The Galaxy Note 9 Rumor & Pre-Release Thread

[r3apercr3w]

What are the leaks anyone have leaks to begin with?

 

[The_Chief]

What are the leaks anyone have leaks to begin with?

That's a GOOD question... and it's important to know the difference between "leaks" and "rumors". I recently busted CNET, and blasted them in the comments, for an article about "leaked images" revealing the Note9 - which turned out to be nothing more than RENDERS. Renders are nothing more than fancy, computer-generated images based on guesswork. Actual LEAKS are photos and information from insiders in the supply chain. Samsung will often subcontract out the job of making circuit boards, or USB and headphone ports, or the glass & metal parts for the frame, to third-party manufacturers. While those companies sign NDAs to not release information, someone on the production line might sneak a photo here, or take a measurement there... and then leak that information out.

 

[Hadron]

I get really bored with the various tech blogs posting "concept" images (i.e. fan fiction) as if they were actual information. Some of it is poor journalism, some is pure clickbait, and I've almost given up caring which type of idiot they are.

 

[The_Chief]

It just surprised me that the once-venerable CNET has been reduced to click-bait sensationalism. The same with Forbes: they will have the same article, published with two or three similar headlines, with the sole objective of grabbing as many spots in news aggregate sites and apps as possible. I have News & Weather Widget, with several custom topics (ie, Android and Galaxy Note)… and Forbes will have two or three headlines that read ALMOST alike - but link to the same story.

 

[no one]

Is it too much to hope for that the hopelessly useless bixby and her summoning button take a trip to the isle of no return?

 

[Hadron]

Is it too much to hope for that the hopelessly useless bixby and her summoning button take a trip to the isle of no return?

Yes, absolutely. The future has been decreed to be in personalised assistants and their enhanced data-gathering capabilities. If Samsung remove Bixby then they cede that game to Google. You will have Bixby, you will have a Bixby button, you will have a Bixby-equipped TV, a Bixby fridge, a Bixby toothbrush, you will be assimilated...

 

[no one]

Will the toothbrush come with its own plaque?

 

[The_Chief]

I guess I'm in the minority with Bixby, then. I actually LIKE Bixby and use it (her) a lot because of its (her) excellence at complex commands. I was driving yesterday and, not wanting to text and drive (JUST SAY NO!) I told Bixby to open messages, send a text to Darling Bride and attach the latest picture in the gallery. Bam, bam, bam, bam - all I had to do was hit SEND, and I probably could have said that. Bixby has its limits - they all do, but I actually chatted with Samsung this morning to see if Bixby was coming to our TV.

No. It's only going to TVs year model 2017 and up. Of COURSE ours would be a 2016...

But I've had really bad experiences with Samsung appliances, so no more of those. However, we DO have the SmartThings hub controlling stuff in our home, so it would be nice to tell Bixby "goodnight" and the TV goes off, the lights go out and the bedroom fan turns on.

 

[no one]

I had the S8, and now I have the S9+, bixby has been a complete failure. No matter how many times I train her, even with voice wake up sensitivity sent to high, it never responds. I am hardly impressed with bixby's quick commands either. All of that is rather simple to do. In order to have bixby sent a text, you need to use Samsung's pathetic messaging app.

Personally, I think all digital assistants are pretty much useless, they're nothing more than some asinine gimmick. bixby is the worst! I realize they are the future. As the smart home becomes more common, they will become more useful. But, as of right now, I have no use for them.

 

[The_Chief]

Whoa, hold the presses! Check this Forbes article out! Ice Universe, who has been leading the charge in criticizing the Note9, has warmed up fast to the Note9 UX, saying it's "worth the wait". Samsung is betting the farm on Bixby, so yes: it will be interesting to see how Bixby 2.0 differs from the original. Eight weeks to go!

 

[major2112]

Yes, absolutely. The future has been decreed to be in personalised assistants and their enhanced data-gathering capabilities. If Samsung remove Bixby then they cede that game to Google. You will have Bixby, you will have a Bixby button, you will have a Bixby-equipped TV, a Bixby fridge, a Bixby toothbrush, you will be assimilated...

Into the collective!

 

[The_Chief]

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that this post is a little off-topic... but it DOES involve the Note9's competition, so that's gotta count for something. I really just wanted to post it for its sheer entertainment value.

Anyway, the fanbois at BGR (who seize every opportunity to gush all over the iPhone, even if no opportunity is there) are in a tizzy over the IDEA that the very iPhone notch they've been talking up, as necessary and important, will dwindle away by 2025:

http://bgr.com/2018/05/27/iphone-x-design-2018-evolution-notch/

So they're giddy as schoolgirls, maybe even more so, at the prospect that the notch they've been pretending to love and embrace will be a thing of the past in 7 years and they can, presumably, be intellectually honest again LOL

I find most amusing their statement about EVERY phone this year coming out with a notch: which is a pretty good indicator that they don't consider non-iPhones to be phones. All these non-iPhones must be something like practice devices until the owners can get REAL phones.

Never mind that Android devices comprise over 75% of all phones, and Apple has less than 20%. We're all just posers...

