Samsung Galaxy Note II announced at IFA

This evening in Berlin Samsung have announced a whole load of new devices. The newGalaxy Note II which looks like a big Galaxy SIII, a Galaxy Camera which looks amazing and the Windows Phone 8 Ativ S which again looks amazing. Here we have a quick look at the Galaxy Note II. As we thought it is basically just a slightly higher spec and slightly larger Galaxy SIII. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it really does look like a great device. As a daily Galaxy Note user I will be eagerly waiting for this to arrive in the UK.

Here is the rather extensive spec list for the Galaxy Note II:

Network – 3G: HSPA＋ 21Mbps (HSDPA 21Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps) 4G LTE: 100Mbps/ 50Mbps (HDSPA 42Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps)
Processor – 1.6 GHz quad-core processor
Display – 5.5” HD Super AMOLED (1,280 x 720)
OS – Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Camera – Main(Rear): 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash, BSI Sub(Front): 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera, BSI
Best Photo, Best Faces, Low light shot
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 & 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, Email with hand-writing integration, S Pen Keeper, Quick Command, Easy Clip, Photo Note, Paper Artist
Air View
Popup Note, Popup Play
Shape Match, Formula Match, Idea Visualizer
Sharing Features – Samsung AllShare Play & Control, Samsung AllShare Cast(WiFi Display) – Mirroring & Extension, Samsung AllShare Framework
S Beam
Content Features & Services
Samsung Apps
Samsung Kies /Samsung Kies Air
Samsung TouchWiz / Samsung L!ve Panel
Samsung Hub – Game Hub – Learning Hub – Music Hub – Video Hub – Media Hub(US only)
Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service
Samsung S Suggest
Smart Stay, Direct Call, Screen Recorder, Quick Glance
Page Buddy/ Tag Buddy/ Word Buddy
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
On Device Encryption (H/W)
Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
VPN(F5, Cisco, Juniper)
MDM(Sybase Afaria, MobileIron, SOTI, Good)
CCX
VMware MVP
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Connectivity – Bluetooth® v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support) LE
USB 2.0 Host
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40
Wi-Fi Direct
mHL
NFC
Sensors – Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
Memory – 16/32/64GB User memory ＋ 2GB (RAM)
microSD (up to 64GB)
Dimension – 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm, 180 g
Battery – Standard battery, Li-ion 3,100mAh

A few key points here for me. The CPU, the screen, the battery, the RAM and Jelly Bean are about the only features that really appeal to me. It really will be a killer device that outdoes most other Android devices for a good while.

Here is the press release for the Note II:

BERLIN, Germany – August 29, 2012 – At the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event held today at IFA, in Berlin, Samsung introduced the GALAXY Note II, a whole new level of innovation for the GALAXY Note category. The new Samsung GALAXY Note II enables unique experiences in personalized and expressive content creation, making it the ultimate smartphone for on-the-go creativity.

“Last year at IFA, we launched the GALAXY Note, which opened a new category of smart mobile devices. This year, again at IFA, I am proud to announce the GALAXY Note II, which will encourage users to ‘unleash their inner creativity.’ With a perfect viewing experience and unique and differentiated features, users can discover information and capture their ideas faster, express thoughts freely and manage tasks more efficiently. For anyone who wants to be creative, expressive and unique, the Samsung GALAXY Note II will be the ideal device, allowing users to live a life extraordinary,” said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics.

Since the first introduction of the GALAXY Note category, Samsung has continued to enhance and expand the GALAXY Note product experiences. In May 2012, Samsung introduced ‘Premium Suite,’ a software upgrade which provided enhanced user experiences. With the Ice Cream Sandwich OS upgrade, Samsung offered innovative new features such as Shape Match and Formula Match, providing a new way for organizing and expressing ideas in their personal and professional life. Also in August, Samsung expanded the category further with the GALAXY Note 10.1, which has a 10.1-inch large screen, a Multiscreen feature for the ultimate multitasking, and enhanced features for users’ productivity, creativity and learning abilities. With further enhancements, Samsung GALAXY Note II will help users unleash their inner creativity by letting them discover information faster, capture ideas, and express them in a more organized and efficient manner.

