Samsung Galaxy Note to Get Android 4.0 ICS Uprgade, Stylus-Ready Apps in Q2

A Samsung Galaxy Note upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was expected to roll out during the first quarter, as the company had previously stated. Now, Samsung Electronics announced it has pushed back the update for the second quarter, without giving a specific time frame. However, to make it worth the wait, Samsung promised that the upgrade will come with a Premium Suite of new applications designed to take advantage of the phablet's digital S Pen.

Premium Suite Upgrade

Galaxy Note continues to delight customers all over the world with its incredible versatility and unique user experience. With the Premium Suite upgrade, we wanted to add features that enrich users' Note experience even more, including the great advantages of Android 4.0 and innovative applications for S pen, said JK Shin, Samsung Electronics' president of IT & Mobile Communications. We are committed to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers and we will continue to provide new features and upgrades to enrich our offering. According to the company statement released on Thursday, March 22, the availability and scheduling of the software upgrade will vary by market and wireless carriers' requirements.

Exciting New Apps for the S Pen

The Premium Suite's new apps for the S Pen include S Note, a writing app with various templates to format notes, digital content and scribbles; Shape Match, which automatically corrects shape; Formula Match, which solves numeric formulas hand-drawn with the Note's pen; and My Story, which enables users to create personalized digital cards using their photos, videos, text and hand-drawn notes.

The Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade brings an entirely new look and feel to Android on GALAXY Note, with a more intuitive user interface that includes a redesigned App menu for easier multi-tasking. The upgrade also introduces innovations such as Face Unlock, Snapshot, Android Beam and others, reads the company's press release.

Extra Levels of Angry Birds, Exclusive to Galaxy Note Users

Until the upgrade is finally rolled out sometime during the second quarter, disappointed users can enjoy Angry Birds to pass the time. In today's digital culture, Angry Birds has become quite a standard consolation prize, and Samsung goes with the flow. According to the company, users who download the new Angry Birds Space app will find special extra levels available exclusively for the Galaxy Note. Moreover, a special package adding 30 extra levels, Danger Zone, is also available for free, if unpacked within the next three months.

Galaxy Note was launched in September last year and showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 in Las Vegas in January this year. It has a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display, and can be used as smartphone as well as a mini tablet. Other features include Corning Gorilla Glass, 16/32GB internal storage (with microSD card slot, expandable up to 32GB), 1GB RAM, 8-megapixel rear-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, Exynos dual-core 1.4 GHz processor, and A-GPS support with GLONASS. The digital S Pen lets users write and draw directly on the screen, opening up a wider world of possibilities for smartphone users.

Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich introduces new features such as Face Unlock, which allows users to log in using face recognition, and Android Beam, which allow users to share content, based on NFC (Near-Field Communications) technology.

Check out the Galaxy Note with Ice Cream Sandwich and Premium Suite in the video below.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)

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