New Delhi: Samsung has announced the launch of the much-awaited Galaxy Note Edge smartphone in India. The phone that has a side display for quick access to the flashlight, Twitter, news and frequently used apps carries a price tag of Rs 64,900.
The phone will be available in India from the first week of January. It will be available in Charcoal Black and Frost White.
The Galaxy Note Edge uses Samsung's flexible-display technology, which came out with much fanfare last year but has seen little use beyond a phone and a fitness device with displays that were slightly curved.
With the Edge, the Korean electronics company is offering a practical use for the curvature. While the main screen remains flat like previous phones, the right edge extends and curves until it reaches the back. That creates a side display so information such as weather and time can be seen from the side when the phone is laid on a table - such as a nightstand next to the bed.
With the side display, the phone's camera functions more like a stand-alone, point-and-shoot camera, as the shutter button and other functions appear on top when the phone is held horizontally. Developers of other apps will be able to specify how the side display gets used.
The side display also provides one-tap access to various apps normally found on the home screen, as well as to functions such as the flashlight and the stopwatch, akin to what Apple offers in the iPhone's Control Center with a swipe up from the bottom.
Like the Note 4, the Edge has an excellent camera, a vibrant display and a stylus for doodling and handwriting. It has a fingerprint sensor and a heart-rate monitor, both still rare in smartphones.
Get the Edge over the Note 4 only if you can think of a need for that side screen.
The Galaxy Note Edge was announced at IFA 2014 in Berlin on Wednesday, alongside the Galaxy Note 4 phone, which lacks the side screen, and a virtual-reality headset called Gear VR.
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