Samsung to push stylus-loving Galaxy Note at SXSW, no Galaxy Note 10.1

Samsung already knows how to draw a crowd to its large Galaxy Note smartphone. At South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, this week, it's planning to shop the phone around even more.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations

Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).

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Jessica Dolcourt

March 6, 2012 12:29 p.m. PT

2 min read

Writing with the Samsung Galaxy Note — Samsung's got a great formula for engaging folks on the Samsung Galaxy Note. Josh Miller/CNET

Samsung already knows how to draw a crowd to the Samsung Galaxy Note, an unusually large smartphone for AT&T with a 5.3-inch screen and a stylus for writing and sketching. At shopping malls, conferences, and popular plazas around the world, hired caricature artists in red berets sketch the likeness of passersby and then offer to print the resulting image on a t-shirt.

It's a fun idea that works, judging by the lines of conference-goers at Samsung's indoor booth and outdoor venue at Mobile World Congress, and by the independent Samsung Studio erected for the week in the humming Placa Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

Samsung Galaxy Note Studio in Barcelona, Spain — Samsung set up a Galaxy Note Studio in the center of Barcelona. Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

At South by Southwest (SXSW) this week in Austin, Texas, Samsung plans to show off the Galaxy Note throughout the Austin Museum of Art, and particularly at two events there.

Samsung is also teasing "an exciting special announcement" it'll make on Friday, March 9, at 4:00 pm CT in the Samsung Blogger Lounge.

Samsung has just confirmed to CNET that the announcement will not focus on the just-unveiled Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that Samsung showed off at MWC this past week.

Instead, Samsung will likely use the SXSW stage to host a product giveaway, a drawing contest, or the stateside debut of the pink Galaxy Note. The unbridled optimist within is a little disappointed that Austin revelers won't get a chance to see the 10.1-inch tablet quite yet--the Galaxy Note 10.1 is even more advanced than its stylus-loving smartphone--although it makes sense that Samsung would rather drum up sales for AT&T's jumbo phone first.

Never fear, you can still live vicariously through this hands-on video of the larger form factor, fresh from MWC.

Update, 12:35pm PT: Article updated with confirmation from Samsung that there will be no Note 10.1 at SXSW. Updated at 1:25pm PT to add speculation about the pink Galaxy Note.

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