Samsung’s goal with the new tablets is to better straddle the gap between a normal tablet and a laptop computer. The Galaxy NotePro and 12.2-inch Galaxy TabPro feature new four-pane multi-window multitasking, while all of the tablets offer multiple layered pop-up windows for multitasking. The panes in the multi-window system can be resized freely, and it’s possible to open two instances of the same app at once to compare them side-by-side.
The same plasticy everything-and-the-kitchen-sink-software products as always from Samsung, but it does make one thing even clearer: stock Android really needs multiwindow.
Looks like Samsung is releasing some higher-end tablets without s-pen, which we kind of need. They missed the boat by not releasing a 7″ Tab Pro. Right now, the only decent 7″ Android tab I am aware of is the Nexus 7, and that one came out with specs equal to the 7-month old (at the time) Nexus 4, and the N4 wasn’t exactly on the bleeding edge anyway. Plus, the 2013 Nexus 7 has about 900 miles of bezel, where Google pretty much gave the middle finger to those of us who like using our tablets in portrait mode. I tried the 7.9″ iPad Mini and found it a little too wide to comfortably palm in one hand, so I’m not all that jazzed about the 8″ version.
BTW: Anyone who is concerned about Touchwiz, I have the Note 10.1 2014 and it’s fine. Especially if you install Nova on it
As for the plastic, since I don’t buy these gadgets to show off, I really don’t give a rat’s ass.
*without* the S-pen?
The S-Pen is the only reason to buy Samsung tablets/phones; it’s incredible.
I may not use it much with my Note 3, but having the option of a wacom stylus when you want to sketch something out quickly is superbly useful.
If you haven’t done so yet, try this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.visionobjects.styl…
And if you’re rooted:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.legendk.spenboards…
These two apps together improved the pen functionality for me by 10x.
That being said, I’ve had the Note 10.1 2014 since late November, and I haven’t used the s-pen for anything other than playing around. Not even once, as I have no use for it. I bought it because, since Google hasn’t updated their Nexus 10, it was practically the only 10″ Android tab on the market worth a damn, and still is. (The Asus Transformer is okay, but you might have to buy 3 or 4 of those before you get one that works reliably.) If the Tab Pro 10″ had been released back then, I would’ve bought it instead.
That is excellent!
I was worried about losing the handwriting recognition when I move to Cyanogenmod.
Maybe it’s not that useful on the 10.1, but do you use that as a tablet or in a dock, almost like a laptop?
I use my note as a replacement for paper, because I always have it with me, and it means I don’t have to worry about sifting through sheets.
One reason why the stylus is great is business use: HR and auditing, etc. all carry iPads with styluses around here, and the S-Pen is much better suited to that – signatures are no problem, it’s easy to edit PDFs, etc. etc.
I use it mainly for watching movies on a treadmill tablet mount
Of course, this tablet is overkill for that purpose, but like I said… had the Tab Pro been out at the time, I would’ve bought that instead. I still might sell the Note and get the Tab, since it’s almost as light as the iPad Air.
I actually took it to work once and tried writing on it, but screw that… a $3 notepad still works fine for me.
Thanks for those pointers.
Now installed to be explored on my Note 2 with PacMan Rom.
Did you mean landscape mode? Nexus 7 2013 is great in portrait.
Samsung had enough time to release something already. Android was never designed for multitasking, so retrofitting it instead of using a system which supports it by design is backwards engineering which always results in messy and bad code. Multiwindow Android with twisted multitasking would be a monstrosity.
Edited 2014-01-07 06:10 UTC
Android does support multitasking. I agree with you about retrofitting multiwindow but just saying it does support multitasking just fine.
It does not support proper multitasking. It’s a pseudo one. What it supports is strongly geared for single task running at a time and you can’t effectively run several parallel activities (because of the way it manages resources and etc.). It was built into the system intentionally, and changing it now is going to make a mess out of it. And I see no point, when there is proper Linux which never tried to cripple parallelism.
Edited 2014-01-07 07:03 UTC
Isn’t multitasking in classic form made unfeasible by battery live and memory hard limits?
Initially yes. But firstly, hardware improved since the times when Android was created. Secondly, there can be other ways of reducing energy consumption, without making a system a dummy single task one. Sailfish is a good example of handling these issues.
And you see where this is going? Something in between a tablet and a laptop can already have enough memory and large battery to easily support classic multitasking, and fitting Android into that workflow is stretching its capabilities beyond what it was designed for, which results in all kind of crooked twists.
Edited 2014-01-07 16:49 UTC
Dead, as I keep repeating here.
Until Samsung makes me eat my words, based on my telecommunications experience, I am convinced Tizen will peacefully join OpenMoko, Maemo, Hartman and Meego among many other distributions.
I don’t expect Tizen to actually appear on real devices, unlike Sailfish it seems to be vaporware. So Sailfish is the only sign of hope for now, everything else is dominated by Android mediocrity.
But it’s not right to compare Tizen to Maemo or Harmattan though. The later were in production and actual devices. Tizen never event went anywhere so far.
Edited 2014-01-07 07:41 UTC
How many people do you see carrying such devices around?
In the end, they are also dead.
Harmattan was abandoned because of mismanagement, not because it wasn’t ready or wasn’t a good system. Nokia management was just being stupid. Tizen – I can’t say, since I don’t really understand what Samsung is doing with it.
Edited 2014-01-07 16:59 UTC
I agree with you.
Sadly the best technology does not always win on the market.
Where would our desktops be if Mesa/Cedar had be known outside Xerox. Or if the Amiga/Atari/RiscOS systems hadn’t lost for the PC.
Surely you can mention lots of other examples.
The mixture of Android userland, MIT/Apache/BSD licenses with the corresponding free as beer code, seems to keep the OEMs and mobile networks happier than with more pure Linux distributions.
I’m not sure if OEMs are too happy, but it’s a vicious cycle. Android created hardware lock-in, where you can’t get drivers for glibc Linux, that’s the whole reason why libhybris was created. The project wants to remove the main lock-in barrier. That can allow OEMs to “break out of the box”, i.e. to experiment with regular Linux and not just Android, without a need to squeeze native drivers from SoC manufacturers. How that will go – time will tell. So far Sailfish is the only major user with a product that’s being sold. Ubuntu Touch can be another one, but it’s not in any products yet.
I have no interest in multi windowing on my android devices, at least not until I start docking/connecting to a monitor and with mouse based control. Of course, this is all subjective, and user taste, but there is very little…VERY little that I see on Samsung devices that I wish was on my Xoom or my Nexus5.
The only current stock version of multiwindowing that I know of is Youtube, and I never use the floating window. If I’m watching a video, I want to watch the video, not look at something else at the same time.
Yes but, in the case of YouTube I think being able to have YouTube move into background and not stop playing would be perfect.
Why???
So one can listen to a good mix that is available on YouTube and still do other things on their Android Device. There is a lot of good music available on YouTube.