Don’t you just love it when future products are announced ahead of time? That seems to be the case with Samsung’s much-rumored Galaxy Note 3. The third-generation phablet has been discussed around the Web for some weeks now, with many believing that it exists in the same way that iPhone lovers believe the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 exist. Specs and features have been rumored, but Samsung has not yet confirmed the phablet.
That is, until yesterday. Well, somewhat. Samsung published the words “Galaxy Note 3” with a product number, then withdrew it from the site. If you visit now, you will no longer be able to find the product listed. Did this happen by chance? Nope. Was this a Freudian slip? Yes, if by “Freudian slip” you mean a “slip of the finger” rather than a slip of the tongue.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 Blunder
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On Samsung’s Kazakhstan website, as seen in the picture above, Samsung published a list of devices that the company considers its top devices. Among those in the list are products that we’ve heard rumors about as of late, such as the Galaxy S4 Zoom and Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 (the third-generation, 10-inch, Galaxy tablet). Guess what else was published on the Kazakhstan website? the Galaxy Note 3, with the number SM-N9000 beside it. This product number is not one that we have seen before with regard to Samsung’s phablet handsets.
The Galaxy Note tablets come with the letters “GT” followed by an “N,” then a string of numbers. Even with the Galaxy Note 2, Samsung used the letters “GT” and then a string of numbers (“N7100”). With the new “SM-N9000” number, Samsung is indicating that the device will match up more with its Galaxy Tabs in its size, while still retaining characteristics of its “Note” collection (hence the “N”). Since Samsung’s tablets come no smaller than seven inches, we believe Samsung will push forward with a larger display on its Galaxy Note 3, possibly reaching 6 inches.
What else can we know about the Galaxy Note 3?
Galaxy Note 3 Features and Specs
According to SamMobile, one of the top sites for all things Samsung, the Galaxy Note 3 will come with the following features and specs:
- 5.99-inch display
- TouchWiz UI
- S-Pen Support
- LTE
- 802.11ac WiFi
- 2.3Ghz, quad-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor
- 13-megapixel, rear-facing camera
- 1920 x 1080p screen resolution (full HD display)
- 1080p video recording
The Galaxy Note 3 will likely match the screen resolution, HD video, and camera capabilities of the GS4. The Galaxy Note 3 will differ from the GS4, however, in that it will have S-Pen support. At one point, tech enthusiasts hoped that Samsung would bring S-Pen support to future Galaxy S phones (since the GS3 has S-Pen support), but Samsung decided to abandon this and maintain the distinction between the two handsets.
Samsung’s 802.11ac WiFi will bring Gigabit Internet capabilities to its phablet collection. According to recent news, Samsung wants to bring 5G LTE (above 4G LTE) to our consumer handsets by 2020. Pretty impressive, huh?
Galaxy Note 3 Competitors: ASUS and HTC
Many analysts believed that Samsung’s “phablet” collection was nothing short of absurd when Samsung first released the Galaxy Note 1. Well, flash forward to today and you will notice that Samsung’s “phablet” has started a phablet revolution. Two other competitors have plans to emerge with phablets of their own by the end of 2013: ASUS and HTC.
ASUS announced the creation of its own phablet, called the “FonePad Note,” at Computex this year. While this new device is called the “FonePad Note FHD 6” and comes with a six-inch display, ASUS also revealed a seven-inch FonePad Note at Mobile World Congress earlier this year. It includes, among other things, a stylus (Samsung’s chief distinction in its Note phablets) and its “Note” name comes straight from Samsung’s phablet lineup.
In the other corner stands HTC Corporation, a company that has seen its share of administrative departures as of late. HTC intends to emerge with its very own HTC phablet this year (we do not know what HTC will name it; hopefully, not the “HTC Note”).
The HTC phablet, codenamed “T6,” will sport a 5.9-inch display, 2.1MP front-facing camera, 16GB of internal memory storage, a 2.3Ghz, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, as well as a stylus and fingerprint scanner. According to BGR, the HTC T6 phablet will come loaded with Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie (KLP) and arrive this Fall.
These phablets will become Samsung’s Note competitors this year. What do you think? Are you ready for the Note 3 or do you prefer smaller handsets? Let us know in the comments.