Samsung Galaxy Note and 7.7 Tab Written on September 1, 2011, by Scott.
Still recovering from the Samsung press event this Tuesday that officially announced that the Galaxy S2 smart phone is coming to 3 of the 4 major US carriers? Looks like Samsung dropped more big news at IFA 2011. We can look forward to a new 5.3″ class smart phone call the Galaxy Note and they also introduced a smaller (lighter?) Galaxy Tab 7.7.
The Galaxy Note is the more interesting of the two introductions. With it’s large 5.3″ Super AMOLED plus HD screen with 1280×800, Samsung is positioning it as a device that blurs the line between smart phone and tablet. The included stylus suggest use as a note taking device and drawing. Being an owner of the Galaxy S1 and fan of 4″+ light smart phones, I think weight and thinness will determine success of such a device. At 178 g and 9.65 mm thickness it is heavier than the Droid X2 from Motorola which I found clunky for a 4.3″ device. AT&T’s Infuse which felt great for a 4.5″ phone clocks in at 130 g and 9.4 mm. Hopefully Samsung has done enough research to see if the Note will still fit in a pants pocket or even better in a shirt pocket.
Here is the official YouTube video for the Note and comparison of weight and size against some current and announced phones.
| Name | Galaxy S1 | Galaxy S2 | Galaxy Note | Samsung Infuse | Motorola Droid X2 | iPhone 4 |
| Screen | 4″ AMOLED | 4.5″ Super AMOLED Plus | 5.3″ HD Super AMOLED | 4.5″ Super AMOLED Plus | 4.3″ TFT LCD | 3.5″ LCD-IPS retina display |
| Resolution | 480 x 800 pixels | 480 x 800 pixels | 800 x 1280 pixels | 480 x 800 pixels | 540 x 960 pixels | 640 x 960 pixels |
| Dimensions | 4.82 x 2.54 x 0.39 (122 x 65 x 10 mm) | 5.11 x 2.71 x 0.37 (129.8 x 68.8 x 9.49 mm) | 5.78 x 3.27 x 0.38 (146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65 mm) | 5.20 x 2.80 x 0.35 (132 x 71 x 9 mm) | 5.02 x 2.58 x 0.39 (127.5 x 65.5 x 9.90 mm) | 4.54 x 2.31 x 0.37 (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm) |
| Weight | 4.16 oz (118 g) | 4.90 oz (139 g) | 6.28 oz (178 g) | 4.60 oz (130 g) | 5.47 oz (155 g) | 4.83 oz (137 g) |
The Galaxy Tab 7.7 news is a bit less exciting than the introduction of a new class of tab-phones 
, but still very interesting since this “Tab” is what the 10.1 should have been. It finally introduces the Super AMOLED Plus screen technology to tablets and now includes the microSD slot that was surprisingly missing for Samsung’s line of Tablets when compared to the competition. Still no sign if an HDMI port will be included. I actually owned a 10.1 inch Tab and while I found it lighter than an iPad2 and all the other current Android Tabs I wished it were still lighter. The weight is easy to handle for 2 handed usage and if you hold it on the short side with one hand. You’ll sprain your wrist if you try to hold it single handed on the long side for more than brief periods. The Tab 7.7′s smaller formfactor allows Samsung to reduce it’s weight to 335 grams which is almost half of the Tab 10.1 weight. It keeps the slim design introduced by the Tab 10.1 at 7.89 millimeters thin. As seen with the recent HP Touchpad $99 frenzy price will still be a key factor, especially with the rumored low price Amazon tablets and the iPad3 waiting in the wings.
| Tablet | Galaxy Tab WiFi | Galaxy Tab 10.1 | Galaxy Tab 7.7 | iPad 2 |
| Screen | 7″ TFT | 10.1″ TFT | 7.7″ Super AMOLED Plus | 9.7 LCD |
| Resolution | 1024 x 600 pixel | 1280 x 800 pixels | 1280 x 800 pixels | 1024 x 768 pixels |
| Dimensions | 7.48 x 4.74 x 0.47 (190.1 x 120.45 x 11.98 mm) | 10.09 x 6.81 x 0.34 (256.2 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm) | 7.74 x 5.24 x 0.31 (196.7 x 133 x 7.89 mm) | 9.50 x 7.31 x 0.34 (241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm) |
| Weight | 13.58 oz (385 g) | 20.99 oz (595 g) | 11.82 oz (335 g) | 21.62 oz (613 g) |
These 2 recent developments highlight for me the ongoing value of competition in the Smartphone/Tablet space. Apple has done a great job establishing 2 new markets, but it is the competition from Samsung, Google and other phone vendors that is really driving new form factors, designs, use models, display and CPU technology while relentlessly pushing the price down to a level where these devices are affordable to the masses. Then the true mobile computing revolution will happen. (Think Personal Computers, where they came from and where it is heading .
Read more from the News category. If you would like to leave a comment, click here: Comment. or stay up to date with this post via RSS
Social Bookmark :
Technorati,
Digg,
de.licio.us,
Yahoo,
Blinkbits,
Blogmarks,
Google,
Magnolia.
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.