Galaxy Note Brand Now Damaged Beyond Repair

[Zarathustra[H]]

What do you consider "comically large"? The Pixel XL will only have a 5.5" screen. Both the Note 7 and the Nexus 6P have 5.7" screens.

Well, to me 5.2" is already on the large side for a phone. The 4.7" Galaxy S3 was probably the best sized phone I've used, even with my rather large hands. (The software sucked, but that was another story)

Once you get up to 5.5" or above, I do consider it kind of ridiculous.

 

[Ducman69]

And don't you think that that's a problem? We have a major issue with e-Waste and yet we're throwing away God knows how many devices away every year.

I think the days of throwing away phones every 2 years is over anyway.

Progress has slowed significantly, and now that contracts are no longer tied to a phone, people can save a bunch of money by keeping their phone when renewing their service.

Before the phone and service were bundled together, so you might as well upgrade.

 

[trparky]

But here's the problem with that thinking, the Android OEMs are practically forcing you to be on that yearly upgrade treadmill by holding back software updates for those devices. If your device is a year or two old there's no reason why your device should still be running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, it should be updated to 7.0 Nougat as fast as possible. But no, the Android OEMs don't want that to happen, they instead want you to buy a new device ever year thus padding their quarterly profit margins year after year. There's no other reason other than pure corporate greed why your device doesn't get timely software updates.

It wouldn't be so bad if these devices got security patches but they don't. There's still millions of Android devices that are less than three years old that are still vulnerable to God knows how many exploits putting the data those people have on their devices at risk of being stolen. These companies need to get their heads out of their asses and push software updates.

At the risk of sounding like an iSheep... I am an iPhone user. I switched to the iPhone with the iPhone 6 Plus and have enjoyed it ever since. Why? Simple. My device gets updates, feature improvements, and most importantly... security updates for critical vulnerabilities. Do I have any other Apple devices? No, I have my desktop running Windows and I like it that way but what with the way that Microsoft is acting towards their users with Windows 10 I don't know how long I'll remain a Windows user but that's for another thread. Who knows, I may end up owning a Mac at some point but in the mean time, I like Windows.

 

[Ducman69]

But here's the problem with that thinking, the Android OEMs are practically forcing you to be on that yearly upgrade treadmill by holding back software updates for those devices.

Usually the new Android versions just take advantage of new techs, and the old tech works fine on old android versions.

Worse are Apple updates, where your old tech works fine until you upgrade to the latest iOS, and all of a sudden its sluggish. Pretty sure they do that on purpose to encourage hardware upgrades, kind of like how the razor manufacturers were busted changing their replacement blades to be duller on their "last gen" products intentionally, so that users notice that the new Mach-whatever works so much better... when its simply that the razors are sharper.

 

[Skripka]

But here's the problem with that thinking, the Android OEMs are practically forcing you to be on that yearly upgrade treadmill by holding back software updates for those devices. If your device is a year or two old there's no reason why your device should still be running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, it should be updated to 7.0 Nougat as fast as possible. But no, the Android OEMs don't want that to happen, they instead want you to buy a new device ever year thus padding their quarterly profit margins year after year. There's no other reason other than pure corporate greed why your device doesn't get timely software updates.

It wouldn't be so bad if these devices got security patches but they don't. There's still millions of Android devices that are less than three years old that are still vulnerable to God knows how many exploits putting the data those people have on their devices at risk of being stolen. These companies need to get their heads out of their asses and push software updates.

At the risk of sounding like an iSheep... I am an iPhone user. I switched to the iPhone with the iPhone 6 Plus and have enjoyed it ever since. Why? Simple. My device gets updates, feature improvements, and most importantly... security updates for critical vulnerabilities. Do I have any other Apple devices? No, I have my desktop running Windows and I like it that way but what with the way that Microsoft is acting towards their users with Windows 10 I don't know how long I'll remain a Windows user but that's for another thread. Who knows, I may end up owning a Mac at some point but in the mean time, I like Windows.

Yea I work with Android dev teams in testing...and I like several devs I know/work-with are about fed up with Android.

A) Even Nexus/Pixel. Google publishes broken AOSP source code. Seriously, you spend a ton of time and effort simply trying to get it to compile. Google doesn't do jack in QA/QC to help devs with AOSP, instead Google seems to view AOSP as an arcane legal requirement of GPL to "meet" in the most minimal way possible. So long as they publish source code they're fine with GPL/Apache/etc, those licenses have no requirement about the source code actually being usable.

