Samsung's Galaxy Note II will go on sale by mid-November at AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and US cellular, Samsung said Wednesday for the first time.
The U.S. version of the device can run on fast LTE or HSPA+42 networks offered by the major carriers. Pricing will be announced by the carriers at a later date, Samsung said.
Reviewers who had time with a European edition of the device last month noted its 5.5-in. (1280 x 720 pixel resolution) display, an increase over the original 5.3-in version.
The original Note was called a success for Samsung, which introduced a digital stylus called the S Pen for the plus-sized smartphone. The stylus has been updated in the Note II.
"The original Galaxy Note created a new category of smartphones by combining the best of a smartphone with the best of a tablet," Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America, said in a statement. Samsung sold more than 10 million of the original devices in less than a year, demonstrating that the Note category is "taking hold," he said.
The Note II is the first device in the U.S. to feature Samsung's Exynos 1.6GHz quad-core processor, designed for LTE networks. The device features 2GB of RAM with 16GB of internal storage and room for 64GB more with a microSD card.
The battery in the new device is 3100 mAh, 24% larger than the original Note. The Note II is also slight lighter and narrower than the original.
The Galaxy Note II, shown with several optional covers.
