Samsung unveils Galaxy Note II, Android camera, Windows 8 tablet
Fresh off a billion-dollar court loss to Apple, Samsung introduced a myriad of new devices this week, including the sequel to the Galaxy Note, a new Android-powered camera and a Windows 8 tablet.
Samsung’s latest edition of its smartphone/tablet hybrid, the Galaxy Note II, improves on the oversized phone the South Korean company introduced to the U.S. earlier this year by making it more powerful, thinner and lighter.
The phone’s screen size has gotten bigger, increasing from 5.3 inches to 5.5 inches. The Note II will also have a redesigned S Pen stylus, which will be longer and thicker than its predecessor’s.
The Note II will use a 1.6Ghz quad-core Exynos processor and will run the latest version of Android, Jelly Bean. Samsung said the Note II will feature an 8-megapixel back camera and 1.9-megapixel front camera.
The phone will come in marble white and titanium gray and be available in 16-gigabyte, 32GB and 64GB versions, and it’ll also include a micro SD card slot so you can add more storage space.
The Galaxy Note II is set to launch in Europe, the Middle East and Asia in October, exactly a year after the launch of the original Note. No word was given on pricing or when the phone will hit the states.
Samsung also introduced the Galaxy Camera, which is a point-and-shoot that also uses Android Jelly Bean for its operating system and can connect to the Internet so you can quickly shoot, edit and share pictures online.
The Galaxy Camera boasts a 16-megapixel sensor and a retractable lens that has 21x optical zoom.
The device features a 4.8-inch HD LCD screen and it runs on a quad-core processor. The camera includes many cool features carried over from smartphones, including voice control. That means you’ll be able to perform actions by speaking, such as telling the Galaxy Camera to “zoom in’ or “shoot.”
The camera comes in two versions, a 3G and Wi-Fi version and a 4G and Wi-Fi version, and the Galaxy Camera doesn’t waste that Internet connectivity. The device will automatically back up photos you shoot in the cloud, and you can post to your favorite apps straight from your camera after you download them from either the Google Play or Samsung Apps stores.
The Verge reports the Galaxy Camera will launch in the fourth quarter of this year.
Samsung also introduced a few Windows 8-based gadgets, including a 10.1-inch screen tablet called the Samsung Ativ Tab.
The Samsung tablet runs on Windows RT, a scaled-down version of Windows 8, and uses a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor. It includes an HD LCD display with a 1,366 by 768 pixel resolution.
The Ativ Tab also features a 5-megapixel back camera and 1.9-megapixel front camera. The device will have Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and it includes USB 2.0 and Micro HDMI slots.
The 8.9-milllimeter thin tablet will come preloaded with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other software. It’ll be available in 32GB and 64GB models.
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