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  Samsung’s new GALAXY Note. Is it a smartphone? Or is it tablet? These are the questions that Samsung wants you to consider when you hold their freshest gadget, which will soon be available with AT&T. Certainly the gadget blurs the line between phone and tablet, mainly with its unique size. It is significantly bigger than most smartphones (it has a 5.3-inch screen), however it is still slim enough to comfortably hold in one hand and fit in most pockets. And lighter than you might expect. However, the Note has more to offer than simply being a fusion of tablet and smartphone; one of its coolest features is how well it works with its stylus — the S Pen — while still having a touchscreen that is fully responsive to your fingers. This allows you to sketch and draw and take free hand notes with impressive accuracy, without forcing you to take out a little, special pen every time you want to use your phone. Plus, the S Pen allows you to instantly crop and cut images (your own or from the web) and add them to your notes, presentations or emails. The full-sized pen, shown here, is very easy to hold, just like you would a regular pen. But open it up and out comes a tiny, easy-to-carry stylus that even tucks away into the body of the Note. The rest of the Note’s features are what you would expect from a top-of-the-line new smartphone. It runs on Android’s Gingerbread (Likely soon to be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich, after they figure out how to make the drawing part work with ICS) and has an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with HD video recording capabilities. The front-facing camera is 2 megapixels and perfect for video chat. Samsung has not yet disclosed how long its Li-on 2,400 mAh battery lasts, however we think it certainly can’t be worse than the HTC Thunderbolt’s. All and all the GALAXY Note feels like what we always wanted Palms (PDAs) to be. Unlike most new smartphones it emphasizes utility over entertainment, by expanding the ways you take notes and use images. We sure hope Samsung decides to release this little tablet/big smartphone soon! CES2012