Psst, don't tell Apple's lawyers! Samsung presses on with new tablets and the camera that thinks it's a phone
- Samsung Note 10.1 takes on the iPad with new-look curvy tablet
Samsung Galaxy Camera allows you to connect to the web and runs Android - allowing you to run apps, play games and upload images
Galaxy Note 2 is similar to company's flagship S3 phone - but with a giant 5.5inch 'mini-tablet' screen
Firm also reveals new flagship phone - and it's running Microsoft software instead of Google's
Last week, Samsung was beaten in the courts by Apple, and told to pay $1billion to its arch-rival after jurors agreed the tech giant had copied the iPhone design.
But Samsung is now ready to fight back, unveiling a raft of new products for Android and Windows 8 yesterday that cannot be charged with Apple's criticism that Samsung is not innovating.
First up is a brand new tablet that aims to give the iPad a run for its money, boasting a 10.1-inch screen, the latest version of Android, and a design style that keeps away from Apple's iconic look.
Apple's complaint that Samsung should innovate more seems to have worked - with Samsung's tablet boasting a re-invention of the stylus.
What was originally a bulky accessory for early pre-iPhone smartphones is now a slinky pen with a fine tip, that can be used to write naturally on the tablet's surface, giving Samsung a distinctive edge in the market.
However the true innovating device at Samsung's launch event at the IFA conference in Berlin was the Samsung Galaxy Camera, in many ways a traditional high-end point-and-shooter taking 16-mexapixel images through a 21x optical zoom lens.
But turn the WiFi-enabled camera around, and the user is presented with a 4.8" screen running Android - allowing you to install apps, play games, watch movies, instantly upload images to Facebook, or perhaps install the Instagram app to convert your images into old-timey snapshots.
As you have the full gamut of Android apps to play with, you could edit your images on the fly, install programs like LapseIt to create time-lapse images, or use Samsung's in-house apps like Movie Wizard to edit your videos.
Or - when there are no decent snaps to take - you could simply play games such as Angry Birds, read e-books and magazine, watch films, or use Google Maps to find your next destination.
It's not the first of the new breed of 'camera-phone' - Nikon announced a similar device two weeks ago, but Samsung's pedigree in mobile is likely to establish this as a credible new type of device.
Flip it up and you have the full Android experience, running Samsung's TouchWiz interface
Games, maps, apps and web: Flip it over and you have the full Android experience
Robert King, UK vice president of consumer electronics, said: 'In this new era of visual communication the Samsung’s Galaxy Camera marks a breakthrough in convergence technology, combining the leading edge design of our Galaxy mobile products with high performance photographic capability.'
While the phone also has a SIM card slot to allow you to upload images on the go, there are no signs yet that Samsung is adding phone-functionality to this camera just yet.
If the Galaxy Camera is attempting to break the boundaries between phone and camera, the Galaxy Note 2 is breaking similar ground between phone and tablet.
The Note 2 is effectively the big brother to this year's flagship Samsung S3 phone, bringing with it a quad-core phone running the latest version of Android, which for the first time brings Google's software up to the same silky smoothness of Apple's iPhone.
But that's almost besides the point, for the first thing you will notice about the Note is its screen - a pocket-stretching 5.5" screen which, once held, makes every other phone feel miniature by comparison.
Last year's original Note was a surprise success, selling 10 million units for a device which will not be to everyone's taste.
The high-definition 16:9 screen is complemented by the S-Pen - a digital stylus allowing you to scribble away on the phone-screen like it was a notepad.
In the pre-iPhone days, many smartphones came with a stylus, but Samsung has redeveloped the technology, replacing the old blocky stub of a tip with a pen-like thin tip which helps create a natural writing feeling.
The extra-large screen also enables the luxury of running multiple apps at the same time on the Note 2, similar to how you can have multiple windows open at the same time on a PC.
For instance you can browse the web while having a pop-up video playing running a movie or TV program at the same time.
The Note 2 will be released in October and available in white and 'titanium blue'.
SAMSUNG GALAXY CAMERA
The Samsung Galaxy Camera looks like a true camera from the front, but is effectively a phone when you look at the back
- Image Sensor: 16.3 effective megapixel
- Lens: F2.8, 23 mm, 21x Optical Zoom
- Display: 4.77"
- ISO: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
- Network: 4G, 3G (HSPA＋ 21Mbps)
- Processor: 1.4GHz Quad-Core processor
- OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- Memory: 8GB + memory slot (up to 64gb)
- Full HD: 1920x1080 30fps
- Slow motion Movie: 720x480 120fps
- Video Output: HDMI 1.4
- Additional: Google Play Store
SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 2
Note 2
- Processor: 1.6 GHz quad-core processor
- Display: 5.5" Super AMOLED (1,280x720)
- OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
- Main camera: 8 Megapixel Auto Focus
- Camera features: Best Photo, Best Faces
- S Pen with S Note and S Planner apps
- Pop-up browser, video player, note taker
- Memory: 16/32/64GB + memory slot
- Battery: 3,200 Mah
- HDMI out
- USB 2.0 Host
- NFC
A return to Windows
Samsung also launched a new range called 'Ativ' - devices which are based on the upcoming Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms.
Samsung has dipped its toe before into Windows software, delivering the Windows Phone 7 Focus phone last year, before concentrating on its Android offering.
This time, it unveiled the Ativ S, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, all ready to go when Windows Phone 8 is officially launched later this year.
Windows Phone has had a good reception from critics, but has had slow sales, not helped by a much-delayed launch which helped Android and Apple take the lion's share of the market.
Still, with the Windows 8 desktop system launching this year, this will probably bring renewed attention to the mobile offering.
Co-existing with the phone are two breeds of laptop/tablet combinations, both running the new operating system, which has been optimised for touch operations.
The 11.6-inch Samsung Ativ Smart PC, and the higher-specced Ativ Smart PC Pro, both run on Windows 8, powered by Intel.
Each features a detachable keyboard-docking system that allows users to easily switch between a clamshell notebook PC and a tablet PC form factor.
As well as keyboard, mouse and touch-controls, the devices also work with the S Pen, allowing writing ans scribbling like on the Note 2.
...they're just pushing for a monopoly. I would rather use smoke signals and the pony express than own an iphone or ipad.