Galaxy Note orders begin early

Both Americans and Canadians alike got the opportunity to preorder the Samsung Galaxy Note on Sunday. An AT&T listing lets Americans pick the 4G device and a matching plan ahead of the February 19 release. Contract-free purchases aren't available ahead of time on the $300 Android phone, although both the very dark carbon blue and ceramic white colors are options.

In Canada, Best Buy has its own preorder page active for the three carriers planning to pick up the phone and tablet hybrid. Prices in the country vary wildly, however. While all three are currently limited to three-year contract preorders, prices range from $200 for the Bell version to $250 for Telus and a US-matching $300 for Rogers. The group is due on February 14.

The hardware is the same in both countries and every carrier. All of them include LTE-based 4G and vary mostly in their default app loads. The trio shares the Note's signature 5.3-inch, 1280x800 touchscreen and bundled pressure-sensitive S Pen. A dual-core 1.4GHz processor, an eight-megapixel rear camera, a front two-megapixel camera, and 16GB of built-in space are common across the mix.

By Electronista Staff