Hasta La Gadget!

If you want your product to sound like it belongs in the future, why not name it after the future itself? Taking a page from the auto industry, Samsung named its new Galaxy Note 10.1 for the coming year, dubbing it the 2014 edition. And, judging from what we’ve seen of the new Note so far, it’s clear Samsung has greatly improved upon many of the original’s shortcomings; it even added more storage space! Unfortunately, though, Samsung also boosted the base price by $50 as a result. So how does it hold up? Does the new Note 10.1 trick us into believing it came from the future, or is it too easy to look through Sammy’s “futuristic” marketing campaign? Gaze into the Magic 8 Ball with us to find out. %Gallery-slideshow99620%

Filed under: Tablets, Wireless, Samsung, Google

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Three is the magic number. Three is lucky. Three’s a crowd. Okay, ignore that last one, but the number 3 does also apply to the latest Galaxy Note, and we’re curious to know which of those maxims might apply. What are the marquee features this time around? Well, there’s the usual bevy of specification improvements (a 5.7-inch display, quad-core Snapdragon 800 and 3GB of RAM), Android 4.3, some new S Pen features and the small matter of the Gear, that optional, polarizing companion watch.

Samsung makes a great many products, even if you just consider the mobile ones. However, since it burst into existence in 2011, the Note has been up there with the Galaxy S series on the flagship pedestal. So, it’d be fair to say that we’re expecting big things from this big phone, but with a SIM-free price in the UK of £620, it requires even deeper pockets than its predecessor did at launch (that one cost around £530). That said, if you want one, you’ll need big pockets anyway. While you check their size, we’ve scribbled, doodled and gestured the Note 3 with abandon to see if it’s worth the bounty. Read on to find out if it is.%Gallery-slideshow99481%

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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The second installment of Samsung’s 2013 “Unpacked” event series is scheduled for the first Wednesday in September, just before the annual IFA consumer electronics show kicks off in Berlin. As the sketched invite above confirms, the Galaxy Note III will undoubtedly be the star of this show, which is set to begin at 7PM local time (1PM ET) on September 4th. We’ll of course be there to cover the festivities live from the German capital, and Samsung’s promised to provide a YouTube livestream feed that you can follow along with as well.

Filed under: Cellphones, Samsung

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Overseas, it doubles as a phone. Here in the US, it’s just a tablet with an S Pen onboard. For its stateside debut, Samsung’s stripped the Galaxy Note 8.0 of the very HSPA+ radios that made it an 8-inch curiosity at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Now, as it’s primed to go on sale, the Note 8.0 has sobered up, combining a host of compelling TouchWiz software tricks lifted from its high-profile Galaxy mates into a more serious, along with a more pocketable size.

Its 8-inch form factor may be new, but the bits used within should be plenty familiar: Samsung’s borrowed elements from previous products, including the Note 10.1’s 1,280 x 800 TFT display (albeit with a higher pixel density of 189 ppi). Meanwhile, the Note 8.0 draws inspiration from some Samsung phones, too, with chrome accents, a bulging rear camera module and a build that manages to be reminiscent of both the Galaxy S III and Note II. What’s more, it packs a 1.6GHz Exynos 4 Quad inside — yep, just like its predecessor. It’d be easy to pass the Note 8.0 off as a comfortable retread; a Best of edition for the Note line. In a way, it is. But, Samsung’s not so daft — there’s a cushy market for tablets as a second screen and the company knows this all too well. So, can it best the iPad mini as the go-to, do-everything couch companion? Or is this $399 tablet more of a supernova for the Galaxy line? Follow along to find out.

Filed under: Tablets, Samsung

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