A few months ago, Samsung released the Galaxy Note in Asia and Europe. The Note is meant to be a combination of a smartphone and tablet, though not quite as big as a tablet or as small as a smartphone (somewhere in-between the two). In addition, the Note comes with a Stylus pen that makes writing down notes simple. Currently, the Note runs on Gingerbread, though updates are expected to arrive soon. The reason why the Samsung Note is an important device to keep your eye on is two-fold. On the one hand, the Note will be coming to North American soon. On the other hand, Samsung has told press that the company has shipped over one million Notes thus far.

Seemingly, the Note is taking off across the world, and Samsung hopes that the Note will do just as well in North American. Then again, that one million number refers to Notes that have already been shipped and not sold. Of course, if stores are asking Samsung for more Notes, one can assume that the Note will be selling out across the globe everywhere. If you’re curious about the Note, here are a few things that you can expect from this smartphone-tablet hybrid.

A Big Big Screen

The first thing you’ll notice when looking at the Note is the massive screen. This is not your average tablet screen (a bit smaller), but it’s certainly not the usual smartphone screen either (much larger). The 5.3-inch hybrid has a screen that’s definitely large enough to surf the web on while also being small enough to fit inside of any backpack, purse, or pocket. Since this device includes a Stylus pen, writing notes directly onto the screen is also a cinch.

If you think that your smartphone screen is too small, but you don’t want to go the tablet route, the Note might be just what you’re looking for. On the flip side, some consumers don’t like the Note’s massive screen, though those consumers are bound to just purchase a regular size tablet instead. Screens aside, the Note comes with a very obvious drawback that you might want to consider prior to purchase.

Too Large?

In some ways, when looking at the Note it’s clear why some people won’t go for this device. Throughout the past few years, smartphone have become smaller and thinner. Larger phones are often viewed as outdated phones (as silly as this may seem). Since the Note is so very large, it’s easy to assume that some people won’t want to hold such a large phone while talking, taking notes, or doing anything else. After all, the Note is clearly not a regular tablet, since it does have a phone feature, so you’d have to use this device as a phone as well as a writing tablet.

Then again, phones may become large once again (it’s possible). The design of the Note is slick enough, the screen large enough, the phone itself fast enough, and the cameras and other features are current enough – I’m just not sure about the size of that screen, but time will tell. Samsung is expected to ship the Note to North American markets within the next few months. If you are tired of thing smartphones and don’t want a tablet, this might be the device you’ve been longing for .