2) Google locking things. Many corporate email domains now WILL NOT work if your device fails SafetyNet checks. This isn't just an Android Pay issue anymore.

III) Drivers. As shown with Nougat and Shamu, withholding drivers and blobs is enough to kill AOSP development as ROMs cease working properly....even though AOSP source is still published, the device doesn't work. The drivers that make things work are never FOSS.

It all creates a huge headache for what should be a fairly simple thing you'd think. One in particular is fed up with Layers/CMTE/Substratum, and if the phone just works he'll probably buy it.


Me....I'm looking at getting an iPhone7(+?). Only thing stopping me is migration and $$ in apps. Also wondering about how badly Adguard actually works IRL on iOS (it is clunky on Android on LTE/3G networks sometimes). I also hate iTunes. OTOH the idea of having a device actually supported with usable hardware for 2-3+ years is incredibly appealing to anyone with a budget. For $800USD I expect support-Not Google/LG/Samsung's version of "support" with a million asterisks.

Usually the new Android versions just take advantage of new techs, and the old tech works fine on old android versions.

Worse are Apple updates, where your old tech works fine until you upgrade to the latest iOS, and all of a sudden its sluggish. Pretty sure they do that on purpose to encourage hardware upgrades, kind of like how the razor manufacturers were busted changing their replacement blades to be duller on their "last gen" products intentionally, so that users notice that the new Mach-whatever works so much better... when its simply that the razors are sharper.

Newer versions of Android usually run better than older versions. KitKat in particular ran better than anything that came before it on just about any hardware you loaded it on (like say the OG HTC EVO 4G that came with Gingerbread of all things).

Speculation on Hammerhead being dropped is due to Google encryption desires and HH not keeping up...but the phone would still run fine. One guy I know has Nougat AOSP he built himself (his first go building a ROM) running fine on his Hammerhead.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Lets put all this talk of Nexus phones being "abandoned" just because they don't get the latest version of Android after two years to rest shall we? Quite frankly it sounds stupid.

You don't always need to run on the latest OS, and if you aren't, that does not equal abandonment.

How many of us on these forums are still running Windows 7?

IMHO, abandonment is when you no longer receive security patches. For Google's devices that is the longer of either 3 years from when they were launched or two years from last date of sale in the Google store, and that is pretty damned good.

For some of the Samsung/LG/HTC/Motorola/etc OEM's they are practically abandoned at launch, never or rarely receiving any patches. There is no comparison what so ever.

I wish Googles support coverage were longer, but it is already pretty damned good.

 

[Skripka]

Lets put all this talk of Nexus phones being "abandoned" just because they don't get the latest version of Android after two years to rest shall we? Quite frankly it sounds stupid.

You don't always need to run on the latest OS, and if you aren't, that does not equal abandonment.

How many of us on these forums are still running Windows 7?

IMHO, abandonment is when you no longer receive security patches. For Google's devices that is the longer of either 3 years from when they were launched or two years from last date of sale in the Google store, and that is pretty damned good.

For some of the Samsung/LG/HTC/Motorola/etc OEM's they are practically abandoned at launch, never or rarely receiving any patches. There is no comparison what so ever.

I wish Googles support coverage were longer, but it is already pretty damned good.

No one bought a Nexus in the last many years bought it with the thought in mind they WOULD NOT get the latest OS. Sure eventually it would get dumped-but not on an arbitrary 18-24 month time frame. I certainly didn't blow $700USD on my Shamu pre-order thinking I'd be kicked to the curb in 2 years wrt OS upgrades like my Samsung Note 2 was. Google becoming like Samsung means there's no reason to prefer Google anymore over anyone else, especially given the inexplicable delays in getting Shamu Nougat. You might get a patch on time...or you might not.

Did Windows 7 arbitrarily cease running on Athlon64 processors, because reasons? Granted W10+ is evidently going to implement a kill switch to not run on older hardware last I knew (but that is a drastic new step for Windows)

 

[trparky]

Worse are Apple updates, where your old tech works fine until you upgrade to the latest iOS, and all of a sudden its sluggish.

Actually iOS 10 helped improve the performance of my older iPhone 6 Plus over how it acted on iOS 9. Anyways, I'm not saying that Apple's software update process is all rainbows and kittens here, no... not at all. But when compared to the absolute clusterfuck that is the Android OEM software update situation, Apple's software update process is practically perfect. The Android OEM software update situation leaves a hell of a lot to be desired.

