Verizon and Sprint to offer the Galaxy Note as the Galaxy Journal?

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,240   +192
Staff member

New rumors are swirling that suggest Verizon and Sprint could be the next carriers in line for the Samsung Galaxy Note. The massive 5.3-inch hybrid smartphone / tablet was announced for US subscribers on AT&T’s network last week at CES but that exclusivity could be short-lived.

Analyst Paul Mueller believes that both Verizon and Sprint customers will certainly have the option to buy Samsung’s new handset, although it could come under a different name: the Galaxy Journal. Mueller expects the hybrid to be available on three of the four major US carriers during the first half of this year.

verizon sprint galaxy note samsung att galaxy journal

Samsung’s Galaxy Note was originally announced during IFA 2011 in Berlin last year. The handset is powered by a dual-core 1.4GHz processor and features 16GB of internal memory, full 1080p video recording and an advanced smart pen for note-taking and drawing. The company sold over 1 million units in less than two months despite no presence in the US.

Initial feedback from the US announcement last week seems positive overall but we weren’t terribly impressed by the device. As noted in our show coverage, the Galaxy Note seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. The phone felt clumsy in the hand and equally awkward against the ear, although we are pretty certain that those with larger hands will appreciate the increased real estate compared to a smallish handset like the iPhone.

The Galaxy Note is expected through AT&T in the near future, although a specific release date hasn't been made available yet. More importantly, we also don't know how much Samsung plans to charge for the device stateside.

Permalink to story.

 
I've had one (international version) since right before Christmas. Replaced my Dell Streak.
As for the size, it's not a big deal, I use a BT headset 100% of the time. The Note is SUPER fast, and has a gorgeous screen. I went ahead and got a carrier unlocked version because who knows how crippled/screwed up the state side version will be.
 
p51d007 said:
I've had one (international version) since right before Christmas. Replaced my Dell Streak.
As for the size, it's not a big deal, I use a BT headset 100% of the time. The Note is SUPER fast, and has a gorgeous screen. I went ahead and got a carrier unlocked version because who knows how crippled/screwed up the state side version will be.

Crippled big time. If it follows Verizon's statement about most new phones being LTE capable it will run on the 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 + Adreno 220. That same chipsets powers some SGS II variants which have noticeably more stutter than their Exynos versions, particularly in the messaging app, the pull-down notification menu, and when using the view all homescreens pinch in gesture.

Now given this info, I'm horrified to see how it will fare when it has to move from 800x480 to 1280x800.
 
Back