Galaxy Note Tips & Tricks

Galaxy Note 3

Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 3, What’s new in Galaxy Note 4?

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galaxy_note_4_vs_galaxy_note_3Galaxy Note 4 was finally announced on September 3, 2014.  Samsung will very likely start to ship Galaxy Note 4 as early as the 4th week this September in selected regions, although in the event, October was confirmed for global release of Note 4. In most other regions, you will be able to get Galaxy Note 4 in October.

So, before deciding whether you should get the Galaxy Note 4, let’s compare Galaxy Note 3 vs Galaxy Note 4 to find out what the new features/improvements are.

Update: Galaxy Note 4 User Guide is available here.

1.  Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 3:  Quad HD  display

Rumors always are trustworthy in tech world. As stated in the  Galaxy note 4 specification rumors post, Galaxy Note 4 comes with QHD (Quad HD,  2560*1240). This is a major upgrade from Galaxy Note 3’s full HD (1920*1080) display.

The size of the screen is almost identical to Galaxy Note 3: about 5.7″.   So, the resolution of 2560* 1440 display gives you  a whopping 515 ppi.

Of course, the screen is super AMOLED, the standard display in Samsung flagship phones. This is same as Galaxy Note 3.  But Samsung got one year time to further improve and polish the technology, especially in color accuracy.

2.  Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 3:  New S Pen has 2048 pressure levels

If you don’t use S Pen, you are wasting half of your Galaxy  Note devices. Plain and simple.

The new S Pen in Galaxy Note 4 now has 2048 pressure levels, which are sufficient t for 99% artistic jobs. As a comparison, Galaxy Note 3 got a 1024 pressure-level S Pen, which is decent for most designer jobs.

3. Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 3:  Smart Select with S Pen

Samsung introduced so many “smart” features in the past and most of them are useless or half-baked. In recent release of Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5, Samsung learned the lessons  and tried to  polish the features when releasing them.

One of the two smart features in Galaxy Note …

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Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update: Top 5 disappointments and top 5 consolations

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galaxy_note_3_kitKat_updateSamsung released the Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update (Android 4.4.2) to more and more regions. You may check the update through your Galaxy Note 3 or through Kies. Some users may have to wait for the KitKat update a bit longer

The Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update equips Galaxy Note 3  with the latest version of Android, following Nexus (Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10), Moto X, Moto G, and some Google Play edition handsets (e.g., Google Play edition Galaxy S4 ).

However, just like other Samsung’s Android updates,  this Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update brings mixed experience: some disappointments and some consolations. If you are a Galaxy Note user, you probably still remember the battery drain issues in ICS update and slowness issue in Jelly Bean update.

In this post, I will share with you the top 5 disappointments, and 5 cool features (consolations)  in this Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update.

Disappointment #1: No ART options

One of the most important new features in KitKat (Android 4.4) for advanced users is the new runtime option: ART ( Android runtime).  Although Google baked this  new runtime as a beta feature in KitKat, most tests already reported significant speed improvement for almost all apps. In Moto X, we saw extremely good results when this runtime is enabled.

Unfortunately, Samsung totally disable this option in Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update. There is no way to try it in Galaxy Note 3 (with the official ROM).

Samsung may use the “beta” feature as an excuse of disabling ART in the Galaxy Note 3 KitKat update. It does not make sense because Samsung always bundles many alpha-level features  or apps in the handset. As one of the flagship handsets, Samsung should give customers the option.

We have to wait for next update if you want to try ART in Galaxy Note 3.

Disappointment #2: SD card support is limited

Update 1: the SD card issue in Galaxy Note 3 after KitKat update is apparently now solved. In some regions, there is another small update after …

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Top 10 New features of the New S Note in Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition

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Galaxy Note_3_S_NoteIf you are a user of  Samsung Galaxy Note, or Note II, you will find the S Note in Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is quite different from that in Note or Note II. For example, a lot of seasoned S Note users will ask “where is the productivity tools?”  in Note 3.

In this post, I will share with you the top 10 new features of S Note in Samsung Galaxy Note 3.  These include select and transform (replacing and enhancing productivity tools in old S Note), select and format (formatting your S Note), easy chart, line eraser,  searchable S Note, full screen by default, landscape template, preview S Note, default template and default cover, and add from scrapbook.

Please note, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition has almost  identical S Note as that in Galaxy Note 3. So this post also applies to Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition, although I just mention Note 3 in the post.

1. Select and transform (replacing productivity tools)

Productivity tools is one of the  most welcomed features in S Note. It is powerful and east to use. If you are not sure about the productivity tools in previous generations of Galaxy Note devices (Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note 8.0, and Galaxy Note 10.1), you may check this video.

Once you  get the new Galaxy Note 3,  you will find you can not find productivity tools in the new S Note.  Quite a lot Galaxy Note 3 owners asked me where to find the productivity tools.

In Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the productivity tools are deeply integrated into S Note. The term is no longer used for the new S Note.

All of the functions  and features (except formula search in Wolfram Alpha) of productivity tools now can be easily accessed from select and transform in Galaxy Note 3. You can write/draw whatever you want in the S Note, tap the selection button, draw a closed (roughly) line to include the written objects,  now you have the options to convert/transform the written objects to text,  shape, formula, …

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Air Command Explained

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samsung_galaxy_note_3Among the new features in Galaxy Note 3, Air Command probably is the most impressive one.  Our beloved S Pen gets a new life in the Note 3.

When you hover the S Pen over the screen and then press the button on the S-Pen, you will immediately get a palette-like menu with five available actions.  The Air Command works like a context menu in most systems.

There are five available actions (or quick commands) in Air Command: Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write, S Finder, Pen Window.

Although Air Command may have many usages, you may find that it makes note-taking extremely easy, quick and enjoyable.

Action Memo

action_memoAction Memo allows you to write a note in your Note 3. Yes, this is not new. We got this feature since Note 1. What makes Action Memo differ from our old memos is that it can automatically execute a function or convert the handwritten documents or drawings into formatted content.

The functions that Action Memo can execute include:

  • initiating a call with the number or name in the memo;
  • adding  to contacts based on the number and name written in the memo;
  • messaging the number or the name written;
  • sending email to the email address written in the memo;
  • looking up an address on Google Maps with the address in the memo;
  • searching the web;
  • saving a task to a to-do list;

Action Memo simply hooks the static info in the memo with some possible operations. Now you memo is alive!

Scrapbook

scrapbookScrapbook allows users to collect, organize, and track content and information from all sources in one place (Scrapbook).

The contents in the Scrapbook are organized as categories, which are created by you.  When you want to save content or info, you can select any existing category or create a new one.

You can scrape part of a web page into your Scrapbook by drawing the area you want to save with the S Pen in Scrapbook mode. The content in your drawing area (based on the top and bottom location of your drawing) will be saved, together with …

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