You don't always need to run on the latest OS, and if you aren't, that does not equal abandonment.

There's a difference between not running the latest OS and being thrown to the wolves like the Android OEMs are doing.

How many of us on these forums are still running Windows 7?

The difference between the Android OEM software update clusterfuck and Windows 7 is that Microsoft is still pushing security updates to your systems via Windows Update. Now if Microsoft were to say "Well... it's been a year buddy, time for you to buy a new PC to get those updates" then we could compare Windows 7 to the Android OEM clusterfuck but that's not the case. Microsoft still supports Windows 7. Hell, Microsoft still supported Windows XP for ten years... yes, TEN YEARS! That's amazing when it comes to the length of time that a company supports a product.

But as I said above, the Android OEMs just don't give a rat's ass about you. They would much rather you buy next year's device instead so that they can claim that they have the highest sales numbers pad their quarterly profit margins year after year. It's really all a numbers and money game and us dumb users are caught in the middle of it all.

 

[Ducman69]

Actually iOS 10 helped improve the performance of my older iPhone 6 Plus over how it acted on iOS 9.

Probably because your iPhone 6 Plus is a practically new device, and is not considered end of life product. Google people updating older iPads and iPhones and how once snappy performance goes in the toilet, and its believed to be intentional, as a way to show "look how crappy your old product is, you need to upgrade, see how much faster the new ones are side-by-side", which for Apple is especially important since their old crap tends to look almost exactly the same as the new crap.

 

[Terpfen]

An Apple and Google duopoly does not appeal to me.

You've been living in one for seven years.

 

[NeoNemesis]

Probably because your iPhone 6 Plus is a practically new device, and is not considered end of life product. Google people updating older iPads and iPhones and how once snappy performance goes in the toilet, and its believed to be intentional, as a way to show "look how crappy your old product is, you need to upgrade, see how much faster the new ones are side-by-side", which for Apple is especially important since their old crap tends to look almost exactly the same as the new crap.

Exactly, my old 3rd gen iPad slows down 10-15% with every new version of iOS. Used to be snappy, now it has wicked input lag and the apple reading app takes 1-2 seconds to register a page turn.

I'm convinced that they're done this on purpose.

 

[/usr/sbin]

But here's the problem with that thinking, the Android OEMs are practically forcing you to be on that yearly upgrade treadmill by holding back software updates for those devices.

Holy crap! Forcing you to be on an upgrade treadmill? How about you get some self control. What does the new OS do that is soooo important that you feel the need to dump a 15 month old phone? Seriously, you've already got the entire Internet, a GPS, music player, video player, email reader, text message device, and game machine in your fucking pocket. Oh, and it's a phone too....

If you buy a new device because "OMG, new version!!! /JizzMyPants" then you are the sucker the shareholders are looking for.

 

[trparky]

Again... what part of the fact that many of these devices don't get software updates let alone CRITICAL security patches don't you understand? I expect that when I plunk down $800 for a device I will get software updates just like I do when I use my Windows desktop system which is as easy as opening up Windows Updates, clicking the "Check for Updates" button and letting it download the updates.

Yes, you could forego getting the latest and greatest device every year but if your device hasn't seen any software updates in several months your device IS vulnerable to a whole host of vulnerabilities and exploits putting your data at risk.

 

[trparky]

By not pushing out software updates and by extension CRITICAL security patches the Android OEMs are practically forcing you to be on that yearly upgrade treadmill if you care one damn bit about the security of your device and the data that you have on it.

There is no damn reason on God's green Earth that your year old device doesn't receive software updates let alone CRITICAL security patches other than pure fucking corporate greed! They want you to buy a new device every year, that's how they make their money and we're the fucking fools that fall for it every time. Again, if I plunk down $800 for a device I EXPECT to get software updates. I didn't pay to have some C-level executive buy another damn yacht, I paid to have my device supported!

Microsoft can push updates to every single Windows machine world wide; it doesn't matter who made your machine be it HP, Dell, or you yourself built it out of pieces and parts you bought at Newegg or Microcenter, your Windows desktop will get the same Windows Updates at the same time everyone else in the world gets them. Apple can do the same thing with their iPhones; it doesn't matter where in the world you are, it doesn't matter who your carrier is, you get iOS updates the same day everyone in the world gets them.

