Samsung yesterday unveiled an even larger successor to its original outsized stylus-driven Galaxy Note at the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin
The aptly named Galaxy Note II features a 5.5-inch HD Super Amoled screen. The screen on the original Note was 5.3 inches. The Note II comes running Android Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor. For cameras it features an 8-megapixel rear-facing and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera with HD video recording.
Depending on the market, the Note II comes with HSPA+ or 4G LTE connectivity, as well as Wi-Fi.
The Galaxy Note II improves on the stylus itself, which Samsung calls the S Pen. The new stylus is longer, thicker and includes new features. By pressing a button on the stylus, the new S Pen automatically recognizes that users want to clip or edit the selected content on the screen. The “Easy Clip” feature allows users to instantly outline and crop any content on the screen in any shape to save, share or paste.
Samsung has also added a new feature to the S Pen it calls “Idea Visualizer” which allows users to add illustrations by handwriting keywords on the S Note. The Note II actually provides illustration images that match the handwritten keywords.
Samsung was slim on launch details for Note II, saying it available in October starting in major European, Asian, and Middle East markets. No pricing information was immediately available.
Samsung went out a limb with the first over-sized Note and its accompanying stylus, creating a category which many have begun calling a “phablet,” meaning a cross between a tablet and smartphone.
That bet paid off. Samsung says it has sold over 10 million of the original Note since that device launched in Oct. of 2011.
The follows in the wake of Samsung recently released 10-inch tablet, the Note 10.1.
Both devices come as Samsung scrambles to gauge the impact of its recent legal woes. A jury recently decided that Samsung had “wilfully” copied Apple’s iPad and iPhone, awarding Apple $1.05 billion in damages.
In light of the decision, Apple has petitioned a U.S. court to block the sale of eight of Samsung’s best-selling devices, including the Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 (AT&T), Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile), Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Galaxy Prevail – as well as the Droid Charge.
