Last night at a Mobile Unpack event just before IFA officially kicks off in Berlin Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Note II. The successor to the initial risky Galaxy Note (which has gone on to sell 10 million units) includes a 5.5 inch HD display and a revamped S Pen which is now thicker for a more natural writing experience.

The Super AMOLED display has a 1280×720 resolution while powered by a 1.6 GHz quad core Exynos processor. There is 2 GB of RAM and up to 64 GB of storage plus room for more with a MicroSD slot. For your holiday snapshot requirements the Note has a 8 MP rear facing camera and a 1.9 MP front facing sensor. It has a spacious 3100 mAh battery, is 9.4mm thin and weighs 180 grams. It will come in Marble White and Titanium Grey colour schemes and first and launch with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The real appeal of the Note II is perhaps the S Pen and this gets some extra functionality. The stylus can be used to preview certain pieces of information without having to navigate away from the current display. This kind of functionality will be present in Samsung's own apps such as S Calendar, the video player and gallery. Images can also be “flipped” and annotations can be made to the backside of images, just like the real thing.

The Note II will launch in “major European, Asian, and Middle East markets” from October with United States availability commencing later this year.

KitGuru says: This is definitely a niche device so don't be surprised if it doesn't appeal to you.

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