Samsung announces Galaxy Note II for ANZ

The follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Galaxy Note II, is headed for New Zealand and Australia.

Samsung made the announcement at a glamourous event in Sydney last night that featured performances from Australian musicians Ricki-Lee and Sam Sparro.

The original Galaxy Note was something between a tablet and a smartphone. The Galaxy Note II has an even bigger screen this time around, but weighs 180 grams and is 9.4mm thick.

Samsung announced Australian pricing for the device - AU$899 (NZ$1,150) - but no New Zealand-specific pricing or availability was revealed. We've since established that in New Zealand it will cost $1199.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II has a 5.5-inch super AMOLED screen, supported by a large 3100mAh battery.

Despite the fact that the Note II is running on a quad-core processor, Samsung Australia vice president Tyler McGee said the company had made the device "even more power efficient".

It will come in two colours, '"marble white" or "titanium grey" and both will be available in New Zealand.

Interestingly, the Galaxy Note II supports two 'popup' features.

Popup video is a feature also present on Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, which allows users to watch a video while performing another task on the same tablet.

Popup note allows the user to pull out the Note's stylus while on a phone call and take notes such as addresses and phone numbers without seeking out a pen and paper.

The Galaxy Note II will also support NFC, although it was not clear exactly which functions would be available in New Zealand.

Representatives from 2degrees were present for the event, however, suggesting that the carrier may pick up the device. If so, the Note II could potentially be used for mobile payment with 2degrees and Snapper.

Samsung also showed off its Galaxy camera, a digital camera that had a 21x zoom and runs on Android 4.1, and the company's ATIV Smart PC and Smart PC Pro tablet/laptop hybrid computers.

At present, PC World does not have review devices on hand. We expect devices for review purposes - and devices on shelves - to be available at the end of November.