Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: Don’t be a ponce

In the same way that buying a surfboard won’t make you a surfer, buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 will not make you a creative genius.

This we learned at the launch of this latest addition to the tablet market in Auckland last night.

In addition to an ingratiating advert featuring James Franco, in which the actor/ director/ writer/ all round fun guy spent time telling us how wonderful he is (with the subtext that his Samsung ably supported every aspect of his creativity), the launch centred around Photoshop Touch.

Now I don’t know about you, but in my world the majority of people don’t use PhotoShop (my wife does, but she’s a hotshot graphic designer). When the strokers came around with the gadget, drawing spectacles and a moustache on a recently-snapped picture of the lovely woman showing it off proved beyond the limits of my abilities. Which was a pity, because even she agreed that this would be occasion for mirth.

According to Samsung sales director Jon Barrell (who, it must be said, does look like a creative type), the Galaxy Note 10.1 is about creating content.

“It represents a move away from merely consuming information to creating and sharing it,” he (more or less) said.

There was, predictably, also the obligatory humorous mention of the Apple/Samsung shenanigans playing out in the USA.

Thus followed a laborious demonstration of a nominated person designing some sort of flyer featuring George Radio host and evening’s MC Nick Dwyer, who was tittering dutifully in the background.

Don’t get us wrong: Samsung’s new gadget is an awesome addition to the tablet space; it breaks new ground and takes the fight all the way to Apple’s door (hence the lawsuits, you see).

However, seeing the point of ‘handwriting recognition’ using the stylus is difficult for people who can type faster than they can write (I can barely scribble my own name these days, the side-effect of a determined 15-years of research into keyboard use).

And seeing oneself as a Trilby-hatted, balding, latte-sipping, velvet-coat-and-thick-rimmed-spectacles-clad art director is also unlikely to come with the $799 (base model; $999 with 3G) Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

But we’d sure like to get our hands on one all the same.

Key features (see more here):

• 1.4 GHz quad-core processor• 2GB RAM• Micro SD slot• 5.0MP camera (rear) 1.9MP (front)• 10.1" WXGA HD Multi-Touch, S-Pen screen, resolution: 1280 x 800• Wifi 802.11(b/g/n), 3G (selected models)• 8 hour battery (claimed)• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich• Includes Adobe ‘creative’ applications

Will you be buying the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1? Tell us your thoughts below.