Hasta La Gadget!

Android tablet fans will have a new tablet to choose from starting tomorrow when the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet hits stores in the U.S. As the name suggests, the tablet has an eight-inch screen with a native resolution of 1280 x 800. The tablet runs the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 uses a 1.6 GHz Samsung Exynos Quad-core processor and has 2 GB of RAM. The tablet comes with 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for up to 64GB of additional storage. The tablet also has integrated dual-band 802.11/b/g/n Wi-Fi and a 4600 mAh battery. It’s also got a Wacom-based digitizer screen with Samsung’s S-Pen pressure-sensitive stylus.

Other hardware features for the little tablet include a five-megapixel rear camera that can record full HD resolution video and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. The tablet also comes 50 GB of free Dropbox storage good for two years from the date of purchase. The Wi-Fi only Galaxy Note 8.0 will sell for $399.99(USD). Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing or a release date for an LTE version in the U.S.

Engadget and The Verge both have posted early reviews, with decidedly mixed feelings about the little tablet.

When Samsung first took the wraps off the original Galaxy Note, many were a little surprised at the size of the device which went well beyond the size of most smartphones during that time. Many expected it would be a novelty sort of device, but safe to say its success has not only spawned a successor in the Galaxy Note 2, but has paved the way for other devices from HTC, LG, and Sony to release similarly-sized devices as well. However according to a report from mobile marketing analyst, Flurry, they have deemed phablet devices to be a fad, and that mid-sized smartphones are currently dominating. (more…)

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Samsung’s Galaxy S IV hasn’t even been revealed yet and news of another top-tier Samsung smartphone is already threatening to steal some of its spotlight. The Korea Times reported earlier today that the Korean electronics giant is busy working on a Galaxy Note phablet followup with a 5.9-inch display behind closed doors.

If the Korea Times’ report holds true then Samsung is taking a more measured approach to how it scales up smartphone screen sizes — as PocketNow points out this is (thankfully?) a hair smaller than what some earlier rumors suggested, since for a while there it looked like Samsung was considering pushing out a phablet with a 6.3-inch screen. The Times’ source also noted that the Note III would sport an eight-core Exynos processor, a not-so-subtle reference to Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa chipset.

Samsung isn’t the first to push up against that 6-inch barrier, and they’ll hardly be the last. Chinese OEM Huawei blew past it earlier this year when it unveiled the hefty Ascend Mate and its 6.1-inch screen at CES, and ZTE revealed its 5.7-inch Grand Memo during Mobile World Congress. For better or worse, the plus-sized phone trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

In the past I’ve asked how big is too big for these sorts of phablets, but looking back that’s sort of a restrictive question. The word “phablet” doesn’t have a universally accepted definition (it’s usually just used to refer to big honking phones) — perhaps the better question is at what point are devices like the Note and Grand Memo more tablet than phone?

For what it’s worth, Samsung and rivals like Huawei and Asus seem keen on making that sort of distinction a meaningless one. The Korea Times report comes just days after Samsung pulled back the curtain on its Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress — it’s the company’s smallest Note tablet to date and some versions of the device feature the ability to make voice calls. Asus (perhaps swept up in a fit of wordplay-induced whimsy) also showed off its 7-inch FonePad tablet at MWC, and touted its ability to place voice calls almost as much as its reasonable price tag.

Samsung confirmed earlier this year it planned to unveil its Galaxy Note 8 at Mobile World Congress, and the company did just that earlier this week as they look to directly compete with the iPad Mini. And now that MWC is officially over, Samsung is reportedly very confident in its ability to sell the Android-powered tablet.

According to Taiwanese site DigiTimes, Samsung is aiming to ship around one milling units of the Galaxy Note 8.0 every month. This isn’t the first time the company has shown its confidence in selling its Galaxy products as earlier this year, they believed they would sell 10 million Galaxy S4 smartphones every month.

We know a lot of you like the Galaxy Note 2 and the iPad Mini’s success shows there’s a market for smaller tablets. But would this translate to one million Galaxy Note 8.0 sales on a monthly basis after it’s released? Only time will tell, although we think Samsung may be overshooting the amount of Galaxy Note 8.0s it’ll sell on a monthly basis.

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It would appear that Samsung will indeed be showing off their fabled Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet this coming week at Mobile World Congress 2013. We’ve been sent a sort of spy-shot of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 being blasted on a large screen inside the new MWC convention location – the show still being set up in a very large way. True to what we’ve seen in several leaked bits and pieces over the past couple of weeks, this device is everything you might expect it to be – with an 8-inch screen!

What we’re seeing here is tablet device that’s ever-so-slightly larger than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, this time sporting much of the same look and the S-Pen that the most recent Galaxy Tab lineup works with. This device appears to be very much working along the lines of the Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, complete with a similar-sized bezel, silvery rim, and 2nd-gen S-Pen. We also know now that it comes in white – surprise!

Other than that it’s a relative mystery as to what we’re going to work with. One of the stranger bits we’re seeing here is the inclusion of the earpiece speaker that we’d otherwise only see on a Galaxy Note II or smaller handset. Generally this kind of speaker is made for holding up to your ear – could this be the largest smartphone yet?

You’ll want to have a peek at our full collection of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tips and leaks in the timeline below. Until such a time as we’ve got confirmation of specifications, you know as much as we do – stay tuned to our Samsung tag portal as well as our Mobile World Congress 2013 tag portal all week long for what’s certainly going to be an exciting week!

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 leaked at MWC is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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