DHAKA: Samsung debuted its long-awaited Galaxy Note 8 smartphone on Wednesday (Aug 23), showing off a 6.3-inch screen with an edge-to-edge display, packing more real estate into a smaller form factor. While the screen may be big, the phone is designed to make it still easy to hold in your hands.

It's the first salvo in this summer's smartphone war between Samsung, Apple, and Google as the three technology giants get ready to go after the estimated 50 million Americans currently eligible for an upgrade to the latest and greatest devices.

The smartphone comes with its famous S-pen, a stylus that has twice the pressure sensors of the Galaxy Note 5. Samsung executives compared the S-pen to writing with a 0.7 mm ballpoint pen. 

The tool also comes with a new translate feature: Hover the pen over text and it can translate 71 different languages and quickly convert foreign units and currencies.

The release comes one year after the Galaxy Note 7 was blamed for dozens of fire-released incidents. After a botched recall, Samsung ultimately pulled the ill-fated phone from the market and created new safety guidelines.

While Samsung released a new Galaxy S8 and S8+ earlier this year, the latest release of the Note line of smartphones marks a turning point for the company. During a briefing with NBC News earlier this month, Samsung executives said there was a discussion of "Do we want to go down the Note path after everything that happened?"

However, executives said an extremely loyal Note user base — and confidence in their eight-point battery safety check process — made it clear that they should continue with the Note line.

BDST: 1500 HRS, AUG 24, 2017
AP