News
After being subjected to many hardware changes, the long-awaited Galaxy Note 10.1 is ready to be deployed. At a press conference Samsung announced the global availability of its flagship Android tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1. According to the announcement, the release is to start immediately. United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Korea are to receive the Galaxy Note now and soon to be followed by rest of the world “in August”. The first batch of the device will be Wi-Fi and 3G/HSPA+- enabled only but LTE version will come sometime later this year.
Samsung has not only improved the hardware specs but some interesting additions have been added to the software front too. Included in the Galaxy Note 10.1 are the obligatory TouchWiz, Live Panel and Samsung Apps. Shape and Formula Match along with AllShare play and Cast are also included. Interestingly the device also has the utilitarian Smart Stay eye detection which was introduced with Galaxy SIII. Also making the transition from SIII to Note 10.1 is the Pop up Play, which allows you to watch videos while doing other tasks (we never got the hang of it). A new feature hosted by Galaxy Note 10.1 is the “multiscreen” which utilizes the large 10.1 inch screen and runs select built-in apps side by side.
The hardware is almost the same as we came to expect via unofficial leaks. A 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM and a 1280×800 screen are all making an appearance on Android tablet. Just like Galaxy SIII the tablet will come in 16, 32 and 64GB flavors along with a microSD slot which will facilitate up to 64 gigs of memory. The screen is not as awe inducing as we have seen tablets from ASUS and Acer achieve 1080p plus displays. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has gained a dedicated S Pen stylus slot. It was previously rumored that Samsung might drop the slot in favour of a more sleeker device. The stylus slot does make the device a bit thicker (around 8.9mm) than the original model which was about 8.6mm thick. Below are the detailed specs of the device along with the promotional video that highlights many of the features discussed above.
Network
HSPA+21-Mbps (HSDPA 21Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps)
Quad Band 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
Processor
1.4 GHz quad-core Exynos processor
Display
255.8mm (10.1”) WXGA(1280×800) LCD + Digitizer
OS
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Camera
Main(Rear): 5 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash
Sub(Front): 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera
Video
Codec: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, WMV9, VP8
Format: 3GP(MP4), WMV(ASF), AVI, FLV, MKV, WebM
Full HD(1080p) Playback & HD Recording
Audio
Codec: MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC, ACC＋, eAAC＋, AMR(NB,WB), MIDI, WAV, AC-3, Flac
Music Player with SoundAlive
3.5mm Ear Jack
S Pen Optimized Features
S Pen Experience (S Note, S Planner, My Story) – (more S Pen optimized apps are available via Samsung Apps)
Multiscreen
Adobe® Photoshop® Touch
Shape Match, Formula Match
Polaris Office
Sharing Features
Samsung AllShare Play / Samsung AllShare Cast
Samsung Kies /Samsung Kies Air
Content Features & Services
Samsung TouchWiz / Samsung L!ve Panel
Samsung Apps
Samsung Hub
Music Hub / Game Hub
Learning Hub / Readers Hub / Video Hub / Media Hub (US only)
(Availability of Learning Hub and Video Hub are limited by market.
Readers Hub will be available to download from Samsung Apps later this year)
Samsung S Suggest
Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service
Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Latitude
Google Play Store, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies
Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk,
Google Places, Google Navigation, Google Downloads
Enterprise Solutions
Exchange ActiveSync
On-Device Encryption
Cisco VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Juniper Junos Pulse VPN
GPS
A-GPS(3G version)
S-GPS(WiFi version)
Glonass
Connectivity
Bluetooth technology v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support)
USB 2.0 Host
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Channel Bonding
mHL, 3.5mm, IR LED(Smart Remote: Universal Remote Control)
Sensor
Accelerometer
Digital compass
Light
Gyroscope
Memory
2GB (RAM)
16/32/64GB User memory
microSD (up to 64GB)
Dimension262
180 x 8.9 mm, 600g (3G), 597g (WiFi)
Battery
Standard battery, Li-ion 7,000mAh
Samsung is eerily quiet about the price of the device, but we are hoping that an announcement will take place at the press conference on August 15th which will be held in New York city. We will be “Smart Staying” on further news and notifications about the device.