Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

HardFacts

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

The most complete digital communications device known to man?

95%  Big screen, quad-core Android handset with pressure sensitive stylus that does more than scribble.

Suggested Price: £528 (16GB)
More Info: Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 page
Clove's Galaxy Note 2 page

By Alun Taylor • Get more from this author

I’ve no idea what the Korean is for “let’s stuff everything we can into a phone and ram it up Apple’s jacksie” but it’s a fair bet the phrase was used at the inception of the Galaxy Note 2. This Android handset is the feature-packed successor to the surprisingly successful Galaxy Note that I was quite taken with late last year.

Second draft: Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 Android smartphone

Just as the first Note followed the design language of the Galaxy S2, so the Note 2 follows the S3. I’m no fan of the S3’s looks but, writ large, the aesthetics come together far more successfully. The S3 looks like a too big phone but the new Note looks like a beautifully proportioned small tablet.

Size and weight are close to the original, so the new device will still fit in the back pocket of my jeans without issue. The smooth and rounded chassis goes some way towards mitigating the size and bulk, and I like the low profile volume and power controls.

Marginally bigger screen and higher capacity battery too

There have been a few notable physical changes not least a bigger 720p screen which is now 5.55in rather than 5.3in corner-to-corner and a larger battery that's 3100mAh, up from 2500mAh. The cameras have been improved too, although the basic specs – 8Mp back and 1.9Mp front – are much as before.

The larger screen means the front of the Note 2 is almost entirely taken up by the Super AMOLED panel – perhaps this why it looks a more resolved design than the S3? Made of Gorilla Glass 2 and avoiding any Pentile matrix silliness, the Note 2’s 267dpi display is quite simply a thing of beauty. Bright, vivid, sharp as a tack and colourful – I can make no criticisms.

 AnTuTu and SunSpider results

With a 1.6GHz Exynos 4412 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, support for 4G LTE and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Note 2 is as up to date and powerful as you could possibly want. In short, it goes like blazes and has a superbly sweet and fluid UI. The AnTuTu and Sunspider numbers speak for themselves.

Bonus points

Being a Samsung device Android is here overlaid with TouchWiz but I’m prepared to forgive it this foible even if it’s a bit like painting a moustache on Rossetti’s Beata Beatrix. Yet, with all the extra functionality built into the Note 2, there is at least a solid reason for messing around with Google’s mobile OS beyond the simply aesthetic or bloody minded.

 Memo options: handwriting recognition and note taking

Make no mistake, Samsung has added a truly bewildering – perhaps even excessive – amount of extra functionality the Note 2. Gesture commands, floating video screens and context-aware home pages. There's also a funky auto-rotate feature that uses the webcam to judge the angle of a line between your eyes relative to the device, which is handy if you are using the Note while lying down. The list just goes on.

Lest we forget the S Pen which is the Galaxy Note 2’s party trick. With this stylus, you can write, sketch, doodle and grab the screen in all manner of useful ways. Damn shame though that screen video record function seems to have bitten the dust between Samsung’s video guide and the Note 2 hitting the shelves.



The new Pen has an oblong rather than round profile making it easier to hold and easier to slot into its bay the right way. There's no lanyard to connect S Pen to Note but if it detects you walking away without replacing the stylus it will start beeping which is useful.

The Note’s screen can sense the pen before it touches down, thanks to a feature called Air View. Hover over a gallery, video or e-mail with the stylus and a preview of the file opens. I have to admit this is not a feature I've been crying out for on a mobile phone but it is pretty cool. Handwriting recognition is also much improved over the original Note.

Under pressure

The new S Pen is also more sensitive compared to the original and can now distinguish between 1024 different levels of pressure. You can feel and see the difference this makes and you now get extremely fine control over line thickness.

Superb video player

How does it work as a phone? Superbly, thanks to a size that puts speaker and microphone closer to ear and mouth than smaller devices can manage and very good active noise cancellation. Also, that huge and removable battery proved capable of more than eight hours of HD video playback, and an easy 60 hours of call and data intensive general use.

To conclude on some peripheral features the loudspeaker is powerful and composed and put my Nexus 7 to shame when it came to listening to music or video sans headphones. The MicroUSB port supports HDMI-out and USB OTG and you get a very nice pair of earphones. To cap it all, the Note 2 also comes with 48GB of Dropbox storage free for two years.

