Samsung only recently announced their latest flagship, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, and the units are still in that limbo period between product announcement and shipping to customers, but that is not stopping the upcoming onslaught of rumors and leaks for the next major Samsung smartphone. That device will be the Galaxy Note 8, assuming Samsung sticks with past naming convention, to be released later this year. Samsung's next stylus-oriented smartphone should generate quite a bit of interest after last year's disaster with the Galaxy Note 7. Over on Weibo, an image surfaced that purports to show the new Galaxy Note 8.
Anticipation will be high for the Galaxy Note 8 as it will now be effectively two years since Samsung has had a new stylus-equipped smartphone on the market. Of course, they attempted to release one in 2016, but after problems with batteries catching fire turned into a product safety and PR nightmare for the company, Samsung was forced to recall all of the units and halt sales. In the world of smartphones, two years is like an eternity, so fans of the Note series of devices who are stuck on an older unit will no doubt be eagerly awaiting the release of this year's update.
As far as the image that surfaced, it is very difficult to tell whether it is a legitimate shot of the device or just a Galaxy S8 staged to look like a Note 8. The image is a shot of the front of the device with an S Pen laying next to it, obviously trying to imply the stylus goes with the device. However, there is no way to tell from the photo whether the device shown has a slot for the stylus.
Assuming for a minute that it is a Note 8, we see that Samsung is bringing the same design cues from the Galaxy S8 to their Note line. That includes the minimal bezels and a front dominated by the screen. The Bixby button is also present and the screenshot shown is highlighting the existence of Bixby on the device.
Unfortunately, no other details were shared with the posting and it should be noted the date of the Weibo posting is April 1st.
source: Weibo
via: Mashable
