five things to annotation about the Galaxy Note iii

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Annotation fans, take note: Samsung'southward newest plus-sized product has officially arrived.

Sammy introduced its Galaxy Note iii at a glitzy press event in Berlin today. The Note 3 -- slated to launch in the U.S. in October -- builds upon the formula established with the original Note and turns things up some other few notches.

The Notation three is focused largely on refining and improving the existing Note feel -- a welcome modify from the typical "jam-twoscore,000-new-features-in-there-and-see-what-sticks" approach Samsung tends to take with its mobile products.

Make no mistake, though: There's a lot to say nearly the new Galaxy Note iii -- and a lot to wrap your caput around. Allow'south boil it downwards to five key points:

1. The Galaxy Note three has improved hardware all around.

At that place's no question the new Note is a meaningful upgrade over its predecessor. The Note three has a 5.vii-in. 1080p AMOLED display compared to the Note II's 5.five-in. 720p screen.

Despite the increased display size, the new Note is actually about the same size as last yr'due south model -- a scrap thinner and lighter, even.

The Notation 3 packs a xiii-megapixel photographic camera, up from concluding year's 8MP. Information technology also runs on a new 2.3GHz quad-cadre chip (for the LTE version) along with 3GB of RAM, which should -- theoretically -- make for impeccable performance.

two. The Note 3 has a new only familiar expect.

Galaxy Note 3 (back)

Samsung'due south switched to a more squared-off await with the Note 3, and -- perchance most notably -- has moved to a false-leather await on the telephone'southward dorsum that brings to mind a paper-notebook-like design.

That said, the Note 3 still looks very much like a Samsung Galaxy product. And the back, while a definite step away from the oft-criticized sleeky plastic of yore, is, in fact, still a thin, removable plastic console.

3. The Annotation iii has several new S Pen capabilities.

The S Pen is the Note'due south true calling card, and with the Note 3, the stylus is starting to seem more than similar an integral office of the phone-using feel than an easily overlooked accompaniment.

The Note 3 introduces a new S Pen control center known as Air Control. You only click the push button on the side of the stylus while property it above the screen, and a semicircle of options appears on tiptop whatever else you're viewing.

Air Command gives you lot a one-cease store for creating interactive notes, saving URL-tagged screenshots of information for later viewing, and searching through your previously saved content.

Mayhap well-nigh interestingly, information technology also lets yous run certain applications in a small movable window, similar to a feature nosotros first saw in LG's Optimus K Pro. The role is limited to a scattering of specific apps -- it won't work with only anything -- merely it's withal a cool and potentially useful concept that puts the large screen size to practiced use.

4. The Note 3 has a couple of other noteworthy software improvements.

With the new Note 3, Samsung has tweaked its Multi Window multitasking tool to allow you to run two instances of the same programme -- such as browser tabs or chat windows -- side by side on-screen together. The company has likewise enabled elevate-and-drop functionality between windows to let you plop text or images from one identify to some other.

(Similar with the Air Command multitasking characteristic, Multi Window works merely with a specific set of applications, so it may or may not back up the apps you lot desire.)

The Note three also ships with Samsung's Knox security organization in identify and ready to coil. Knox adds a layer of security onto the phone that allows you to store data in split "containers" -- something that could hold particular appeal for IT departments and enterprise-oriented users.

5. The Note three all the same has TouchWiz -- and that odd mix of concrete and capacitive buttons Sammy inexplicably adores.

Yup -- forth with all the Notation-specific features, y'all also become Sammy'south cluttered mess of a user interface and dated physical-capacitive button setup. You can cover upward some of the UI issues with a custom launcher, just doing then would eliminate many of the S Pen-targeted enhancements built into the Annotation's software.

Hey, c'est la vie when it comes to Samsung.

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AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular have all confirmed plans to comport the Galaxy Notation three. Thus far, no specific launch dates or pricing details accept been released.

UPDATES:

• Note 3 in the real world: The first things you notice about Samsung's new phone

• Hands on: seven cool things about the Galaxy Note 3

Contributing Editor JR Raphael serves up tasty morsels about the homo side of applied science. Hungry for more? Bring together him on Twitter or sign up for his weekly newsletter to get fresh tips and insight in your inbox every Friday.

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