Samsung showcases Galaxy Note II in Sydney

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of flying to Sydney for the launch of the much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note II.

The event itself was amazing, with performances by Australia’s own Ricki-Lee and Sam Sparro, amazing food and drinks and the opportunity to play around with the Samsung Galaxy Note II and plenty of other cool new gadgets.

I have to say that I was impressed by quite a few of the new devices on display. In particular, the Samsung Smart Fridge caught my attention, since my current fridge provides me the courtesy of half freezing/half melting all of my food; I’ve definitely been on the market for an upgrade.

The Samsung Smart Fridge is not only smart looking, it really is smart! Complete with Wi-Fi, a brilliant 8” touchscreen that puts access to apps at your fingertips and ample storage space, this is my kind of fridge! Check the morning weather, browse the web for recipes, explore your social networks or leave notes for your family—all from the refrigerator door.

Other devices on display included the Samsung Galaxy Camera and the Samsung ATIV Smart PC, but let’s get to the main event – the Samsung Galaxy Note II.

This latest smart device from Samsung is a happy hybrid between tablet and smartphone, and it does a great job of offering the best of both worlds. The handy S Pen tucks neatly away into the device and can be whipped out for convenient hand-written notes and scribbles when necessary – perfect for someone like me who still carries around a paper diary and note pad, simply because I like the convenience and speed of hand written scrawls. I tried out the S Pen, and it was unbelievably smooth and pretty darn close to the real thing.

Another neat feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note II is the pop-up video, which was first introduced with the previous version, and allows you to continue watching video while doing other things – perfect for multi-tasking.

The device is available in a cool marble white or titanium grey, both of which look quite sharp.

My only real gripe with the latest toy from Samsung was its size. The phone was pretty massive and a little uncomfortable/unnatural to hold, not to mention that it wouldn’t even come close to fitting in the cell phone slot in my purse. That being said, it is a cross between a phone and a tablet, so a larger size might be worth the convenience of two devices in one.