Our Samsung Galaxy Note 3 release date, features and prices rumours article will grow to accommodate even more speculation as the months roll on. So save this page and keep checking back for regular updates When the Samsung Galaxy Note phone and tablet hybrid - or 'phablet' as it's most commonly known - was launched, it was initially met with some scepticism as to who'd want it. However, Samsung proved everyone wrong and the Note was a success. Its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, received a warm welcome, when it was unveiled at at the IFA show in August 2012. While its flagship sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S3, continues to sell in its droves, the Note 2 hasn’t performed too badly, either, shifting 2m units in November alone, proving demand for so-called phablet devices is growing. No wonder then, just months after its release, attention is turning to its suspected successor, the Galaxy Note 3. We round up all the latest news and rumours to find out what to expect. SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 3 RELEASE DATE Samsung is currently working on a developing a line of flexible OLED displays for its 2013 smartphone range, which could hit shelves in the next few months, according to The Sun. The paper claims Samsung is looking to reduce investment in its liquid crystal display (LCD) division to focus on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and plastic-based flexible displays, which can be bent and twisted, which are rumoured to be unveiled in early 2013. This means we could expect to see the Note 3 emerge before the Note 2 reaches its first birthday, although official release date rumours have been thin on the ground so far. SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 3 FEATURES While most manufacturers are focusing on making their devices smaller and slimmer, Samsung is reportedly going in a different direction with the next-generation Note. Sources claim it could have an even bigger 6.3in screen. If true, this could take it up to tablet status, as several leading technology companies already have 7-inch tablets available, including Google (Nexus 7) and Apple (iPad Mini). The oversized screen will apparently also have a 1080p (1,920x1,080) resolution, the Korea Times reports. Samsung has unveiled its octa-core Exynos 5 chip, with eight processor cores. Designed as a replacement for the Eyxnos 4 quad-core chip powering the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 devices, and an upgrade to the Exynos 5 Dual found in the Samsung-manufactured but Google-branded Nexus 10 tablet, the Exynos 5 Octa promises significant gains in performance and power usage. The Exynos 5 Octa combines a quad-core next-generation 28nm 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A15 processor - an upgrade to the 1.6GHz Cortex-A9 chip found in the Galaxy S3 and the 1.7GHz dual-core Cortex-A15 chip in the Nexus 10 - with a secondary quad-core Cortex-A9 processor running at 1.2GHz. The idea, Samsung explains, is that when the phone or tablet is doing lightweight work - playing music, making a call, browsing the internet - the more powerful Cortex-A15 cores can be completely disabled and the Cortex-A9 cores used instead. The result, Samsung claims, is an improvement in power efficiency of around 70 per cent compared to the Exynos 4 Quad in the Galaxy S3. Samsung has yet to confirm which devices will get the Exynos 5 Octa - but with the Eyxnos 4 Quad appearing in the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2, it seems more than likely that the Octa will launch in the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3. PRICE When the Note 2 launched last year, it cemented itself as a device for the technophiles, costing £550. We would usually expect the next iteration to cost around the same amount (and the Note 2 getting a price drop after the Note 3 lands). A larger screen could mean that it's more expensive and costs more than £600, though.
