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T-Mobile will begin selling the Samsung Galaxy Note in the coming weeks, the carrier announced July 16, positioning the device as both enterprise savvy and able to meet consumers desire for a tremendous smartphone.
The Galaxy Note, with its 5.3-inch high-definition Super AMOLED (active-matrix organic LED) touch-screen display, would seem sure tablet territory. If not at least phablet territory. But no, T-Mobile reports that the Note now has the largest screen on any T-Mobile smartphonewhich is just how folks like it.
A recent T-Mobile survey showed 77 percent of consumers prefer a device with a 4.5-inch or larger display, rather than a smaller screen, T-Mobile said in its statement. Samsung, if not the source of this trend, is certainly hip to it, offering also the Galaxy S III with a 4.8-inch display.
The Note measures 5.78 by 3.27 by 0.38 (have fun putting that in your pocket). It runs Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, and a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 processor, can access T-Mobiles 4G (HSPA+ 42) network and has a rear-facing 8MP camera and a 2MP camera up-front. With a qualifying plan, it supports WiFi Calling and can act as a mobile HotSpot for up to five devices.
Theres the option of the S Pen stylus, for annotating documents and taking notes; S Memo, for easily creating typewritten, handwritten or voice-dictated memos; and S Note, which creates templates for seven commonly used documents, to add a bit of professionalism.
The Note also comes with the T-Mobile 4G Pro App Packa selection of applications, including Dropbox and Evernote, that business users are likely to be interested in.
By providing an easy path to cloud services, such as Dropbox and Evernote, T-Mobile helps professionals easily store and access the documents, files, images and notes that will help them better manage their work from virtually anywhere, said T-Mobile.
But recommending the Note most to the enterprise are its Samsung Approved for Enterprise (SAFE) credentials. SAFE offers IT policy support for mobile-device-management (MDM) services, on-device encryption and support for Microsoft Exchange and virtual private network (VPN) solutions, among other features.
The Galaxy S III is also a SAFE device.
In addition to larger screens, today customers demand more from their devices, from having safeguarded access to corporate email and other productivity features to being able to rely on a speedy network for streaming content, Andrew Morrison, T-Mobile vice president of product management, said in a statement. He added that with the Note in T-Mobiles lineup, it is even better equipped to help our customers strike the perfect balance as they juggle both professional and personal activities.
The nations fourth-largest network has been keeping busy this summer searching for a new CEO. On June 27, the company announced the resignation of Philipp Humm, who it was later reported is joining Vodafone, a European rival of T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom.
Its also at work on an LTE-based 4G network, using assets it acquired through AT&Ts failed 2011 bid to purchase the smaller carrier. Calling the $4 billion effort a network modernization strategy, it will improve T-Mobiles voice and data coverage, further its business-to-business (B2B) opportunities and enable it to support more devicesmost notably the Apple iPhone.
T-Mobile originally planned to launch the network this year and begin selling LTE-enabled devices in 2013, but now the network will go live in 2013, interim CEO Jim Alling said in a June 27 letter to employees. He added that T-Mobiles recently penned deal with Verizoncontroversial, to be surewill help it improve its spectrum position in 15 of the top 25 markets.
Alling added that while T-Mobile is in a tech-based industry, I firmly believe [it is] a people-based business.