Even though they've been the best known competitors to Apple's dominant iPad, Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablets have lagged far behind the leader in popularity. For instance, according to documents Samsung had to release at a patent trial last week, three leading Galaxy Tab models, combined, had sold just 1.4 million units in the U.S. from the fourth quarter of 2010 through the middle of 2012. Apple documents said it sold 29.7 million iPads in the U.S. during the same period.


   In particular, Samsung is betting on the stylus, which the company calls the S Pen, to attract users who find typing on glass to be limiting and might want, at least occasionally, to simulate pen and paper. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs disdained the stylus as a tool, although lots of third-party styluses are now sold for use even with the iPad.

So, Samsung is trying something new. This week, it is releasing a new flagship full-size tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1, designed around two key features the iPad lacks—a stylus and several apps that allow you to use it for note-taking and sketching, and the ability to view two apps at once in a split-screen view.