Samsung has confirmed that its Galaxy Note 2 will be unveiled this month. A representative from the company told Reuters that the device will be announced at a Samsung Mobile Unpacked event on August 29, similar to the way the Samsung Galaxy S3 was unveiled.
The follow up to the Korea-based company's "phablet" gadget comes just a couple of weeks before Apple is expected to announce its iPhone 5. The two electronics manufacturers have been pitted against each other in a U.S. patent trial in recent weeks, and these upcoming releases are sure to heighten the competition.
This is slightly later than the Aug. 15 date previously predicted by BGR at the end of July. An anonymous source told the publication that the gadget would be unveiled at a press event on that date.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 is said to boast an even bigger screen than its previous model, which measured at 5.3-inches. The new device will reportedly feature a 5.5-inch display that is said to be unbreakable. Apple has recently increased the screen size for its smartphones as well, as Sharp began shipping 4-inch displays that are believed to be featured on the iPhone 5 on Thursday. This is an increase from the 3.5-inch screen found on the current generation iPhone 4S.
Samsung has become the world's largest smartphone manufacturer, overtaking Apple as of last year, Reuters notes. The company released its Galaxy S3 flagship smartphone of 2012 in May, which was thought to be the major competitor to Apple's iPhone 5. Interestingly enough, rumors indicate that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company will release the iPhone 5 and an iPad Mini at the same time, which could be seen as the antithesis to Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
Smaller tablets are beginning to become more prominent in the mobile industry, as Google's Galaxy Nexus measures at 7-inches, which is the same size expected for the iPad Mini. The Galaxy Note 2 may be two inches smaller than these devices, but could be appealing to fans of the Samsung Galaxy-branded devices, since the Note successor is rumored to boast features that are on par with the Galaxy S3. Apple is clearly making a move to compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7 by putting out a smaller slate, an attempt to dominate the tablet industry.
However, the Galaxy Note 2 will better serve those who don't want to deal with Apple's notorious battery issues and don't want to feel locked in to their device. Not to mention, the Galaxy Note 2 is a phone-tablet hybrid, so users can make phone calls on the device in addition to performing the tasks of a tablet.
Although anticipation for Apple's next iPhone is growing, Samsung has shown that it can prevail in the industry. The company is expected to have increased smartphone shipments to 50.5 million in the April to June quarter of this year, Reuters reports. This is nearly double the number if iPhone sold, which stands at 26 million. Apple shipments in the June quarter have sunk by 26 percent, as users are said to be holding out for the release of the iPhone 5.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 is also predicted to come equipped with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out-of-the-box, but hopefully it will be one of the devices in line to get the Jelly Bean upgrade after the Nexus devices. Korean news source MK Business revealed some of the other features and specs that are predicted to accompany the device, including upgrades to the camera.
"There are also talks of improving the camera resolution to 12.0 or 13.0 megapixels, up from the current 8.0 megapixels, but this may be changed depending on other factors," an official familiar with Samsung's product development told the news source.
Another recent rumor surrounding the device says that the Galaxy Note 2 will come in two different versions, a United States version and an international variant. The upcoming smartphone-tablet hybrid was also reportedly benchmarked recently, and the results indicated that the processor speed could be faster than that of the Galaxy S3. The name of the device was no specified in the listing on GLBenchmark.com, but the mysterious gadget does feature a 1.6 GHz quad-core Exynos 4412 processor according to the listing.
This information has yet to be confirmed by Samsung, but fans will only have to wait until the end of the month to see which features hold true.
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