Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 review

How do you fit 12.2 inches of tablet into your life? That's a question I'm sure Samsung must have pondered at some point before greenlighting its Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, a device that stretches the upper limits of what we can easily call a tablet. It's also something I've wondered myself, given that its size puts it within uncomfortably close competition with 11- and 13-inch laptops. That increase in screen real estate comes at a high price, too: $750 for a 32GB model and $850 for 64GB, both WiFi-only. LTE-capable models are coming soon, but Samsung hasn't announced pricing yet. As you might imagine, then, the Note Pro 12.2 isn't intended for your average consumer. No, the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is aimed at the prosumer niche of the market -- whoever and whatever that actually means. The Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 isn't a complete departure for Samsung, though. Cosmetically, it's near- identical to the Note 10.1 2014 Edition, except larger. There's that same faux-leather back replete with "stitching," and 2,560 x 1,600 display. What, then, aside from a massive screen, makes the Note Pro 12.2 different enough to justify the price? On paper, the answer to that would center on the version of Android it ships with (4.4.2 KitKat) and its ability to connect remotely to your PC, as well as Samsung's Flipboard-like Magazine interface. Let's be real, though. When it comes to the Note Pro 12.2, size clearly matters most. But that begs the question: Can you and your prosumptive tendencies handle it?

Samsung, Google confirm Galaxy Nexus volume bug

It's the first phone to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and Google and Samsung have confirmed it's got a bug that randomly drops the handset volume.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to ship with Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” pre-installed as its operating system—and it’s coming to Verizon Wireless next month—but early customers in Europe have been reporting problems with the phone’s volume level: the device’s audio volume will drop to nothing for seemingly no reason, after which the device’s hardware volume controls become unresponsive. Early Galaxy Nexus customers have been flooding user support forums over the issue, and now both Samsung and Google have confirmed that they’re aware of the problem—and a fix should be coming soon.

“Regarding the Galaxy Nexus, we are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix,” Samsung UK said in a statement. “We will update devices as soon as possible.”

Google released a nearly identical statement.

The bug is particularly problematic for listening to music or using other media, or relying on alarms or other audio alerts.

Neither company elaborated on the cause of the problem—debate has been raging whether it is in hardware or software—or detailed when a fix might be available. Some retailers have promised customers a fix will be available before the end of the month, although it’s not clear they have any concrete information on which to base those reassurances.

Speculation from hardware-savvy members of the Android community (like this one from Lee Johnston) seems to have centered on radio interference as the cause of the problem, with Google’s “fix” for the device basically amounting to increasing the threshold for what the device consideres to be user input on the volume controls, rather then random fluctuations caused by EM interference.