Perfect viewing experience

The GALAXY Note II features a 5.5” (140.9mm) HD Super AMOLED screen, providing breathtaking visuals and crystal clear detail. Its 16:9 screen ratio ensures an immersive and enriched cinema-like video viewing experience, perfect for watching HD videos on-the-go. Its larger screen allows users to see content clearly and vividly, with much enhanced readability. In addition to the stunning content consumption experiences on a larger screen, users will also be able to accomplish more tasks efficiently and create content freely on-the-go, as the GALAXY Note II comes with a thinner and portable body.

Easy multitasking

Air View allows users to hover with the S Pen over an email, S Planner, image gallery, or video to preview the content without having to open it. This feature enables users to quickly search and see more information in one view without screen transitions.

Thanks to the breadth of the GALAXY Note II’s amazing viewing experience, a feature called Popup Note extends the concept of Popup Play, which lets users open an S Note instantly as a pop-up window anywhere on the screen. For example, when a user pulls out the S Pen during a phone call, the S Note application automatically pops up on the screen, allowing users to jot down a quick note.

In addition, the device’s new gesture pad feature, called Quick Command, lets users quickly activate frequently used apps with the S Pen. The command pad appears when a user just swipes upward on the screen with the S Pen button pressed. Users can quickly send an email, make a call, or search a location as they draw pre-registered marks on the command pad or register a unique mark to allow for quick and easy access.

Furthermore, users will be able to share their experiences with others quickly and easily using Screen Recorder. It allows users to record a whole sequence of actions taken on their screen — a demonstration of how to use an application, for example — and then share it with friends for comment, or just for fun.

Amazing expression tools – Advanced S Pen & S Note

The new S Pen is longer, thicker and ergonomically designed for the perfect grip. Therefore, it provides a more precise, comfortable, and natural writing and drawing experience.

The S Pen’s advanced features also provide enhanced capabilities to capture ideas and inspirations instantly, and to combine handwriting with any digital content directly on the screen. By simply pressing the dedicated S Pen button, the S Pen magically 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. Once done cropping the image, users can freely edit the cropped content through coloring, shading, or their own personal handwriting. It is quick and easy.

Another amazing expression feature called Idea Visualizer allows users to easily add illustrations by handwriting keywords on the S Note. It provides illustration images that match the handwritten keywords. It’s a fancy illustration match function that will allow users to express, organize and visualize ideas in a more innovative and creative way. Users can even customize and add in their own illustrations library.

Powerful Performance

Powering content creation, sharing and multitasking capabilities, the GALAXY Note II comes with the latest hardware technologies. A mighty 1.6GHz Quad-Core processor and HSPA Plus or 4G LTE connectivity delivers easy multitasking, lightning-fast screen transitions, powerful browser performance, and minimal app load time. The GALAXY Note II is powered by Android™ 4.1, Jelly Bean. This brings stunning graphical capabilities and an upgraded Google Now service, including new features such as contextual search, to the GALAXY Note II. The memory options are 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB with an expandable micro SD memory slot. Thanks to a 3,100mAh battery, users can enjoy multimedia content, always be productive on the go, and capture ideas whenever, wherever without suffering from power limitation.

The GALAXY Note II comes with an 8 megapixel rear-facing and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera with HD video recording. The camera has great features like Buddy Photo Share, Burst Shot and Best Photo, which were introduced on the GALAXY S III earlier in the year. In addition to that, the GALAXY Note II features a unique camera function called Best Faces. Best Faces allows users to choose the most preferred face or pose of each person from group portrait photos. Users can also personalize photos by leaving handwritten notes on the backside of a photo using the S Pen. Handwritten Photo Notes can be shared with others in jpg format.

Available in Marble White or Titanium Gray color options, the Samsung GALAXY Note II is set to launch in October starting in major European, Asian, and Middle East markets.