NEW YORK: Samsung on Wednesday unveiled its highly anticipated the Galaxy Note 8 as it seeks to leave behind the debacle over exploding batteries in the previous generation of the device, and mount a renewed challenge to Apple and its soon-to-come iPhone 8.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 8 “phablet”, which combines features of smartphones and tablets, in New York as it seeks mount a renewed challenge to Apple and its forthcoming iPhone 8, and leave behind the exploding batteries debacle in the Note 7.
The latest handset features include dual cameras on the back with improved image capabilities, and a signature “S Pen” for drawing or writing on touch screens.
“None of us will ever forget what happened last year,” said Samsung president of mobile communications business DJ Koh.
“But, I will never forget how millions of dedicated Note loyalists stayed with us, so let me express my deepest gratitude.”
But the device left some analysts underwhelmed by its lack of new features beyond a dual-lens camera for telephoto zoom — already available on the iPhone7 Plus.
Shares in Samsung Electronics ended almost unchanged at 2,376,000 won, up just 0.08 percent, in its native South Korea Thursday with uncertainty over the fate of Lee Jae-Yong, the company’s de-facto head, also weighing on market sentiment.
The heir to the Samsung empire faces a verdict Friday in a corruption trial which could see him jailed for 12 years, threatening a leadership crisis at the world’s biggest smartphone maker.
