According to reports, Samsung is apparently all set to release its new ‘Galaxy Note’ mobile device in the US. The device, which features a large 5.3-inch screen, is a phone-tablet hybrid which can be used either as a traditional handset or as a tablet.

While the tech journalists appear to be somewhat confused as to which category – phone or tablet – the Galaxy Note can be fitted in, it is believed that the new gadget will be a convergence device which will boast the finger-controlled interface popularized by Apple, as well as an S-Pen stylus plus the notably big screen.

To be available with a price-tag of $300 from AT&T, with a two-year contract, the Galaxy Note is a handset which offers the spaciousness of a tablet device to some extent. The gadget boasts the S Memo app, Bluetooth connectivity, and 8-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front camera; and it runs on AT&T's high-speed LTE data network, where available.

With the Galaxy Note to be powered by the last phone-specific ‘Gingerbread’ version of Google’s increasingly popular Android operating system, CNET editor Jessica Dolcourt is of the opinion that the gadget is basically a phone which has some additional features, and cannot take on the full-fledged tablets available on the markets.

Meanwhile, another CNET editor Brian Bennett opines that the Galaxy Note may have the potential to knock out the requirement of a separate, larger device because it looks like “a mini-tablet” which “squeezes all the essential abilities of a bigger 10-inch Honeycomb slate into a 5.3-inch machine.”