Note 8 announcement: all of the news from Samsung’s launch event – The Verge

Samsung is releasing a new Gear VR because the Note 8 won’t fit in older headsets

2017-08-23T17:03:46-04:00

Alongside the Galaxy Note 8 announced today, Samsung also revealed that it's making yet another iteration of the Gear VR headset that's designed to support the Note and its 6.3-inch display. Aside from accommodating Samsung's newest phone, very little else seems different between this Gear VR and the previous one we saw a few months back that bundled in a handheld, physical controller. That one came out at the same time as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, but apparently Samsung wasn't forward-thinking enough to be sure it'd work with the next Note. The headset still costs $129.99.

The Note 8 won't work with existing Gear VR headsets - only the brand …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung confirms it’s working on a smart speaker

2017-08-23T14:45:33-04:00

Samsung is already working on getting into the smart speaker market. DJ Koh, president of Samsung's mobile division, confirmed the news to CNBC today at its Galaxy Note 8 event, saying the product would launch "soon." That timeline isn't specific, but at least it's something. Koh says he's already working on the device and wants to create a "fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices, and [he] want[s] to be moving quite heavily on it."

He didn't say whether the speaker would feature the company's new digital assistant, Bixby, but I think it's safe to assume that would be the case. Samsung has already started including the assista …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Why does Samsung think you’d be willing to spend nearly $1,000 on a Galaxy Note 8?

2017-08-23T14:24:40-04:00

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 | Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge

I've been looking at the $930 starting price for the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8, scratching my head in bewilderment, looking at that price again, and furrowing my brows. We don't usually get many mainstream phones with a starting price north of $900 ($960 if you opt for Verizon or AT&T, and even worse in the UK thanks to the pound's Brexit-induced weakness), and I find myself wondering about the market dynamics nudging the flagship price tiers up. Is it a matter of market saturation encouraging phone vendors to move up into higher price brackets so as to make more per unit sold? Was there always an audience for $1,000 phones, which Samsung is …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 8 customers get free in-home visits from HelloTech

2017-08-23T12:51:24-04:00

For the launch of its new Galaxy Note 8 smartphone, Samsung is - not surprisingly - doubling down on the whole support thing. New Note 8 buyers in the US will get 60 days free of Samsung Premium Care service if they buy through Samsung.com, a service that normally costs $11.99 per device per month and includes everything light support to coverage for damage.

For the in-home support portion of the service, Samsung is relying on a lesser-known logistics startup based out of Los Angeles called HelloTech. And HelloTech is promising Note 8 customers that it will come to them whenever they have questions about their new phones, whether that means …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung apologizes for the Note 7 again with a ridiculous hype reel for the Note 8

2017-08-23T12:12:02-04:00

Before Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 8 during its event in New York City today, it first addressed last year's Note 7 battery mishap. This is not new. Samsung has spent the last year issuing conciliatory statements about its phone that repeatedly caught fire, as well as how poorly it acted in response to those failures. But this time around, the company opted for an uplifting tone, starting the whole event off with a sugary reel of supportive words from Note fans.

Opening the event this way was a sign that, in a post-Galaxy S8 world, Samsung feels comfortable enough to drop the apologetic tone. It was also a fairly shrewd marketing move …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung says Spotify support is coming to Bixby later this year

2017-08-23T12:09:32-04:00

Samsung announced today that users of its Bixby digital assistant will soon be able to use voice control to play music through Spotify. The news, announced by director of product marketing Jonathan Wong onstage at Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 reveal, is a welcome addition to the list of Bixby integrations, which so far have been somewhat lacking since the product arrived in the US for the S8 and S8 Plus in July after months of delays.

Billed as a central hub for interacting with computing devices of all types, Bixby is Samsung's all-in-one answer to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Samsung's three-tier approach mixes a voice control interface …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Here’s how the Galaxy Note 8 stacks up against the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8

2017-08-23T12:05:04-04:00

It's been a long road for fans of Samsung's Galaxy Note phones, but the Note 8 is finally here. Combining the stunning design of the S8 with the iconic S Pen and the biggest screen Samsung has ever put on a phone, the Note 8 looks like it could be the ultimate phablet-style device.

It's harder than ever to stand out in the smartphone industry

But it's also true that it's harder than ever to stand out in the smartphone industry. Looking at the lineup of the Note 8's contemporaries, it's hard to find things that are wholly unique to the Note. Nearly every flagship has a comparable Snapdragon 835 processor and tons of RAM, the Note 8 is by no m …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Here’s what the Galaxy Note 8 will cost at AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint

2017-08-23T11:54:23-04:00

The Note 8 is here, and it might just be Samsung's biggest and best smartphone ever. It's also one of its most expensive yet. So if you're interested in picking one up, you should be prepared for a big price tag to go with that giant screen.

T-Mobile is the cheapest place to pick up a Note 8, where the phone runs for $930. Alternatively, the carrier is offering the new device for a $210 down payment and $30 monthly installments with T-Mobile's Equipment Installment Plan, or for $0 down and $39 a month for Jump on Demand customers.
Verizon has the Note 8 for $960, or for $40 a month for 24 months.
At AT&T, the Note 8 runs for $950, or $31.67 f …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung is offering Galaxy Note 7 owners a discount on the Note 8

2017-08-23T11:28:00-04:00

Samsung announced today that former Note 7 owners can trade in their current phone for a value of up to $425 off the Note 8. The huge discount is a gesture of reconciliation after last year's Note 7 incident, when many devices caught on fire due to defective batteries. Eligible customers can take the company up on the offer via Samsung.com when preorders go live on August 24th.

Samsung had to recall nearly 3 million copies of the phone, which was a huge blow to the company's reputation. To make matters worse, some replacement Note 7s that Samsung sent out also overheated and exploded. The recall cost Samsung $5 billion already, so the steep …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung’s Gear Fit 2 Pro can track your swims, thanks to better water resistance

2017-08-23T09:56:38-04:00

A new version of Samsung's fitness-tracking wearable, the Gear Fit 2 Pro, has leaked online ahead of the company's Unpacked event with a listing on Samsung's Malaysia website, which was spotted by Evan Blass.

The Gear Fit 2 Pro is an upgraded version of Samsung's Gear Fit 2 fitness tracker from last year. The biggest addition is its water resistance up to 5ATM (roughly 50 meters or around 164 feet), meaning you'll be able to wear the Gear Fit 2 Pro while swimming. To that end, along with the improved water resistance, Samsung is also adding a new Speedo app to help track your swimming. There's also a new and improved buckle strap, which sho …

Read the full story at The Verge.