Samsung launched Wednesday the newest version of its oversized smartphone Galaxy Note, just a week after Apple’s iPhone 5 hit shelves, in an apparent bid to outpace its rival with a wider range of gadgets.
The South Korean electronics giant said the Galaxy Note II—first unveiled at a trade fair in Berlin last month—will eventually hit stores in 128 nations including the United States, where the firm’s recently lost a $1.05 billion patent case to Apple.
The gadget is slightly bigger than the firm’s flagship smartphone Galaxy S series and comes with a stylus “S pen” to write notes or draw on the screen.
“We believe global sales of Galaxy Note II for the first three months will be more than three times those of the previous version,” J.K. Shin, the head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile unit, told reporters.
The world’s top smartphone maker has sold more than 10 million units of the first Galaxy Note since its debut in November and more than 20 million of the latest Galaxy S III, which was launched in late May. Via Samsung launches new oversized smartphone.
