Samsung has just unveiled the first ultra large screen tablet, the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 tablet. This is going to be available as a pure WIFI device or with data. It should be hitting AT&T within the next month or two and brings a fair number of compelling aspects to the table.
Hardware
The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 features a 12.2 capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels. Visually the resolution is arresting and multimedia looks really amazing. Underneath the hood is a 1.9GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor (Wi-Fi model) or 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor (LTE model). It also has 3GB RAM, 8-megapixel rear facing camera, and a 2 megapixel front facing camera. This model has more internal memory then any of the other tablets Samsung has debuted at CES with 32/64 GB of storage and expandable memory.
There should be plenty of battery life to play games and engage in media with the 9,500 mAh battery. The 8 core processor will really make games, apps and everything else really shine.
Finally, the Note Pro 12.2 is very light! For a really large tablet, you would figure it would be very hefty. I easily held with it one hand and did not find it was weighing me down.
Software
The Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 model runs Google Android 4.4, which is the latest version. What makes this tablet really interesting is the main UI. This is unlike any other tablet the company has released.
Most Android tablet users are likely used to the pure vanilla experience. You have app icons on the main screen and the primary app list. Samsung has borrowed a page out of Microsoft’s playbook by adopting live tiles. This will have apps like the New York Times, Twitter, Facebook, give you live updates. If you install apps on your own, this can also be integrated. This is all accomplished by pinching and zooming.
I have seen a number of phones lately by mainstream companies like LG that allow you to have two apps open at once, with each one taking up half of the screen. Samsung is taking this one step further to allow for 4 apps to be open at the same time and can both be used live. You can have a few spreadsheets open and a number of business documents. If you are into movies, you can watch one and then bash it on Reditt and other movie review sites.
These two software elements is really what makes this stand out in a crowded market place.
Wrap Up
If Android is your bag, you will want to take a long look at this tablet. I can see it being a solid business device with its ability to multitask. It will also be fairly good at video games, able to handle anything you can throw at it.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.