I’m using the Android WordPress app. I really like the Note 8.0.  I’d write more but right now I’m finger typing.  So more soon.

Besides the Phone app of course. My Samsung Galaxy Note II (Verizon) came with many apps pre-loaded, some useful, some bloatware. (Getting rid of the bloatware will be the subject of another post). Additionally, the Google play store has many interesting apps. Maybe not as many as available for an iOS device, but still many, varied and useful. This was not my first Android device, so I had preconceptions regarding which apps I would use the most. I was only partly right. The large screen of the GNII changed my usage, and thus, the apps I use. Here’s a description of my most used apps. (I’m not including utilities – that can be the subject of another post — just apps I use day to day).

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Here are two panorama shots from the balcony of my home office. The first is from the camera on my Galaxy Note II. The second is from my Galaxy Camera. Both were taken near noon on an overcast day with default settings by the same lousy photographer (me). I think the Galaxy Camera took the better picture – as you’d expect – but not by as large a margin as I thought.

My Samsung Galaxy Note II (Verizon) arrived via FedX on time on November 29. I almost tackled the FedX delivery guy to get started on opening the box. I’ve been waiting for this phone for a long time. Here are my very first impressions.

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In Samsung Galaxy Note II too small, I bemoaned that the internal memory offered by Verizon (and other US carriers) is only 16 GB; no 32 GB or 64 GB offerings though per Samsung those configurations also are being produced. Nevertheless, I’ve pulled the trigger and ordered the Note II. Here are my rationalizations reasons:

• Per threads on XDA Developers, with rooting and hacking that seems easy enough, it is possible to move apps to my 64 GB microSD card, so I won’t be running out of internal memory.
• Who knows when, or even if, 32 Gb or 64 GB internal memory will ever be available in the U.S. Even if it becomes available, it probably won’t be for months. If so, and internal memory turns out to be an issue, I can always sell this Note II on eBay and buy one with more internal memory.
• I don’t really see any other phone I want on the horizon. Maybe one of the BlackBerry 10 devices. But they won’t even be announced until January 30, 2013, and not shipped until the following month at the earliest.

Verizon says they are shipping the Note II on November 27. So I’ll have something more to write about in a couple of weeks.

I’ve been waiting to replace my Blackberry Bold 9930 with the Samsung Galaxy Note II (or 2). Verizon just opened pre-orders for this phablet, to ship sometime in November. But I plan to pass, for now. Why? The U.S. offerings of the Note II are too small for me.

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A few days ago I mentioned my new phone. As some observant readers gleaned, it’s a Samsung Galaxy Note. This 5.3” monster Android phone also has a Wacom active digitizer for much more accurate inking. And Samsung has promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich the first quarter of 2012!

I bought this device unlocked from my friends at GSM Phone Source. This model (GTN-7000) works on AT&T bands, including HSPA+ (more on that in a minute). It does not support LTE but, hell, here in L.A. I’m still waiting on LTE for my HTC Jetstream. HSPA+ is good enough (again more on that soon).

The first challenge for all of us early adopters is not getting kicked off the AT&T voice network. You see, AT&T’s internal database of IMEIs erroneously identified the Note as a 7” Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet, which supports voice (and does so in Europe) but AT&T permits on its network as data only. If you’re interested, you can read about both the saga and the solution. While AT&T has been panned for its customer service, when you read these threads (my posts are by genghiskhent, duh), you’ll see AT&T did step up to the plate and fix the problem.

While there no long was a danger of being kicked off the voice network, for data I was stuck in the 3G slow lane. HSPA+ isn’t really 4G (though carriers do advertise it as such). It’s more like 3.5G. And 3.5 is better than 3, right?

The key is to access an APN that supports HSPA+. In order for your phone can access that APN (which has the exotic name “phone”),  you first have to be on the right data plan. I’m on a metered 4G Smartphone plan. So far so good.

But not good enough … yet. Your phone has to be properly provisioned to access the HSPA+ APN. Bottom line is you need to talk to tech support (as opposed to customer support). A very friendly and helpful tech named Todd helped me out. So now I can access the faster APN. Thanks Todd!

I realize there’s a lot of technical mumbo jumbo here, and believe me, I skipped over a lot of details so this wasn’t overwhelming. If you have questions, please post. And Todd, if you happen to see this (I did mention the blog to him), feel free to post a comment, if only “Hello.”

Soon I will post on my actual usage of the Note. Until then …