Samsung S-Pen & Smart Switch

Back in the day, I loved my BlackBerry phones. When app development in the Apple & Android universes exploded, I found myself wanting to do things that all those people could do. I learned how to side-load Android apps on my BlackBerry so that I could keep pace. And I loved my BlackBerry keyboard, so I remained faithful.

One of the other big things that my BlackBerry did was sync with my desktop Microsoft Outlook. Until one day it didn’t! They eventually got around to restoring that functionality but meantime, I discovered that Samsung also did that. With Samsung Smart Switch software, not with a 3rd party app. Because Android wasn’t native to BlackBerry then, one or two of my side-loaded apps weren’t working properly. I decided to give Samsung a whirl. I went with a Galaxy Note because of the size of the screen. I like to read on my phone, it’s always with me so I’m never stuck. I managed to get over not having a keyboard. And the Outlook sync thing worked really well. Once or twice, it’s been screwed up by a new revision. But the support folk usually tide me over ’til they get it sorted out.

You might wonder why I’m still using desktop Outlook, but that’s a whole other story. For another day. The reality is that being able to sync to my phone was a big deal & Samsung did it. It also opened up the full native Android universe for me. And it had the S-Pen!

I admit, the S-Pen was a novelty at first. And the early versions really weren’t all that great. But I’m on my 4th Galaxy Note phone now. And with plan renewal coming up, I’m looking forward to No. 5. In addition to the Oulook sync, my loyalty to the Note phones is driven by the S-Pen. I go to meetings without paper. Though some are so not noteworthy, that I just doodle with my S-Pen! I can take sketches at a customer site. Add notes & arrows to pics. It’s just crazy how useful this thing is. For work & play.

But most importantly … I can draw little ducks!

And that is positively cathartic.

Who knows where the tech world will take us next. Now that BlackBerry is running native Android, maybe I should have another look. And I might be overdue to take at look at the Apple stuff again. There are some newer apps out there now for Outlook sync on the Android platform, maybe that opens up other Android phones for consideration.

But for now, I’ll just carry on salivating about my next Note & S-Pen combo!