Now that Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 released in the United Kingdom, many are looking forward to it coming to the U.S.
Samsung, which announced the Galaxy Note 2 back in August, sent out invitations for an event on Oct. 24 that could be for the new "phablet."
According to Gottabemobile, "We imagine that Samsung will be hosting the event in the evening to celebrate the Galaxy Note 2′s arrival in the United States though we don't know if it will mark the release date or if Samsung will just provide the details at the event."
PopHerald reported that Android Authority did the very first drop test of the Galaxy Note 2.
"The drop test shows three realistic heights, 2 feet and six inches near the pocket, chest with 4 feet height and finally, five feet near the human ear. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2′s display survived all three layers, but the chrome bezel has shown a little bit of damage. The aluminum-like bezel is, apparently, softer than the back plastic body and the large display of the new phone."
"Youtube, great news. The Galaxy Note 2 held up really well," the site's host exclaimed.
This is good news for the highly anticipated phone. It has to stand up against Nokia's new Lumia 920 and Apple's new iPhone 5.
PopHerald reported that Samsung announced they expect the Galaxy Note 2 to top 20 million sales before the end of the year.
"Sales may grow more than two-fold (compared with the original Galaxy Note)," says JK Shin, Samsung's mobile head.
With the Galaxy S3, Samsung might have its chance at crushing the iPhone 5.
According to mobile analysts firm Localytics, since Aug. 1, sales of the S3 have seen average weekly growth of nine percent, followed by big spikes after the Apple lawsuit verdict and the iPhone 5 announcement, according to CNET.
In the first spike, sales jumped 16 percent from Aug. 21 to Aug. 27. The second spike was from Sept. 11 to Sept. 17 where sales jumped 15 percent.
"Even without the spikes, the S3's average weekly growth rate of 9 percent has stayed firm, which means Samsung is seeing heavy demand regardless of the iPhone 5," CNET reported.
Autoomobile did a comparison test of the iPhone 5 vs the Galaxy S3.
"In conclusion the Samsung Galaxy S3 took more points than the iPhone 5 (4 points versus 3). It beat the iPhone 5 when it came to the processor, display, connectivity and memory. However the iPhone 5 won over for its dimensions, the design and the camera. It was a draw when it came to battery life and the operating system on the handsets."
In terms of price, the unlocked version of the "phablet" with supports GSM carriers is available in U.K. and third-party carriers worldwide.
"According to sources from third-party retailers, the unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is sporting the tag price of US$850, plus additional fees for local tax and shipping. For comparison, the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S3 with 16GB storage costs $650 whilst some third-party sellers online are offering cheaper Galaxy S3 phones to lure more customers. As of today, the cheapest Galaxy S3 phone available online is sporting the tag price of $550," PopHerald reported.
In terms of carriers, right now U.S. Cellular is offering the Galaxy Note 2 for $299.99 on-contract and is taking pre-orders, according to GottabeMobile.
The previous rumor was that the Galaxy Note 2 will launch with AT&T on Oct. 21, but that has not been confirmed, and it looks like Oct. 24 is the date now.
"U.S. Cellular has said that its Galaxy Note 2, which is currently up for pre-order, will be arriving in October. Dates for Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have yet to appear though Samsung previously said November and it could be that they will launch then," Gottabemobile reported.
According to ChristianPost, the new Note will come in the next few months.
AT&T issued a press release on Oct. 1 confirming that it will offer the highly anticipated "phablet" hybrid and that it will be available in the very near future.
"Arriving later this year running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), Galaxy Note 2 with 4G LTE combines the productivity of a tablet with the convenience of a smartphone and the S Pen features you need to unleash your creativity," wrote AT&T.
However, AT&T did not provide customers with an exact release date.
Recent photos were leaked with the Galaxy Note 2 having the T-Mobile. [SEE HERE]
The Galaxy Note 2 will feature a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen and 8-megapixel auto focus camera. It has a 1.6 Ghz quad-core processor and 4G LTE data speeds. It is also expected to have Android 4.1 Jelly Bean pre-installed and come with the S Pen experience.
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