... Posers without notches LOLOLOL

 

[Hadron]

They are getting in a state because some Reddit type has posted a couple of mockups based on their own private speculations? If BGR had any credibility they'd not have reported in the first place as it's meaningless - what that says about readers who then get worked-up about the non-content is, well, probably best left unsaid...

 

[InfernalByte]

Yea, Bixby won't even 'turn on the flashlight' unless your data connected.

 

[The_Chief]

New Note9 specifications are coming out: 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. Neither of these impress me.

(a) I don't know that more RAM is useful. Yes, the 6GB in the Note8 is necessary because the OS eats up half of it, just by running. I'm sure that if Samsung puts another 2GB in the phone, they'll eat it up with more fluff in the OS.

(b) Anyone who stores vital data in internal storage is a data loss waiting to happen. Important files need to be on external storage - if the phone gets dropped or otherwise damaged, internal storage may as well be on Mars. It's not accessible. With everything on the microSD card, pop it out and put it in the new phone. So doubling the storage I don't use is worthless to me.

Give me a better reason, Samsung...

 

[kokiangel]

I've almost given up caring which type of idiot they are

almost?

Amen to that, Chief. They need to find a better way to utilize the external storage. It's nice that they keep the external card option for us but if we can't access it for more than essentially image and video storage it isn't much use in the long run. Ideally I'd like to see the obb files from my games stored externally as those are HUGE files that currently have to be internal for the games to play.

 

[InfernalByte]

New Note9 specifications are coming out: 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. Neither of these impress me.

Give me a better reason, Samsung...

If the note9 has 512GB on board it's bye bye SD card!

 

[The_Chief]

If the note9 has 512GB on board it's bye bye SD card!

I don't know, they tried that stunt with the Note 5 and it cost JK Shin his cushy job.
"Let's take out the external storage and they can send everything to the cloud!"
Nope, we kept our Note 4s and laid into Samsung, using every form of communication imaginable, and let them know that they screwed up big time. Lo and behold, next year the Note7 had external storage and it shattered sales records! Too bad the Consumer Products Safety Commission had a little problem with the built-in cigarette lighter/pocket warmer feature, it was a nice phone otherwise... but I'm pretty sure that, with the S9 sales so bleak, Samsung wouldn't be so stupid as to eliminate the microSD slot so soon.

Personally, I have no idea why we are still messing with microSD cards, even with SDXC capacities and speeds. If Samsung were smart about it, they would release the Note9 with the world's first hybrid slot for microSD or UFS (Universal Flash Storage), which is the same chip as internal storage. Super fast, super high capacity, and portable. Why we aren't walking around with UFS cards yet just mystifies me.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Has anyone from Samsung said there will be a Note 9? I haven't been paying attention.

 

[The_Chief]

Yep, they've filed for the trademark and it's been benchmarked. Apparently they're moving the Unpacked event to late July for an early August release for two reasons: (a) to grab more market share from Apple; and (b) to make a third spot in the release calendar for the Galaxy X foldable. I understand that the S10 will be Unpacked in January before MWC, the Note10 will be released mid-summer 2019, and the X will be announced just in time for the holidays.

 

[InfernalByte]

I don't know, they tried that stunt with the Note 5 and it cost JK Shin his cushy job.
'Let's take out the external storage and they can send everything to the cloud!'
Nope, we kept our Note 4s and laid into Samsung, using every form of communication imaginable, and let them know that they screwed up big time. Lo and behold, next year the Note7 had external storage and it shattered sales records! Too bad the Consumer Products Safety Commission had a little problem with the built-in cigarette lighter/pocket warmer feature, it was a nice phone otherwise... but I'm pretty sure that, with the S9 sales so bleak, Samsung wouldn't be so stupid as to eliminate the microSD slot so soon.

Personally, I have no idea why we are still messing with microSD cards, even with SDXC capacities and speeds. If Samsung were smart about it, they would release the Note9 with the world's first hybrid slot for microSD or UFS (Universal Flash Storage), which is the same chip as internal storage. Super fast, super high capacity, and portable. Why we aren't walking around with UFS cards yet just mystifies me.

I don't know what a UFS card is. 🤒

For me 512 onboard is excessive and I'd grudge paying for storage I don't need, I may be hanging on to my rose tints here but I like the option of a removable card, (not that I have ever needed to remove a card for more storage in the field). I hate having to plug my phone into another device to move files around and fending off those very helpful programmes that insist on updating files and photos automatically.

 

[The_Chief]

Well, Forbes, which is it? Significant or Massive? Maybe I missed your other headlines that describe it as Stupendous, Gargantuan and Herculean...

 

[bishopkc99]

Well, Forbes, which is it? Significant or Massive? Maybe I missed your other headlines that describe it as Stupendous, Gargantuan and Herculean...

Anything to get a click!

 

[mikedt]

Anything to get a click!

Yeh I think must supposed Samsung leaks are unsubstantiated click-bait.

 

[bishopkc99]

Ice Universe recent tweet with photos on Note 9 vs Note 8 screens
https://twitter.com/UniverseIce/status/1002208891768197121?s=19