Samsung rolls out Galaxy Note

Samsung Electronics rolled out the new smart device Galaxy Note, which has characteristics of both smartphones and tablet PCs, in Seoul on Monday.

The local electronics giant also unveiled two other gadgets in its Galaxy series ― the Galaxy Nexus smartphone and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE.

The gadgets were previously introduced at global events like the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin, but the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 released here could run on the fourth-generation communications network, according to Samsung officials.

The package comes at a time when the company is forecasting strong sales in the final quarter ― when the industry demand is at its peak with the arrival of holiday season. 

The Galaxy Nexus, which was showcased at a launch show in Hong Kong in October, is the first smartphone operating on Google’s latest Android mobile operating system called the Ice Cream Sandwich.

“The Galaxy Note is a new type of a smart device following analog phones, feature phones, smartphones and tablet PCs,” said Shin Jong-kyun, mobile communications business chief at Samsung Electronics. “It is expected to give new experiences to the consumers.”

The Galaxy Note, which shows Samsung’s ambition to create a new market, is equipped with a bigger display screen that is high-definition Super AMOLED, meaning higher resolution.

It runs on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread mobile operating system, weighs 182 grams and is 9.65 millimeters thick.

A digital pen dubbed “S pen” also enables writing on the touchscreen of Galaxy Note. The firm has prepared memo, photo editing and scheduling applications that could put the pen to use, company officials said.

The new Galaxy Nexus smartphone made improvements to its speed, user interface and multitasking abilities since being revealed to the public over a month ago.

The gadget features a 4.65-inch high definition Super AMOLED display screen and a 1.2 gigahertz dual core processor. It also introduces innovative features like face unlock, which uses facial recognition to unlock the phone, and the Android beam, based on the near field communication technology, that allows the quick sharing of web pages, apps and videos by tapping the back of phones together.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE is the first tablet PC in Korea to be running on the 4G Long Term Evolution platform, offering five times faster communications services compared to the most-widely used 3G networks. The device is also 8.6 millimeters in thickness and 465 grams in weight, said Samsung officials.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)