New, larger Galaxy Note to premiere in Hong Kong

Samsung Electronics said yesterday it will release the new Galaxy Note, the hybrid between a smartphone and a tablet, this week in Hong Kong, hoping to grab the attention of tech-savvy consumers there.

The Korean tech giant introduced in November its first Galaxy Note, which combines features of a smartphone with a tablet computer.

The world’s leading handset maker will start selling the Galaxy Note 10.1 in Hong Kong on Aug. 9, officials at Samsung Electronics said.

The second Galaxy Note has a wider screen with a diagonal size of 10.1 inches, compared to the original’s 5.3 inches, they said.

The product is widely expected to compete against Apple’s popular 10-inch iPad.

The S Pen function, a major feature in the first Galaxy Note, will also be included in the Galaxy Note 10.1. Samsung officials claimed it provides users with the “best-in-class” handwriting recognition technology.

The function convinced many Chinese-language speaking consumers to buy the Galaxy Note, allowing them to easily input text by drawing Chinese characters.

The S Pen also enables users to easily capture and save screen images online, or cut and paste images, just as they do on laptop computers.

Yonhap