Samsung Galaxy Note II: hands-on photos

The unveiling of the Galaxy Note II will come as little surprise to those enamoured with the category-that-shall-not-be-named between tablet and phone.

At the Samsung Unpacked event, as part of IFA 2012 in Berlin, Germany, the company unveiled the successor to the original Galaxy Note. The Note II sports a bigger 5.55-inch screen over its predecessor — an AMOLED display, with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Inside is a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM, and it runs Android Jelly Bean (4.1).

No local pricing or availability for Australia has been announced, but it will be available from October in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Lexy Savvides travelled to IFA as a guest of Samsung.

While the form factor might be slightly bigger than the previous Note, it doesn't feel any more cumbersome in the hand, weighing in at 180 grams and just 9.4mm thick.

The Note II comes in a 3G/4G configuration and 16, 32 and 64GB variants. There's also a microSD slot for extra storage.

At the back, the configuration comes with a backside-illuminated 8-megapixel sensor, while the front-facing unit contains a 1.9-megapixel sensor.

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. That's a Galaxy S III next to the new Note, to give an idea of how similar the designs are.

The first sighting of Samsung's new S Pen, which is slightly longer and thicker than the previous generation. It feels natural and comfortable to use, and can be used to bring up a few new features on the Note II.

Hover the pen over an email, and Air View will give you a preview of the contents without needing to open the email. With a swipe upwards on the screen, while holding down the button, you can quickly access frequently used apps with Quick Command.

Scribble and add notes over important dates in the calendar and a range of other apps.

The Note II was the busiest stand of them all at the Unpacked event.

There's 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity on the Note II, which gives a more realistic and accurate representation of handwriting and pen strokes.

Renowned director, Wim Wenders, was at the launch, just days after Samsung posted a teaser video showing the S Pen and what we now know as the Note II. Wenders was announced as the creative ambassador of the Galaxy Note at the Unpacked event.

The camera in action, taking a photo of some of the new accessories that will also be made available when the Note II launches.