State
of the
Art by ANTHOWh
Wh
THAT SAMSUNG WENT AND ANNOU
the Galaxy Note9 (sic) superphone this m
is no surprise: it’s been about a year since
the Note8 was launched, and this is how
the smartphone market is paced. What’s
interesting about this launch is how little
emphasis Samsung puts on the phone’s
hardware spec - as opposed to its many
software-driven features.
Oh sure, the Korean giant is keen to push
the Note9’s 8GB of RAM (on the top model)
and the optical image stabilisation in the
camera. And to point out new hardware-
level features like how the S-pen works as a
Bluetooth remote, and how there’s hybrid-
SIM support - which is so hot right now. But
what didn’t get pushed heavily at the Sydney
launch was the CPU (Exynos 9810 Octa for
our market). Or the megapixel rating of the
camera (12MP). The screen size yes (bumped
up to 6.4-inches from 6.3 on the Note8) but
the resolution, no (1440 x 2960).
Instead Samsung emphasised the things
that actually mean something to the average
user - including the bigger battery (it cracks
4000mAh at last), and 512GB internal
memory plus 512GB SD card, which make the
phone “1TB ready!”
Then there’s the baked-in software features,
especially the camera’s “artificially intelligent”
assistant. This mode can identify 19 different
types of typical scene (indoor party, sports,
bowl of fruit, dead body etc) and automatically
tweak camera settings to optimal. Or at least,
what the AI thinks is optimal.
So is the Note9 just the smartphone
equivalent of the old automobile industry trick
of sticking fins on last year’s car and calling it
a new model? Maybe not. Maybe it’s an early
example of what’s likely to be the future of
personal electronics: For each new model. t
black slab stays more or less the same. It’s j
the software inside that evolves, that offe
new experiences. The challenge for Sams
Apple and others in the decade ahead?
Convincing people they have to pay f
Samsung Galaxy Note
http://www.samsung.com.au
Price: $1499/$18 POPULAR SCIENCE