Galaxy Note II Successfully Teleported
By Brenda Leeuwenberg for Scoop Techlab
Part of this fabulous deal with Telecom and the Galaxy Note II is that I switch to the Telecom network. I’ve been with Vodafone forever, it kind of goes along with being a Mac user,
a Lambretta driver, a non-mainstream kinda girl. However Vodafone recently dropped my 3Gb data limit to 256MB for no
apparent reason (I suspect I’d been left with a promotion for a bit too long and then they realised) and that proved a
bit hard to live with. So switch I did and it was painless and good.
Scoop Techlab Editor Alastair Thompson at the Telecom store following the teleporting
My Telecom plan is cheaper than the relatively equivalent Vodafone one, with more data = WIN.
The changeover process was easy - ably assisted by the nice man at the Telecom shop and Alastair from Scoop, I answered
a series of questions, signed a few forms and then hey presto in an hour or so I was all switched over! No word yet from
Vodafone, not a peep of protest in fact. So much for my years of custom.
So far the connection is great, data is fast and the Telecom part is all good.
So now I’m not traveling around the world anymore the whole maps thing takes a bit of a back seat and I get to
experience using this lovely piece of tech in my day-to-day life.
I find myself using the stylus more and more. From finding it vital when it was freezing and I had gloves, to just
finding it generally more accurate and easy to write with. I am in love with the swipe-writing thing, that is just so
awesome and time-saving (and apparently not new, but a long-standing piece of Android wizardry). If you write a lot of
phone emails or texts then it’s an outstandingly useful feature.
The phone has some features that make usability great, such as how it is a major plus to have the keyboard include the
number keys with the letters when it comes up - no more having to switch keyboard views just to enter a password.
I have successfully installed my work email and now have 3 accounts up and running. I’m not 100% clear about why I need
two email clients to do that, and it’s not quite as intuitive as I’m used to, but it works. I’m still trying to figure
out how to get the swipe password thing happening rather than having to enter numbers to unlock my phone - if anyone can
help with that (even the 12 year old is stumped) then please let me know!
I found it a bit confusing to figure out how to update apps - I’m used to there being notifications from the App Store
on the iPhone, however after a bit of poking around I think I’ve got it sorted now. Still not 100% sure how to quit apps
- I close out and hope for the best. Searching for and installing apps is painless - where they end up and how to
navigate the initial screens is a bit random but I get there in the end.
Many of the apps I used a lot on my iPhone are just the same on the Galaxy - so there’s no big upset if you’re using
Kanbanfor1, or ShapeUp Club, or playing Sudoku. Even the 12 year old has her own screen full of bizarre games that she’s
managed to find and install without any help from me.
So overall, this is an awesome piece of tech, with a bit of a learning curve it does everything you would want a
smartphone to do. The only problem I have with it is the size. It’s just not a phone-size.
Various comments from friends and family have included:
• “It’s a ladies phone, because ladies have handbags” (side note, I had to actually buy a handbag in Bangkok to
carry the phone because it weighed my pants down …)
• “It’s a man’s phone because they have such big hands”
• “Wow, it’s so BIG”
• “OMG it’s a phablet” (I mean seriously, what kind of word is that?)
It’s certainly too big for my pocket, I can’t use it for running, and I get funny looks when I use it as a phone. But
all those things aside, it’s a gorgeous thing, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, it’s grown on me.
Content Note: This post has been enabled by Telecom NZ , but the thoughts are my own. Scoop TechLab is a project of Scoop Independent
Media http://www.scoop.co.nz . You can find more about the Galaxy Note II on the Telecom website and Scoop TechLab.