Samsung has been working on its eight-core Exynos 5 Octa system on a chip line for a while, but apparently not long enough. Reports from ETNews in South Korea (via Android Authority) say that Samsung has not worked out all of the bugs in its new line of processors, and so the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will launch as the only Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 version of the device.
Previous rumors had the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 coming in at least three flavors, at least one of which would have likely featured the Samsung Exynos 5420 Octa processor, clocked at 1.9GHz. But likely due to heat-related issues, the Exynos 5420 is probably not going to be ready for the launch date. Samsung has all but announced that it will unveil the Galaxy Note 3 Sept. 4 at the "Samsung Unpacked 2013: Episode 2" event in Berlin. The event, which Samsung announced, telling us to "Note" the date (wink, wink), will almost certainly feature the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the new smartwatch by Samsung, the Galaxy Gear.
Specs and details about the Galaxy Gear smartwatch are still unconfirmed, but it is rumored to have an Exynos 4212 dual core processor, clocked at 1.5GHz, with an ARM-based Mali-400 MP4 GPU and 1GB of RAM. The display was previously thought to be a flexible LCD but expectations have been downgraded, though Samsung is reportedly still working on the technology. In any case, the display of the smartwatch is rumored to be 3 centimeters squared, with a 320 x 320p resolution. The Galaxy Gear is also tipped to have a 2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth and NFC capabilities. Recent reports have also stated that the Galaxy Gear will come in White, Orange, Gray and Black on its initial release date, with a "White Gold" version to follow.
Meanwhile, without the Exynos 5420 processor, the only version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 that has been rumored to be unveiled in early September is the Galaxy Note 3 with a quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, clocked at 2.3GHz featuring an Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM assisting. It's speculated to have a 5.68-inch Super AMOLED display with 1920 x 1080P Full High Definition resolution and a 3,200 mAh battery to power the device. It will probably come in 32GB or 64GB storage options, as Samsung is thought to be dropping the 16GB option for its flagship devices now.
Previous reports have said that Samsung will be launching the two devices very soon after its unveiling at the Samsung Unpacked event. The Galaxy Note 3 is expected to have a release date sometime in mid to late September, with the Galaxy Gear following up a few weeks later in early to mid October. SamMobile has an exclusive leaked list of countries and providers where you can expect to see the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, so with the most recent news, ignore every model but the SM-N9005, which is listed as coming to the U.S. through AT&T.
Even though in the last few weeks details have continuously emerged through very reliable channels, take all of this with a healthy grain of salt. None of these details based on previous reports - including reports from places like Bloomberg News - have been confirmed by Samsung, so there's always a chance for a surprise come Sept. 4. And aren't surprises nice sometimes?
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
