Samsung's Galaxy Note 2, which is touted to release at the IFA in Berlin on Aug 29, will have a new competitor at the event in the form of Thomson's latest X-View-2.
France-based Thompson, a well-known manufacturer of set-up boxes, will make its way to the "phablet" category with its 5.3 inch X-View-2 smartphone. The device is said to feature Android 4.0, a 480 x 800 resolution display, MT6570 chipset 1GHz processor with Adreno 220 graphics, a 5-megapixel camera, 512MB of RAM, 1 GB ROM and microSD support up to 32 GB,
On the hardware front, the X-View-2 has 150 x 81 x 10.9 mm in dimensions, weighs 212 g and packs a powerful 2450 mAh Li-Ion battery. The device also has dual-SIM capabilities, stepping up the ante for others competitors in the market.
On the other hand, Samsung's next-gen Galaxy Note 2 is expected to feature a relatively bigger 5.5-inch 1280×720 resolution AMOLED display, quad-core Exynos 4412 clocked to 1.6 GHz processor, Android 4.0, 1.5GB of RAM, 16/32 GB internal storage, microSD support up to 32 GB, 4G LTE, a 12 or 13-megapixel camera, 1080p video recording capability, S Pen stylus and a high capacity battery.
Both these hybrid devices that bridge the gap between tablets and smartphones with their 5-inch plus display are expected to power up the phablet market. The first device to have gained success as a hybrid was Samsung's initial offing Samsung Galaxy Note, which was introduced in 2011.
Meanwhile, several images of the Galaxy Note 2 popped up on Samsung Pakistan's facebook page which revealed rounded corners and the absence of any physical buttons. The images were eventually taken down after they were denounced as concept designs made by fans, as reported by Verge.
Other reports suggested that the Note 2 will come with a flexible display option, allowing room for a bigger battery to be included in the device.
