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Samsung had introduced its all-new flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 8, earlier today, and along with it, this Korea-based tech giant had also introduced some new S Pen stylus features, and we’re here to talk more about them. The S Pen has been a part of the Galaxy Note line since the beginning, and as time went by, this stylus was becoming more and more useful. Samsung introduced a number of new features with the Galaxy Note 7, and with the Galaxy Note 8, you’re getting some new stuff on top of that.
With the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung is introducing a new Live Message feature, improved Screen off memo capabilities and enhanced Translate functionality. Now, in order to take advantage of the phone’s Live Message feature, all you have to do is tap on the heart-shaped key on the keyboard, while you’re writing a message, of course, or you can activate this via Air Command. In any case, once you do that, you’ll be able to handwrite an animated message, create live emojis or use a number of S Pen’s special effects, like Sparkle or Glow. Once you do that, and you’re happy with your new, Live Message, you will be able to share it as an animated GIF. Do keep in mind that this Live Message needs to be up to 15 seconds in length, otherwise it won’t work. Now, there’s a catch, this won’t be your regular GIF file, we’re looking at AGIFs here, which are not supported by all social media platforms, but are by Facebook’s Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat, to name a few. You can also store this Live Messages in your gallery, if you want, so that you can use them later on. Speaking of animated messages, you can also use S Pen’s Smart Select feature in order to capture clips from videos, and then convert them to animated GIFs, as you were able to do with the Galaxy Note 7’s S Pen.
The Screen off memo feature lets you write messages with your S Pen while the display is off. This feature is not new, but this feature got a bit better with the Galaxy Note 8. You can create up to 100 pages of notes here, and you can also go back to pinned notes in order to edit them, all that from a turned off display. Samsung has also refined the existing Translate feature with the Galaxy Note 8, all you need to do is hover over the display with the S Pen, over the text you wish to translate, that is, and you’ll be able to translate that text to one of 71 languages that are offered. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tech is also included here, so the Galaxy Note 8 will be able to recognize text from images as well, which can be quite handy. Keep in mind that you can now mark entire sentences, as the Translate feature now has the ability to recognize punctuation marks. It’s also worth noting that Samsung’s new PENUP app now has a global community of more than 2.7 million people, and you can share your artwork with all those people if you want, as many people use the Galaxy Note series for drawing purposes. This app also comes with a digital coloring book with over 200 coloring templates for you to enjoy.
The Galaxy Note 8’s S Pen now measures 108mm in length, while it weighs 2.8 grams, and has a 0.7mm rubber tip. The all-new S Pen has 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels, and comes with the ability to change brush strokes based on how hard you press on it, which is not exactly something new, but it’s making a comeback here. All of this actually means that you can be quite precise with the S Pen, and if you like to draw, this might be just the phone for you.