Winning combination: the Note 2's mix of handset and tablet works out well despite being a large form factor

Verdict

For a pound less than a 16GB iPhone 5 with its piddly 4in screen, terrible maps app, dodgy Wi-Fi reception and scratch-prone body, the Galaxy Note 2 is something of a bargain if you are after the ultimate mobile phone. It has the physical presence of an A380, the power of Concorde and the stamina of a U-2, and is packed with more features than a Swiss army knife.

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China top domain name land grab about to start with 中国

'中国' domain ready to roll as part of ICANN's non-ASCII plan 

 

Domain names ending with .中国 – the Chinese characters for China – will become available in mid-October and China is gearing up for the rush of expected applications.

The addition of the .中国 top level domain is a result of ICANN's decision to add top level domains that don't use Latin script. When announced last January ICANN argued doing so was simply a fair thing to do.

China has since outlined how the process will work, for two groups of potential users.

One of those groups, owners of .cn domains, have been granted a “privileged upgrade” period from October 15th to October 23rd. Owners of .cn domains can use that period to apply for the addition of a .中国 domain.

Trademark-holders of names using Chinese characters are the other group, and have until October 14th to file proof of trademark ownership with the China Internet Network Information Centre (CINIC) in order to claim domain names in Chinese characters.

The new domain names are bound to attract attention around the world, thanks to China's colossal real-world and online populations. The latter, the Chinese Social Sciences Academic Press reports, according to a Xinhua report, is expected to reach 800 million in 2015. China also claims 415 million instant messaging users, plus the world's largest population of micro-blog users. The latter claim is, however, a little rubbery as China claims 274 million micro-bloggers. Twitter is reputed to have more.

Whatever the true numbers, the arrival of the .中国 top level domain is surely a signal that the English language's dominance of the internet is unlikely to persist. There's no need, however, to figure out just how to coax the characters '中国' out of your keyboard, as addresses typed in the Latin alphabet will continue to reach sites using both .cn and .中国 addresses.

By Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor
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Malaysia's property market steady, demand not affected by global factors

KUALA LUMPUR: The property market may be affected by the global economic factors but local demand has not been dampened, according to some property developers.

Low Yat Group sales and marketing executive Sean Saw said there was interest among Malaysians especially the younger adults to purchase property although the economy may be holding some of them back.

“I gather that even though the property sector may be quieter due to external factors, but there are still transactions. Newly launched projects continue to be sold out, surprisingly,” he said after a briefing for exhibitors at the Star Property Fair 2012.

He added that the market for sub-sale may be slower but the overall market was expected to be back in full swing next year.

Saw said the fair would be a great avenue to raise awareness among homebuyers about Low Yat's high-end projects, especially its Tribeca serviced apartments to be launched this quarter.

LBS Bina Group Bhd's managing director Datuk Lim Hock San also concurred noted that despite the economic uncertainty, there was still demand in the local property market especially the affordable homes.

“This can be seen in our recently launched Royal Ivory double-storey double storey cluster link semi-detached development where over 300 units were fully sold in three months,” he said.

LBS which is participating again in the Star Property Fair after a hiatus last year said that it was back with exciting projects.

Senior public relations executive Cleosun Ng said after the first exhibitors' briefing: “It has been an exciting year for us. We have many projects to share with the homebuyers and this fair is the right platform for us.”

She added that the fair would serve as a branding channel for LBS to convey its lifestyle living range of products to the homebuyers.

Bukit Gambang Resort City developer Sentoria Group Bhd would also be exhibiting, promoting its investment development within the Bukit Gambang resort city that include commercial and residential projects.

Sales and marketing senior executive Cony Tan said that the fair would be a great ground for Sentoria to get more exposure and reach new customer as it used to only reach out to existing customers through its buyer-get-buyer scheme.

Bucking the trend: Exhibitors attending the briefing. Some property developers say newly launched projects continue to be sold out.

 

“All the while we invite existing customers to our events but since launching our villas, we are trying to market our products through different channels,” she said, adding that Sentoria has started participating in roadshows and exhibitions in the second half of the year.

“The customers who walk in to (the Star Property Fair) would be very potential buyers. There are good chances of growing our customer database and getting feedback on our products,” she said of what to expect at the fair.

The Star Property Fair, in its fourth year rolling, would be held from Nov 30 to Dec 2 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

By LIZ LEE lizlee@thestar.com.my