, when it reported earnings of 3 trillion won (about $2.6 billion) on 41.8 trillion won (about $36.5 billion) in revenue.

Samsung performance was in line with its guidance from earlier in the month, and the company attributed much of its success to the popularity of its Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note Android devices. Revenue from its telecommunications business was 17.82 trillion won (about $15.8 billion), up a whopping 52 percent from this time last year.

Given that it’s the top Android device maker, it’s not surprising to see Samsung’s huge numbers. Meanwhile, both Motorola and HTC announced losses in their latest earnings.

Shipments of Samsung’s smartphones jumped 30 percent compared to the previous quarter (not surprising since this was a holiday quarter). Looking forward, Samsung expects the demand for entry-level smartphones and LTE will grow the smartphone market by more than 30 percent over the year, and the company expects tablet demand to grow as well.

The company reported strong sales in its TV business and a 19 percent growth in display panels sales. Computers fared less well, thanks to slow sales and an oversupply of DRAM.

Now that we’ve returned from Vegas, pounded enough Emergen-C cocktails to get us back into a semblance of health, and compared notes, we’ve settled on this list of the show’s top products.

Read on to see the most promising hardware that will be hitting store shelves in the coming months.

10. Samsung Galaxy Note

Samsung Galaxy Note

Less a technological breakthrough than a form-factor experiment, the Galaxy Note is notable primarily because, well, it actually works.

Up to now, phone and tablet manufacturers have been careful to separate their lines: Phones have 4-inch screens or smaller, while tablets have 7-inch screens or larger. The embarrassing failure of Dell’s 5-inch Streak confirmed the wisdom of that approach.

But in truth, there’s little difference between a tablet and a smartphone, other than size, and for those of us who habitually use 3×5 cards or similar-sized pocket notebooks, a 5-inch diagonal screen is actually just about perfect for holding in one hand while jotting notes with the other. By adding a stylus and some note-taking and handwriting recognition software to the Android OS, that’s exactly the use that Samsung has in mind for the Galaxy Note.

And yes, it’s too big for a pants pocket. It might be more attractive to female customers, who can stash it in a purse, or to more stylishly dressed men, who could put it in a jacket pocket. We spent some time with the Note on the CES show floor and came away favorably impressed.

One downside: It’s running a sadly outdated version of Android (2.3, aka Gingerbread).

It will be coming to AT&T Wireless later this year, and should be a strong contender of AT&T and Samsung give it a decent price and find the right audience for their marketing message, which is basically that writing and drawing are still fun. –Dylan Tweney

9. Gear4 Sleep Clock

Gear4 Sleep Clock

If you sometimes wake up feeling drained, the Gear4 Sleep Clock may help you. The clock uses an iPhone app, a dock and Doppler radar to sense your sleep pattern and wake you up at the lightest point in your sleep cycle.

The radar senses your movements and determines exactly when you fall asleep. It also senses if you wake up during the night and detects your breathing so that it can figure out if you are in a deep sleep or not. When you wake up the next day, you can see the results on your iPhone app. It will tell you exactly how many hours and minutes you slept. And it will say how long it took to fall asleep and how many times you woke up. After you use it for a while, it will come up with averages and recommendations so you can get better sleep. You don’t have to wear anything on your wrist, as you do with rival solutions from Basis Science or Jawbone. The Gear4 device will go on sale soon for $199. –Dean Takahashi

8. HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook

HP Envy 14

The distinctive feature of this Ultrabook is its cover. It is made out of black Gorilla Glass, a damage-resistant glass from Corning that is normally used for screens. It certainly makes this laptop design stand out amid a sea of Ultrabooks at CES. The machine carries the Envy brand established by Voodoo PC, which HP acquired. It has a high-definition HP Radiance display (1600 x 900) with 300 Nits of brightness. It has nine hours of battery life and a row of connection slots. It also has an HD webcam and HP’s Beats Audio technology. The Spectre also has an analogy roller control for changing the sound volume and it has a mute button on the side for when you have to stop the music fast. It comes with 128 gigabytes of flash memory and Intel’s Rapid Start technology. The height is 20 millimeters and it weighs 3.79 pounds. It will cost $1,399 and will start selling on Feb. 8. –Dean Takahashi

7. OLPC XO 3.0 tablet

OLPC XO 3.0

This tablet has been in the works for a long time and its true cost remains to be seen. But One Laptop per Child has done a good job of researching what children in developing countries need and then tailoring it for them. It’s not just an iPad with a different label slapped on it. It has a dust and waterproof cover. It has its own Linux operating system (and it can also run Android) and its Sugar user interface has been adapted for touchscreen use. You can charge it with a wall outlet, a solar panel, or a hand crank. And the screws for the cover line up as power pins when you are getting power from the solar panel. And it has an eight-inch display that works inside or outside in bright sunlight. That’s a lot of innovation in a small tablet whose target cost is around the $100 mark. Overall, the OLPC XO 3.0 has an appealing design that promises to reach a wider market than previous OLPC XO laptops. –Dean Takahashi

Click here to see products 6 through 4.

