Screen sizes are definitely creeping up on phones, and it's not uncommon to see panels of 4" or more. Well, the people who designed the Samsung Galaxy Note obviously thought that this still wasn't enough, so have stuck a massive 5.3" panel on this particular Android device and have combined it the with seriously grunty dual-core underpinnings.
To be blunt - this is a beast of a phone. It's about 50% bigger than the Galaxy S II, itself a big phone. Samsung say that the Note will easily fit in a pocket.. I suspect that must have damned big pockets in South Korea.
One other odd feature is the stylus. We haven't seen one of those in a phone for a long time, we're not convinced that it will actually be that useful, but perhaps in a smaller device it might be.
We don't know when it will be available, and it's likely to be restricted to Europe and Asia only when it does come. And it is likely to be very, very expensive..
It's the big IFA show in Berlin this week. IFA is normally pretty quiet when it comes to new smartphones and tablets, but this week has been mental with more devices than you can safely shake a stick at. Here's a look at just some of the tablets being touted at IFA.
Sony Tablet P and Tablet S
There's just one brand that I can think of that rivals Apple in the gadget market, and that is Sony. So naturally when Sony announced it was making Android tablets then it stirred some interest.. but I don't think anybody would have predicted the two concepts they showed in April which included a tablet with a hinge down it.
Well the Sony Tablet P and Tablet S really are coming, and they look just like the concepts that Sony showed earlier in the year. The Tablet P looks mental with the hinge down the middle.. but the Nintendo DS is a similar idea. The Tablet S looks like a normal tablet from the front, but it's actually a sort of wedge shape to make it easier to hold and use when on a table. There's some real innovation in these devices that we haven't seen before. They're quite expensive though, around the same price as the iPad.. but then Sony is one brand that people are prepared to pay a premium for.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Cast your mind back a year to the launch of the original "iPad killing" Galaxy Tab. Samsung got masses of press for the release of this device, and although the hardware was quite nice it really felt just like an oversized smartphone and not a tablet.. plus it was very expensive. The original Tab desperately needed Android 3, and here it is in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 which looks like a very nice bit of kit indeed, if Samsung can price it sensibly that is.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE
Does Samsung really need a tablet mid-way between their 10 inch and 7 inch ones? They seem to think so, but the expensive Galaxy Tab 8.9 hasn't appealed to customers much and sales have been very low compared to other tablets.
However, the LTE version adds 4G and gives a significant speed boost, making this a very powerful tablet, and crucially one that isn't covered by (yet) by Apple's many lawsuits against Samsung. You don't need LTE to use it, it will work just fine with normal 3G networks as well.
Toshiba AT200
Toshiba recently pulled out of the mobile phone industry completely, but they are a leading manufacturer of laptops so it seems sensible that they are still fighting it out for a slice of the tablet market.
The Toshiba AT200 is relatively thin and light, and it comes with the reassurance of the Toshiba name on the back. Whether or not Tosh can use their prominent position in the laptop market to see tablets is questionable though.
Here's a mystery.. namely the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V. It's not often that a hardware manufacturer revises a product and makes it less good, but for some reason SE have taken the 8 megapixel camera out of the Xperia Neo and replaced it with a 5 megapixel sensor in the Neo V.
Apparently, Sony hinted that they might be supplying 8 megapixel sensors to Apple for the next generation iPhone, and it is well known that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been causing problems with certain areas of the supply chain.
From the point of view of Sony Ericsson's customers, it really doesn't make much difference, because camera phone picture quality is constrained by more things than the pixel count, and besides the updated camera software in the Neo V probably compensates for it.
But - and this really is speculation - if Sony are switching components from their subsidiary to another project then it indicates that there must be some serious supply problems indeed. Apple always have a massive amount of iPhone handsets in their inventory when they launch a new product, so it remains a tantalizing possibility..
Apple have successfully blocked sales of the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace in Europe, according to the BBC.
Apple had attempted to block sales of the Galaxy Tab tablet in Europe too, following a similar ban in Germany.
Although the Netherlands court does not have the authority to block sales of the devices Europe-wide, it can effectively shut down distribution through Samsung's European distribution centre in Breda. It is possible for Samsung to change distribution channels to get round the ban, but that will take some time and add to the cost.
Apple's intention seems to be to shut down all of Samsung's sales for all smartphones and tablets in Europe. It's not as if Apple are struggling.. they have the tablet market to themselves and a very robust share of the smartphone market, but Apple's attempts to ban black slabby touchscreen phones in general is stupid.
The bitter irony of this matter is that Samsung are an extremely important supplier to Apple in processor and display components. What a crappy way to treat your business partners..
The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman has a clumsy name, but remember that this is the company that brought us the six word Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro so it is at least a slight improvement. Very much NOT a "me too" Android phone, Sony Ericsson look to have put some real effort into the Live with Walkman's media capabilties and it has probably earned the "Walkman" badge, unlike previous Sony Ericsson models that squandered it.
Not a particularly high-end device, but we suspect that Sony Ericsson may be looking for a slightly higher price tag because of the "Walkman" branding boost. And it looks great in white too..
The LG Optimus Sol is designed to be more usable out of doors with an "Ultra AMOLED" display.. although perhaps in the UK it should be the LG Optimus Pluvia given the amount of rain we have been having!
It does seem that LG might be missing a trick here though. Combine the Ultra AMOLED display with a rugged housing like the Motorola DEFY and this could be a much more interesting device..
Ho-hum, the Motorola FIRE XT (in Europe) SPICE XT (in Latin America) or XT531 (in Asia) isn't the world's most powerful Android phone by a long shot. Something like this will sell an price which is.. errr... ummm... well, don't you just hate it when manufacturers don't even give you a vague retail price?