Why the fuck can't the Android OEMs do it? If there is a critical security vulnerability... don't pass Go, don't collect $200, get that patch out NOW!

 

[Mathemabeat]

Could you imagine if this happened with your 1 year old Windows or Apple computer.


"Sorry, your shit is outdated. To update your OS you much purchase new hardware'.



For some reason this behavior has been running rampant in the Android ecosphere. Especially with Samsung devices. And worse yet, it's somehow acceptable.


Unless you run a Google/Nexus device, it seems it's potluck regarding OS updates and security patches.

 

[Skripka]

Could you imagine if this happened with your 1 year old Windows or Apple computer.


"Sorry, your shit is outdated. To update your OS you much purchase new hardware'.



For some reason this behavior has been running rampant in the Android ecosphere. Especially with Samsung devices. And worse yet, it's somehow acceptable.


Unless you run a Google/Nexus device, it seems it's potluck regarding OS updates and security patches.

And now Google has openly officially stated "every 2 years buy new hardware". And PS, the new hardware is going to be sold/shipped with a 2-year old Linux kernel that will cease having upstream patching in 3 months from 1st sell date.

 

[trparky]

And we just accept this? I mean, I can understand that if you're a normal user you probably don't give a shit because you probably don't know any better. But we're the geeks, we know better than to have this kind of treatment thrust upon us and yet we just seem to figuratively bend over and take it.

No, I'm sorry... I will not accept that kind of treatment!!! Fuck no!!! If I paid good money for a device I better get software support including critical security patches.

 

[trparky]

I mean think about it... you're paying anywhere from $750 to $800 for a flagship Samsung device and a good portion (close to 75%) of the cost is nothing but pure profit for Samsung. Really... 75% of the cost you pay for that shiny new Samsung device is pure profit for Samsung. Where's that money going? What's it doing? Who's (already overstuffed) pocket is it going into?

Now, if Samsung dropped the cost of the device to $200 (which is really what the device costs minus the huge profit margins) I could understand the idea of not getting any software support, I really could. I mean, at $200 a pop I could buy a new phone every six months and I wouldn't give a rat's ass about software updates because I would just get the next device six months later.

 

[pxc]

On the plus side, the guy who tested GG5 on the Note 7 found the problem with his original test and iGG5 only begins to scratch on the #6 pick, as expected. Note 7 Scratch Test - CORRECTION VIDEO - Gorilla Glass 5

The problem was caused by the sharpening of the picks, due to particles from the sharpening stone (Mohs hardness 8 or 9) becoming embedded in the softer picks.

 

[Exavior]

Well, to me 5.2" is already on the large side for a phone. The 4.7" Galaxy S3 was probably the best sized phone I've used, even with my rather large hands. (The software sucked, but that was another story)

Once you get up to 5.5" or above, I do consider it kind of ridiculous.

That is really a matter of opinion and what you are doing with the phone. I find my current 6" phone to be perfect and am sad that that my next phone will be dropping down to a 5.2" (AT&T has limited windows 10 phone options the 950 or the 950 lol). However I understand that some people have different wants / needs. Just like some people think a semi is a good choice of a vehicle because they are moving cases of product where as others think a car is a good choice of a vehicle because they are driving back and forth to work.

 

[pxc]

The Dell mini 5 used to be considered so huge. I miss those days (2010). Dell Mini 5 Coming To T-Mobile And AT&T?

 

[rudy]

My favorite part about the internet is how the best concepts are never talked about, why because there is very little to argue about. And the worst concepts or most opinionated junk just keeps cycling around nonstop. My note 4 received an update in the last month so I don't know what the big argument about it or android devices being abandoned is. Is it perfect? No, are there things I would improve in the device? Yes. HAS ANY SINGLE ONE FREAKING COMPANY BROUGHT OUT A COMPETITOR TO THIS DEVICE? NO. It has been 6 LONG years that Samsung has sat with a perfect monopoly in this niche, and it ain't a small niche they are moving 10s of millions of notes. Yet here we are all arguing about updates and touch wiz when the 800lb gorilla in the room is clearly that the note line is NOT going anywhere as long as a dozen odd moronic companies in the smart phone world cannot wrap their head around the DEFINING feature of the device. You know the pen that gives it its freaking name. Unbelievable. But of course how would they know they probably brought in a focus group to apple and google and the people started arguing about stuff just like in this thread. Same with google hmm why cant we get any traction with this nexus device oh it must be a million little things. Lets just gloss over the one device that is pushing 10s of millions of sales and defined the phablet market. We will just keep saying over and over people don't really want a pen right?????? No its not the pen, its Samsungs name, no its the camera, ya lets try to make a phone with a better camera. Cant be the pen right........ Meanwhile Samsung execs just keep laughing their way to the bank while year after year, dumb competitor after dumb competitor never ever even try to compete in this space in any meaningful way. The note is a great phablet, always has been. Is it the best phablet? Maybe, maybe not, but it is the ONLY phablet that is widely available in US carriers and world wide that has a stylus and software to support it. I find this all so hilarious because no one has even tried. Guess we will have to wait for Chinese makers to make it big on the world scene and try to step up. Maybe then we will finally see a company that gets it to wake Samsung up. If I was Samsung I would leave touchwiz bloated too, what reason do I have to improve when all of my competition is so incredibly inept......

