Mobile and Wireless: Samsung Galaxy Note Blends Smartphone, Tablet Features
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The Samsung Galaxy Note from AT&T is something of a cross between a phone and a tablet. It has a 5.3-inch active-matrix organic LED (AMOLED) screen, which is a little cumbersome for a phone, but it's a good size for note-taking and it includes a stylus along with a notepad app that will let you take notes either in your handwriting or will convert your notes to text using handwriting recognition. Other applications that would normally use the on-screen keyboard can also use handwriting recognition. This allows you to either scribble notes and send the image of the scribble, or you can have the Galaxy Note translate it into actual text before sending the note. Of course, if your handwriting is bad enough, the Note won't get it, but it was able to understand even my sloppy writing. This device runs Android 2.3, or Gingerbread, and it supports Long-Term Evolution (LTE) as well as AT&T's Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+). The stylus stores in the bottom of the phone, and can be used for drawings as well as handwriting.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazine's Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
