Samsung announced 3 new products at its Unboxed 2013 Episode 2 event at the IFA show in Berlin. As expected, they announced their new Galaxy Note 3 big screen smart phone, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and an updated Note 10.1 tablet.
Note 3
Samsung’s Note 3 is everything the Note 2 was, only bigger, faster, stronger. The phone is built around a 5.7-inch SuperAMOLED display with a 1920×1080 display at 386 PPI. That’s not off that much from its smaller brother, the Galaxy S4. Several of these can be put side side by side to create a larger screen area via Group Play. The CPU differs depending on which model you get. for the 3G GSM model, there is a 1.9ghz Octacore CPU which combines both ARM A15 and A7 CPUs into one package. The LTE model has an undisclosed 2.3ghz quad core CPU. Given Samsung’s track history, it is most likely a Qualcomm Snapdragon of some sort. Speaking of LTE, it supports up to 6 bands. It also supports AC Wireless and BT4 Low Energy. For cameras, you get a run of the mill 1.9mp front camera, but the rear one is special. It is 13mp, can shoot 1080p at 60 frames, slow motion at 120 frames, or 4K UltraHD at 30 frames per second. The battery to run it all is 3200mAh.
The Note 3 is slimmer and more stylish than Samsung’s other products. Its 151.2mm tall, 72.2mm wide,8.3mm thick and weighs 168 grams. That’s slightly lighter than last years Note 2 which is 151.1×80.5×9.4mm at 182.5g. Keep in mind the screen is also 0.2-inches larger than last year. The phone comes in 3 main colors: black, white, and pink. The back is made of stitched leather like a real premium notebook. There are also leather cases that cover both front and back in additional colors beyond those three.
What makes the Note series different than than your normal smartphone is the integration of the S-Pen stylus and software. The Note 3 improves on that even more. Holding the S-Pen on the screen, brings up a contextual window with 4 options: action memo, scrapbook, screen write, S Finder search, and Pen Window. Pen Window, which can also be accessed by drawing a window on the screen brings up a selection of widget apps like a calculator that run on top of everything else. The New S-Note also has Evernote support. It also has advanced multi-tasking support and Knox security software pre-installed.
The Note 3 will be launched in 149 countries worldwide on September 25th. It will also show up in the States on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular at later dates. Unlike previous keynotes, Samsung make a point to mention Android – it runs version 4.3 using our next product, the Galaxy Gear.
Galaxy Gear
2013 is the year of the mythical iWatch. Well, it’s arrived… from Samsung, in the form of the Galaxy Gear. It’s more 80s Casio than Dick Tracy in its appearance, but it looks to be a great companion for the Galaxy S3/4, Note2/3, and the new version of the Note 10.1 tablet. It has a 1.6″ 320×320 display. That’s slightly smaller than the watch-like iPod Nano of last generation. The Galaxy Gear integrates fully with your phone. It’s not known if it does this via Bluetooth, WiFi, or NFC, but everything will sync back and forth. The Galaxy Gear will run its own connected apps as well. You even get connections to your phone as it has full speaker phone capabilities. There’s also a band-mounted camera. Lastly, it has a number of sensors you’d find on a smartphone, plus a pedometer for Samsung’s S Health software.
The Galaxy Gear will ship at the same time as the Note 3.
Note 10.1
Also shown was the Note 10.1 Tablet. It borrows the look and many of the new features from the Note 3. The multi-tasking is even more suited to the larger screen. It has a 10.1″ display with a 2560×1600 display (299 PPI). That’s one of the highest resolution tablet screens I’ve seen. Unlike previous Note Tablets, this one isn’t the redheaded stepchild of Samsung’s tablet lineup. It might even be its flagship. CPU options are the same as the Note 3 with a 2.3″ Quad-Core LTE and 1.9ghz Octacore with 3G. It will also be offered WiFi only.
Samsung has not given a specific launch date for the Note 10.1, only saying it will be available in Q3 2013. I wouldn’t be surprised if availability was similar to the Note 3.
Final Thoughts
Despite a less than stellar presentation, Samsung came with some worthy products. If you like the Note series, you should like the Note 3 and Note 10.1 even better. If you’re a Samsung fan with Dick Tracy dreams, they were answered. For more about these, today’s episode of Geek Beat should have have even more information about them.
So, do you plan to get one of Samsung’s products? Comment below or on social media.
