GALAXY Note 8 – the new Phablet on the block

by Antonio Wells Feb 23, 2013 8:54 PM – Leave your thoughts

The GALAXY Note 8 was officially announced at Mobile World Congress after many leaks. The 8 inch Android powered tablet is set to “re-ignite the mid-size tablet category” according to Samsung. We’ve learned the phablet can also make phone calls, I’m sure folks will use it in speaker phone format rather than welding an eight inch tab to their heads. Still able to be gripped with one hand, it has an improved S Pen with upgraded features in the pen which includes; handwriting-to-text conversion, a suite of S Note templates and tools that allow you to create, edit, manage and share everyday documents, and finally you can use the S Pen to control the Menu/Back buttons (a peeve I had on other devices).

Under the hood is a 1.6GHz A9 quad-core processor, 8-inch display (at 1280×800 resolution, 189 ppi), runs on Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), with 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and comes in 16 & 32 GB models plus expandable up to 64 GB of micro SD card storage. Included is an IR blaster on the side to use the device as a TV remote (powered by Peel- similar to what HTC is using in the One phone). The Note 8 includes a customized version of the popular Flipboard social news aggregation app, whereas using the S Pen to hover article headers reveals content on main screen tiles. There’s Awesome Note, an app for unlimited note-taking uses including Memo, Diary and Must-remember lists. In addition it has Dual View’s split screen capabilities, upgraded Chat-On group chatting app, you can of course read ebooks and much more.

The GALAXY Note 8.0 will be available from Q2 of 2013 worldwide (EUR, KOR, NA, SEA, SWA, MEA, CHN, TW, LA). We are still awaiting pricing details.

: GALAXY Note 8

: GALAXY Note 8 Back

: GALAXY Note 8 Side

GALAXY Note 8 Key Specs:

Network	HSPA+ 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100
Processor	1.6GHz A9 quad-core processor
Display	8” WXGA (1280×800, 189 ppi) TFT
OS	Android 4.1.2 (Jellybean)
Camera	Main(Rear): 5 Megapixel CameraSub(Front): 1.3 Megapixel Camera
Video	Codec: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivX, (1080p Full HD video @ 30fps)
Audio	Codec: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, AC3, FLAC3.5mm Ear Jack, Stereo Speaker
S Pen Optimized Features	S Pen Experience- S Note, S Planner, Email with hand-writing integration- Quick Command, Easy Clip, Photo Note, Paper Artist
	Air View
	Popup Note, Popup Video
	Shape Match, Formula Match, Idea Sketch
Sharing Features	Samsung AllShare PlaySamsung AllShare Cast(WiFi Display) – Mirroring & ExtensionSamsung AllShare Framework
Content Features & Services	Samsung Apps
	Samsung Kies /Samsung Kies Air
	Samsung TouchWiz / Samsung L!ve Panel
	Samsung Hub- Game Hub-Learning Hub / Readers Hub / Music Hub / Video Hub/ Media Hub(US only)
	Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service (version 2.0)
	Smart Stay, Direct Call
	Page Buddy/ Tag Buddy/ Word Buddy
	Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google LatitudeGoogle Play Store, Google Play Books, Google Play MoviesGoogle Plus, YouTube, Google Talk,Google Places, Google Navigation, Google Downloads
	Awesome Note
	Flipboard
GPS	A-GPS + GLONASS (3G Version)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, AllShareCast, BT4.0, USB2.0
Sensor	Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity
Memory	2GB (RAM), 16/32GB microSD (up to 64GB)
Dimension	210.8 X 135.9mm, 338g (3G Version)
Battery	Standard battery, Li-ion 4,600mAh

Developer: Samsung

Tags: Android 4.1, Android Tablet, Awesome Note, GALAXY Note 8, Jelly Bean, Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress 2013, MWC, Note 8, Phablet, S Note, S Pen, Samsung

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