Samsung hacaught the media attention again on Thursday, Aug.2, after it sent out rather cryptic invitations for an Aug. 29 event. The invites featured a mysterious box and an object resembling a magic wand, most likely depicting a stylus pen. As it turns out, Samsung has now confirmed it will launch the sequel to its huge Galaxy Note at the end of the month.
"We plan to unveil the next Galaxy Note at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin on August 29," Samsung told Reuters plainly, shedding light on any mystery surrounding the upcoming event. However, not everything has been revealed just yet, as it is still uncertain what the new device will look like.
The Aug. 29 event will take place roughly two weeks prior to Apple's rumored unveiling of the next-generation iPhone and two days before the opening of Europe's biggest consumer electronics trade fair - IFA.
While it is unclear at this point what the successor to the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note will look like or what features it will sport, South Korean media reports suggest the new Galaxy Note may boast an unbreakable, 5.5-inch display - even bigger than the current one - a faster processor, and a better camera. The Galaxy Note 2 is rumored to sport either a dual-core 1.7GHz processor or the same quad-core processor powering the international Samsung Galaxy S3, a 12-megapixel camera, as well as a newer version of Android OS (perhaps Jelly Bean?)
Last year, Samsung overtook Nokia to become the world's largest smartphone maker. The South Korean company now aims to hold on to its supremacy by refreshing its line up before Apple launches its highly-anticipated next-generation iPhone 5.
The current Galaxy Note, launched last November, has become one of the greatest contributors to Samsung's mobile business, aside from the company's flagship Galaxy smartphone. The current version already sports a huge 5.3-inch screen, but an even bigger display would further tackle the idea that consumers don't necessarily want a tiny, sleek device. Considering the success of the bulky Galaxy Note so far, the market has plenty of room for "phablets."
The Samsung Galaxy Note helped the South Korean company increase its share of the global smartphone market to 34.6 percent in the second quarter, compared to Apple's 17.8 percent, according to estimates from market research firm Strategy Analytics. Samsung is expected to have increased smartphone shipments to 50.5 million in the quarter, nearly double the 26 million iPhones Apple sold.
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