On Sunday, the smartphone and mobile phone giant Samsung has unveiled an 8” tablet with a capability of making phone calls. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 was the major attraction at the four day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Samsung has shifted its focus to Galaxy Note from Galaxy Tab, offering it in various sizes to bridge the gap between smartphones and tablet PCs. Samsung earlier tablet versions were of 7”, 7.7”, 8.9”, and 10.1” screens. This will be the first 8”screen size, with ability to make phone calls. This will give competitive advantage to Samsung with the recently launched iPad mini from Apple that measures 7.9 inch screen.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is powered by Google’s Android 4.1.2 software. The device comes with a stylus pen allowing users to draw pictures or write documents on the screen. The good thing is that these two applications can be split into two so that you can run them simultaneously at the same time. The stylus pen recognizes messy hand writing too.
The screen of the Galaxy Note 8.0 looks very sharp than apple iPad. The resolution of the screen is 1280 x 800 pixel. The device is just 338 gm in weight, holding it in hand feels it even lesser than that. The camera lens, speaker placement, plastic shell is similar to the Galaxy Note 2. The size of the Note is massive 210.8mm x 135.9mm and you can indeed make and receive calls on it with the integrated earpiece and microphone.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 is powered by 1.6GHz quad core Samsung Exynos processor. An Infrared sensor is installed on the Galaxy Note 8.0’s to control any compatible equipment in your home.
Prima facie the Galaxy Ne 8.0 looks very good, one of the most promising device from Samsung with powerful performance. Will it give fight to Apple iPad mini and how user accepts the new Galaxy Note is yet to be seen?
The price would be around $330 to $350 range for the 16GB version of the Galaxy Note 8.0. Globally the device will be available in second quarter of 2014.