Samsung has taken the Galaxy brand image to a whole new level that it's reportedly mulling pricing its new Galaxy tablet even higher than its close rival Apple's tablet. While it's no big surprise that Samsung is launching an 8-inch version of its Galaxy Note line of tablets, the latest rumors have it that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will be priced slightly higher than Apple's iPad Mini and that the device will hit the European market around the end of March.

The new reports have emerged from Bulgaria where a local gadget retailer, Tablet.bg has claimed to have obtained the details on the price and release date of Galaxy Note 8.0, Phone Arena reports. According to the report, Samsung will launch its Galaxy 8.0 tablet at a price of some 699 Bulgarian leva (equivalent of 358 euro or $478.93). This is the 16GB Wi-Fi version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, the cheapest model. In comparison, the 16GB Wi-Fi only model of Apple iPad Mini costs 349 euro.

The 3G + Wi-Fi version of the Galaxy Note 8.0 is reportedly priced at around 869 leva, which is around 445 euros or $595.32 while the 3G version of iPad Mini is priced at 429 euros or $570. 92.

Though the rumored 'iPad Mini' killer is expected to arrive in European market by end-march, we should be looking at a U.S. release date sometime in April.

The Galaxy tablet has been leaked extensively in the past and is one of the most expected devices at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) later this month. Galaxy Note 8.0 is rumored to feature an 8-inch screen with a 1280x800 resolution display, a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, options of 16/32GB as internal storage, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, HSPA+ and LTE support and the S-Pen. On the other hand, iPad Mini has a 7.9-inch screen with a lesser 1024 x 768-pixel resolution. Galaxy Note 8.0 may run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and may feature a 4,600mAh battery. The tablet will come with connectivity options such as Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and A-GPS.