Samsung Galaxy Mega hits the United States (a 6.3-inch eReader?)

[Graham]

My wife loves the sizy Note 2, and would probably go for something even bigger like this in the future. She just uses a bluetooth ear piece. No need to hold the phone to the ear.

Graham

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Graham

My wife loves the sizy Note 2, and would probably go for something even bigger like this in the future. She just uses a bluetooth ear piece. No need to hold the phone to the ear.

Graham

That is correct.

At home, I have us set up with AT&T DECT 6 Phones. (Other manufacturers also use this technology.)

You press the speaker button and can put it on the desk or I usually just set the receiver in a wire pencil cup on the desk. It works marvelously well.

I can do the same thing in the car with my full duplex speaker cell though it doesn't work as well as the DECT 6 system.

So as not to bother people you can use bluetooth or just the old fashioned modern headset.

It would be nice if you could get a simple ear piece that was pulled out of one of the large phones (or an iPad or tablet) and plug it in your ear. The ear piece would then retract into the device when you were finished.

(The funniest and most awkward thing I see in this vein is people taking pictures with their iPad or similar large tablet. It looks like they are holding a dinner plate at arms length.)

[frahse]

Originally Posted by afv011

On a recent trip to SE Asia I was quite surprised at the amount of large phones I was seeing all over the place. Most of those phones were Samsung, the earlier Mega model (a bit smaller, less powerful and goes by a different name). There seems to be a market to tap into, maybe not so much in the US, but other parts of the world are very receptive to this kind of device - large screen, and reasonable if albeit a year old specs (CPU, memory, screen resolution).

I think we have reached the point in the development of hardware for phones where most of the difference between this year's and previous years specifications really does't matter like it used to.

But screens are a different matter. Besides the size, resolution, color, ability to read in bright light, viewing angle (IPS), AMOLED do matter. Very much.

[crossi]

For some people it is a good idea, even essential. My father had macular degeneration. That meant he could only see clearly out of the sides of his eyes not what he was looking at directly. Even for his landline phone he had to get a special one with inch square keys to dial it. A phone big enough to increase the text size might have made it possible for him to see and use a cell phone, at least during the early stages. The small phones are OK for teenagers with young eyes but even at my age they are too small to see comfortably.

[cortman]

Meh. That's a huge phone with a relatively low-res screen, mediocre hardware specs (for modern phones) and if it follows the Samsung trend, very plasticky and cheap-feeling. Nothing I'm getting excited about.
Don't get me wrong, I have an S2 and I like it, but build quality is not all that terrific.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by mycurlylocks

I refuse to hold a tablet to the side of my head to make calls. I thought a 4" screen was large enough on a phone. I want to be able to comfortably hold my phone in one hand.

I wonder how well this will sell?

I can sympathize BUT my choice is between carrying a single, albeit oversized, device vs carrying several devices-and I don't mean packed into my suitcase, I'm talking about what I carry while running errands, doctor visits, etc. Those are the places where I need a reader, web/email, and a phone. For me the choice is clear-I'll hold a 'tablet' to the side of my head if it means I can avoid carrying multiple devices. (And truthfully, BTW, I use a headset so I don't need to hold anything to the side of my head. The 'tablet' stays in my lap while I'm using it, in my pocket otherwise.)

[frahse]

I am used to carrying multiple things. Besides a phone, tablets, tools, instruments, notepads.

I carry a phone on the left side toward the front, on my belt.
A second device will go all the way to the right side.

If more - in my pockets, cargo pockets, cargo vest or a backpack.

Gone are those simple days when a single device, a small phone, sat unobtrusively in my left front pants pocket

[cfrizz]

I am starting to consider consolidating down to one device, it just makes life easier and lighter. I'm waiting and hoping the Google comes out with a Nexus 5 that will be at least a 5" screen, or failing that when Samsung puts out a Note 3 I can get a Note 2 for a lot less than $600+ .

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

I am starting to consider consolidating down to one device, it just makes life easier and lighter. I'm waiting and hoping the Google comes out with a Nexus 5 that will be at least a 5" screen, or failing that when Samsung puts out a Note 3 I can get a Note 2 for a lot less than $600+ .

Life becomes better but not simpler.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by frahse

Gone are those simple days when a single device, a small phone, sat unobtrusively in my left front pants pocket

Not for me-except I quit carrying my phone in my pants pocket after the 1st time I couldn't get it out without standing up-which is hard to do in a car & rather attention-grabbing in a classroom. (I gave up carrying electronic devices in my rear pockets even earlier-now all I carry there is my spare battery.)

I fully agree with you about the camera however. That's one exception I will make to carry multiple devices. Unless I forget, then I go ahead & use my phone no matter how silly it looks.

[Razi]

This is 'innovation' Samsung style: a Monster Phone. Rest assured it will have all the nice bits they took from other more innovative and inventive phone manufacturers. Real innovation costs $$$$, just stretch the bloody thing and release a new model every six month, this is the end of innovation. Theft and copying always kill real innovation. Learn to live with this pseudo-innovation now!