I don't know. I'm not in the market for a ridiculously large phone, but if I were I'd pick ANYTHING without TouchWiz.

TouchWiz has a way of taking fabulous hardware and making it run slow as molasses. The old Nexus 6 still feels faster than the most recent Note 7 (and it doesn't explode)

The upcoming Pixel XL seems quite nice if you like comically large phones.

In the end I will wouldn't buy any phone that doesn't get regular security updates, regardless of any other feature or lack thereof.

Here is an example of how people who aren't even interested in the device have a lot of opinions. As fun as they are they are useless. I don't care to buy that device, but if I WAS I wouldn't buy it lol. IMO this sort of opinion doesn't hold much weight because the people who are interested are making it the most sold phablet except maybe the iPhone 6+. And we know that in general apple and android buyers are not going to switch camps.

 

[kuyaglen]

What ever Samsung brings as the next Note, I hope Samsung uses a low price to entice customers back. (assuming 3rd times the charm).

 

[harmattan]

My favorite part about the internet is how the best concepts are never talked about, why because there is very little to argue about. And the worst concepts or most opinionated junk just keeps cycling around nonstop. My note 4 received an update in the last month so I don't know what the big argument about it or android devices being abandoned is. Is it perfect? No, are there things I would improve in the device? Yes. HAS ANY SINGLE ONE FREAKING COMPANY BROUGHT OUT A COMPETITOR TO THIS DEVICE? NO. It has been 6 LONG years that Samsung has sat with a perfect monopoly in this niche, and it ain't a small niche they are moving 10s of millions of notes. ...

I'm not too sure about that. I've used pretty much every "phablet" out there except the Iphone 6 going back to the Note 1 (although I recall my old HTC Titan being referred to as a "phablet" in its heyday). I'd argue that there is really no Goldilocks model out there, and even though Samsung has held most sales in the space, there are certainly valid competitors to the Note. Foremost, I'd say the Nexus 6 and Mate 8 (my current device) have offered some major advantages over their respective Note model e.g. battery life, design, ease-of-use, cost. My Mate 8 for example absolutely trounces the Note 5 (which I gave up for the Huawei device) in battery life and has a micro SD support -- two of the most important features for me in a phablet.

That said, I'd agree with you that the Note brand is not going anywhere. No way Samsung is giving up a space where they are still in the lead, and people will still buy the next model regardless of this shitstorm.

I would not hold my breath, however, for any price discounts on the new model (whatever it may be called). Samsung will not be diluting their brand connotation and moving to a lower cost bracket will not inspire confidence -- a little pricing theory 101 there. It's still going to be $700-800 or higher.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

