Galaxy Note 10.1

Samsung (005930) aimed high when it unveiled its Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet for the third time last week. Calling the new Note nothing short of “life-changing,” Samsung focused on the slate’s S Pen stylus integration as a key differentiating factor that will change the way we use tablets forever. Despite a wide range of criticism, we found that Samsung’s stylus features indeed added some great capabilities in certain cases. Did Samsung live up to the expectations set by own marketing jargon, though? One industry watcher doesn’t think so. More →

See, Apple (AAPL)? It is possible to make a super-thin tablet that can be repaired by mere mortals after all. The repair gurus iFixit have torn down the Samsung (005930) Galaxy Note 10.1 and have found that the device is not only thinner than the Apple iPad but also vastly easier to repair. Unlike the newest iPad, which scored a dismal 2 out of 10 on iFixit’s repairability scale, the Note 10.1 scored a strong 8 out of 10 and iFixit in particular praised the tablet for using only Phillips screws and for not using complicated ribbon cables that hinder repairers’ efforts to replace parts. iFixit says that the Note 10.1 was able to retain its repairability despite packing a quad-core processor and 32GB of internal storage into a frame that measures just 8.9 millimeters thin. More →

We’re live at Samsung’s (005930) press conference in New York, where the company has just taken the wraps off of its upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. For the third time. The slate was first introduced in late February during Mobile World Congress, and we yawned a bit when we took a hands-on look at the Galaxy Note 10.1 later that day. We clearly weren’t the only ones yawning, so Samsung wisely took the tablet back to its workshop and made some key revisions. The resulting slate was re-announced on August 6th, fresh with a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 10.1-inch WXGA LCD display, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a secondary 1.9 megapixel camera for video chats, Samsung’s S Pen stylus system and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Now, Samsung has finally announced launch details for its new and improved Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet — the new Note will launch on August 16th in the U.S. starting at $499 for the 16GB model and $549 for the 32GB version. Samsung also stated that it has sold more than 10 million Galaxy Note smartphones since the device launched last year.

Samsung (005930) first took the wraps off its Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet about five months ago during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Truth be told, the full-sized counterpart for Samsung’s Galaxy Note “phablet” was boring at best, and Samsung reportedly took it back to the shop for some tweaks ahead of launch. Following a brief appearance on Amazon’s site that suggested a July 30th launch, the Note tablet is now the star of its first commercial. Samsung is still staying silent regarding when we might finally see the slate launch, but an announcement in the coming days is looking increasingly likely ahead of a launch later this month. More →

Get ready for excitement, stylus fans! Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 briefly appeared on Amazon for preorder and apparently the tablet will officially hit stores July 30th. Engadget reports that the Note 10.1 has since been pulled from Amazon since it is not actually available for preorder yet. The Note 10.1 is a tablet version of the original Galaxy Note phablet that has proven to be a hit despite baffled reactions from reviewers. In addition to its S-Pen stylus, the Galaxy Note 10.1 features a 10.1-inch display screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800-pixels, a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and Android 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”). The device is priced at a hefty $549 so Samsung is apparently unfazed by the recent onslaught of cheap Android tablets such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. More →