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As smartphones grow ever larger and tablets shrink, they’ll inevitably meet at some kind of hybrid, halfway point, neither entirely tablet nor entirely phone, but a bit of both.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is that midpoint, and it’s coming soon to the U.S., the company announced yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show.

With a 5.3-inch display, it’s a gigantic phone — but also a pretty small tablet. Unusually for a modern tablet, it comes with a stylus, though it works with your naked fingers, too.

To my surprise, it works pretty well. I spent some quality time with the Galaxy Note at CES 2012 today and came away impressed with its flexibility and responsiveness. The stylus was unexpectedly useful, particularly when enclosed in the larger shell that makes it into a full-sized pen. The Note ships with its own note-taking app, called S-Memo, and can even do handwriting recognition on your scribbles. The handwriting recognition was relatively accurate, in our limited testing, although it’s slow.

To emphasize its usefulness for writing notes and drawing, Samsung has hired cartoonists to draw caricatures with Galaxy Notes, and the caricatures are strewn all over the company’s display here in Las Vegas.

Samsung released the Galaxy Note in Europe in late 2011, eventually selling over a million of the hybrid phone-tablets. But it was cagey about when the Note would arrive in the U.S. Yesterday, the company revealed that it will be coming to AT&T Wireless in the U.S. early this year.

The Note sports a WXGA (1280 x 768 pixel) screen, has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and has an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a 2-megapixel camera on the front. The rear camera can record 1080p video. The Note supports Wi-Fi a, b, g, and n, as well as Wi-Fi Direct. On AT&T, it will use the fast Long-Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network.

See below for more up-close photos of the Galaxy Note.

Photos: Dylan Tweney/VentureBeat. Video: Christopher Peri/VentureBeat.

For more gadget news, be sure to check out VentureBeat’s live coverage from CES 2012.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note hasn’t yet arrived in the U.S., but it’s seeing robust initial sales in other markets around the world.

While Samsung can’t seem to decide whether the “smart device” is a tablet, a phone or something in between, the company did confirm in a press release today that the Note has reached the 1 million milestone for units shipped globally.

Worldwide, Galaxy Note sales are rising in Europe and Asia. Samsung specifically mentioned France, Germany, Taiwan and Hong Kong as markets where the Note is turning out to be quite popular.

“The rapid global sales of Galaxy Note are notable since it is creating a new market for something between smartphone and tablet PC,” the company stated in a release.

And of course, Samsung is bracing itself for even bigger numbers when the smart-doohickey reaches the gadget-hungry shores of the United States. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have a U.S. release date more specific than “sometime in 2012.”

While the company has had to bob and weave through a volley of Apple lawsuits over the alleged copycat design of its Galaxy lineup (Apple company says the phones and tablets bear a distinct Apple-y flavor, and some courts have agreed), the Note is unquestionably unique. It’s too huge to be an entirely pocket-friendly smartphone, but its capabilities go beyond those of a tablet. Also, it’s got a stylus — a utilitarian accessory perfect for smaller screens, but one that’s never really made it into the mainstream consumer gadget market.

If you’re confused as to what the Note is, this commercial won’t clear anything up for you:

“One million global shipping of Galaxy Note means it has well positioned itself as a market creator,” said an unnamed Samsung representative in a statement released today. ”Samsung will continuously strengthen its leadership in the global smartphone market as well as create new markets with innovative devices.”

Samsung sold more than 300 million smartphones in 2011 and expects that number to climb 15 percent in 2012.

While the Note ships with the Gingerbread release of Android, it will get an over-the-air update to Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s one-size-fits-all OS for both tablets and phones, sometime during the next few weeks.

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After a strong debut at the IFA 2011 conference earlier this week, Samsung said it has no intention of bringing its Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Galaxy Note devices to the United States, according to Gotta Be Mobile.

Samsung played coy and gave us a non-answer when we asked about the development. “Samsung has not made any formal announcements about availability in any parts of the world,” a Samsung spokesperson said.

Both the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Galaxy Note seem like solid entries into the tablet space, but Samsung may intend for them to be European products only.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 runs Android Honeycomb and includes a 7.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 1280×800 resolution, dual-core 1.4-GHz processor, and HSPA+ connectivity. The original U.S. Galaxy Tab has less impressive components, a 7-inch screen and an older version of Android.

Then there’s the Galaxy Note, which is a weird beast that straddles the line between smartphone and tablet much like the Dell Streak tried to. It has a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1.4-GHz dual-core processor, front-facing 2-megapixel camera, rear-facing 8-megapixel camera, and it’s HSPA+ and LTE capable.

A decision by Samsung not to bring either device to the U.S. makes sense if you consider Samsung’s other recent product announcements. First, Samsung is reportedly planning to launch the Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet in the U.S. and since that’s only slightly different from the 7.7, offering both devices could cause market confusion.

Second, Samsung just announced the new line of Galaxy S II phones aimed at U.S. consumers. These powerful Android smartphones will launch this fall on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Because the Galaxy Note has a 5.3-inch screen and the similarly styled Galaxy S II phones have either a 4.3-inch or 4.5-inch screen, consumers might mix up the Note and S II devices.

Would you have been interested in picking up the Galaxy Tab 7.7 or Note?