Verizon Wireless said on Thursday that customers can now pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note II, costing a hefty $299.99 USD with a new two-year customer agreement. The Android "Jelly Bean" phone will come packed with a sizable 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen (1280 x 720) and a built-in S-Pen that should help improve your Draw Something odds.
AT&T made a similar announcement on Tuesday, stating that the Galaxy Note II will cost $299.99 with a new two-year contract.
"The built-in S-Pen does more than just draw pictures," Verizon said in a blog. "A student looking to take notes in class can use the handwriting-to-text feature to jot down their notes and attach an audio recording of the lecture. With AirView, the S-Pen can hover over an e-mail or gallery to preview content without opening it. Easy Clip lets users draw an outline and crop what’s on the screen with the S-Pen and share that cropped image with others."
According to the specs, the phone will feature a Samsung Exynos 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, an 8MP camera on the back, and a 1.9MP camera on the front. It will also offer 16 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for adding an additional 64 GB, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n, 4G LTE connectivity, Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" and more.
The upcoming Galaxy Note II will also play nice with businesses thanks to its Samsung for Enterprise (SAFE) features. These will include on-device encryption, advanced Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync functionality and support for industry-leading Mobile Device Management (MDM) and VPN solutions. The gadget will also be a portable media center thanks to AllShare Play, allowing users to stream multimedia content from the Note II to a compatible Samsung Smart TV or home audio system when connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
"The Note II allows users to run two apps simultaneously by dividing the screen in the Multi Window view," Verizon said. "Users can stream YouTube videos while texting a friend, taking notes or writing down an address while on a phone call. Pulling out the S-Pen during a phone call will bring up the Popup Note feature to quickly write and save notes instead of looking for a pen and paper."
To pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note II from Verizon, head here. Just note that it won't actually become available until November 27. AT&T is also taking pre-orders for the phone, asking the same $299.99 price with a new two-year commitment, and will ship the phone on November 6. Currently the Note II is already up for grabs at T-Mobile for $369.99 and Sprint for $299.99 – no pre-orders necessary.
