Samsung S-Pen; How It Helps Samsung Against Apple

Samsung has been building up a strong lineup to compete with the current king of mobile devices, Apple. While devices like the Galaxy S3 directly go up against the iPhone, a couple of Samsung's other offerings are instead trying to entice consumers into a different experience. 

Beginning with the Galaxy Note, now with the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and with the soon-to-be released Galaxy Note 2, Samsung has been touting the S-pen stylus as something Apple cannot deliver.

The S-pen stylus is exactly what it sounds like - a digital pen. It debuted with the 5.3-inch Galaxy note and now has a bigger second iteration with the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. If you are thinking of buying any of these device, or the upcoming Galaxy Note 2, then you might be wondering what exactly the S pen does.

For the purpose of this overview, I wil be speaking about the S-pen and its features as it comes with the Galaxy Note 10.1, since that is its latest version. 

You can use the S-pen to do all the normal motions and gestures that you would do with your fingers, including swiping, opening apps, and more. But it's when you start using the S-pen-specific apps that the stylus really begins to shine.

The app S-Note allows users to create greeting cards, magazines, memos, sketches, and more. The app recognizes shapes and handwriting and can augment them to a standard design.

Adobe and Samsung have also teamed up to beef up the S-pen experience. Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas allow users to use the stylus to draw and add effects.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet also comes with many other S-pen-specific apps such as Omni Sketch and Slice It. 

The S-pen is fun and intuitive to use, and makes using a tablet or the smaller Galaxy Note series much more interesting to use. With the latest, larger Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet version, Samsung has offered  good incentive to give their device a try over other ones.