My favorite part about the internet is how the best concepts are never talked about, why because there is very little to argue about. And the worst concepts or most opinionated junk just keeps cycling around nonstop. My note 4 received an update in the last month so I don't know what the big argument about it or android devices being abandoned is. Is it perfect? No, are there things I would improve in the device? Yes. HAS ANY SINGLE ONE FREAKING COMPANY BROUGHT OUT A COMPETITOR TO THIS DEVICE? NO. It has been 6 LONG years that Samsung has sat with a perfect monopoly in this niche, and it ain't a small niche they are moving 10s of millions of notes. Yet here we are all arguing about updates and touch wiz when the 800lb gorilla in the room is clearly that the note line is NOT going anywhere as long as a dozen odd moronic companies in the smart phone world cannot wrap their head around the DEFINING feature of the device. You know the pen that gives it its freaking name. Unbelievable. But of course how would they know they probably brought in a focus group to apple and google and the people started arguing about stuff just like in this thread. Same with google hmm why cant we get any traction with this nexus device oh it must be a million little things. Lets just gloss over the one device that is pushing 10s of millions of sales and defined the phablet market. We will just keep saying over and over people don't really want a pen right?????? No its not the pen, its Samsungs name, no its the camera, ya lets try to make a phone with a better camera. Cant be the pen right........ Meanwhile Samsung execs just keep laughing their way to the bank while year after year, dumb competitor after dumb competitor never ever even try to compete in this space in any meaningful way. The note is a great phablet, always has been. Is it the best phablet? Maybe, maybe not, but it is the ONLY phablet that is widely available in US carriers and world wide that has a stylus and software to support it. I find this all so hilarious because no one has even tried. Guess we will have to wait for Chinese makers to make it big on the world scene and try to step up. Maybe then we will finally see a company that gets it to wake Samsung up. If I was Samsung I would leave touchwiz bloated too, what reason do I have to improve when all of my competition is so incredibly inept......



Here is an example of how people who aren't even interested in the device have a lot of opinions. As fun as they are they are useless. I don't care to buy that device, but if I WAS I wouldn't buy it lol. IMO this sort of opinion doesn't hold much weight because the people who are interested are making it the most sold phablet except maybe the iPhone 6+. And we know that in general apple and android buyers are not going to switch camps.

Lol, are people really buying Notes for the stylus?

To me having a stylus seems more like a liability than an asset.

 

[Deleted member 245375]

To me having a stylus seems more like a liability than an asset.

You do realize, of course, that the stylus is what differentiates the Note from all the other smartphones out there, right? Right?

Just because you personally may not find a use for it - then again maybe you would - doesn't mean most Note owners have no use for it. I see people with Notes all the time in public here in my area, and I see them using the stylus quite often for a wide variety of things - I don't mean to say I'm standing behind 'em staring over their shoulder or anything but they're doing something with the stylus. It's easy to spot in terms of differentiating it from other "Note" clones as well like the LG Stylo which uses a capacitive stylus as do most all the other clones. The Wacom-based stylus on the Note model further differentiates the product line from the competition as well and provides the other aspects like pressure sensitivity that allows for actual art/drawing work to be done quite well indeed.

Yes I know, rehashing info we all know about the Note series already but it can't hurt for a refresher every now and again.

 

[harmattan]

Lol, are people really buying Notes for the stylus?

To me having a stylus seems more like a liability than an asset.

For me, the stylus has been the main attraction for the Notes I've bought. I find it's a terrific tool for notes during the many work/industry conferences I have to sit through.

 

[Skripka]

Lol, are people really buying Notes for the stylus?

To me having a stylus seems more like a liability than an asset.

Yea I had a Note for 2 years and never used the damn plastic stick. Made that L900 a hand-me-down in the family...next owner liked it because their eyesight and hand-eye coordination was crap, and the stylus was more dextrous than their fingers.

 

[rudy]

I'm not too sure about that. I've used pretty much every "phablet" out there except the Iphone 6 going back to the Note 1 (although I recall my old HTC Titan being referred to as a "phablet" in its heyday). I'd argue that there is really no Goldilocks model out there, and even though Samsung has held most sales in the space, there are certainly valid competitors to the Note. Foremost, I'd say the Nexus 6 and Mate 8 (my current device) have offered some major advantages over their respective Note model e.g. battery life, design, ease-of-use, cost. My Mate 8 for example absolutely trounces the Note 5 (which I gave up for the Huawei device) in battery life and has a micro SD support -- two of the most important features for me in a phablet.

That said, I'd agree with you that the Note brand is not going anywhere. No way Samsung is giving up a space where they are still in the lead, and people will still buy the next model regardless of this shitstorm.

I would not hold my breath, however, for any price discounts on the new model (whatever it may be called). Samsung will not be diluting their brand connotation and moving to a lower cost bracket will not inspire confidence -- a little pricing theory 101 there. It's still going to be $700-800 or higher.

But neither of those devices have a stylus which still leaves Samsung as the sole player in that niche.

Lol, are people really buying Notes for the stylus?

To me having a stylus seems more like a liability than an asset.

Apparently they are you make the classic mistake of thinking everyone out there should view things the way you do. You aren't the target market for this device.

I use the stylus often and it is a very large part of my decision to buy the notes, dispite the fact they have sacrificed other things I like such as removable batteries.