galaxy note

This week in awesome: Twelve 4-star gadgets and apps

I'd call this week the calm before the brewing Motorola/iPhone/rumored smaller iPad/Kindle update/Surface storm, but in truth, fall gadget winds are already whipping up. This week's Microsoft Release to Manufacturing of Windows 8 signals the company's final few weeks before a hurricane of Windows 8 machines blow into the market.

Storm metaphor too heavy-handed? I'll just cut to the chase: Seth Rosenblatt took a very close look at this final version of Windows (it's the code that ships to partners installing the OS on new computers) and made a call: It'… Read more

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 makes a good effort, but iPad is still tops

Anytime a major vendor releases a new tablet, I inevitably get asked the following question: can it take on the top dog? That "top dog" being the iPad, of course.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is the latest such device to get the "How does it compare with the iPad?" treatment. Let me break it down for you.

Well, the technology behind the S Pen stylus is really cool, supporting things like pressure sensitivity and palm rejection. This will no doubt benefit figure artists and even those who want a bit more precision when putting one person's head on another's body in Photoshop Touch. Ahhh, wackiness.… Read more

Get top dollar for iPhone trade-ins

Wednesday's Update pays top dollar to bring you the top stories:

Analysts are predicting that as many as 10 million iPhones could be sold if Apple launches it in September. That's because many reports are pointing to a Sept. 21 release date for the next model. So if you're planning on selling your old phone for cash, you should plan ahead to make the most money. Trade-in sites like eBay Instant Sale, NextWorth and Gazelle are already seeing an increase of visitors looking to sell an iPhone 4S or iPhone 4.

You can get more money for … Read more

With Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung gets a fresh start in tablets

The Galaxy Note 10.1 doesn't just represent a new product, it also represents another shot for Samsung Electronics to do the tablet business right.

It's no secret that Samsung's Galaxy Tab line has done poorly, with recent court filings revealing the company sold a total of 1.4 million tablets, including the original Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE -- a mere fraction of the millions of iPads that Apple has been able to sell in the same period.

That's largely why Samsung is putting its resources behind … Read more

Samsung: Give home-grown phone, tablet apps more love

At an event in New York today, Samsung launched its new flagship tablet, the quad-core Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with Android 4.0 and a stylus capable of performing a long list of tasks.

The Note 10.1 is Samsung's best tablet yet, and the S Pen stylus gives it a boost. There's just one problem: while the S Pen's touch-pad tricks look impressive on any canvas, once digital pen hits digital pad, the experience becomes riddled with an inflexible learning curve, logical skips, and interruptions in execution. Most of these accumulate around Samsung's home-grown … Read more

Samsung: 10M Galaxy Notes sold in nine months

Samsung Electronics has sold 10 million Galaxy Notes in the past nine months, according to Younghee Lee, head of global marketing for the conglomerate's mobile division.

Lee made the comment in the middle of Samsung's unveiling of the Galaxy Note 10.1 today in New York. The company previously said it sold 5 million 5.3-inch Galaxy Notes in five months.

The Galaxy Note sold well despite skepticism that the device was too big to serve as a phone, and too small to work as a tablet. Many had taken to calling it a "phablet."

Samsung, … Read more

Quad-core Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet costs $500, $550

On the heels of last week's global launch, Samsung has officially announced U.S. pricing for its 10-inch Galaxy Note tablet.

The tablet, whose standout feature is its pressure-sensitive S Pen stylus and compatible apps, comes in two colors, deep gray and white. It also comes in two storage capacities. A 16GB model costs $499, but $549 gets you 32GB for your movies, music, photos, and apps. An additional $50 for double the internal memory is a nice, juicy carrot to upsell customers to the pricier model. (The Apple's iPad pricing runs along similar lines: the $499 entry-level … Read more

Smartphones with unique designs (roundup)

Phone-makers use every trick in the book to differentiate their phones on store shelves, from bright colors to unusual proportions, textures, and materials.

Here are five smartphones that turn heads for striking shapes, aggressive style, and distinct physical features that you just don't see every day.

Nokia 808 PureView (unlocked), June 2012 You can't expect to slip a camera module as large as the 808 PureView's 41-megapixel shooter into a smartphone chassis without a little give. The trade-off is a thicker middle and a huge hump at one end of the phone that makes for some potentially … Read more

Samsung tablet sales: Teeny tiny next to iPad

Samsung Electronics' total U.S. Galaxy Tab unit sales represented just 4 percent of the Apple iPad's sales, underscoring the tremendous gap between the two companies when it comes to tablets.

In total, Samsung sold 1.4 million units of its Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the LTE variant of the 10.1 version, according to sales data disclosed in conjunction with the ongoing trial between the two companies (read CNET's full coverage here). By comparison, Apple sold 34 million units of the iPad in the U.S.

The data is just the latest secret to … Read more