back to article Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 3: HOT CURVES – the 'gold grill' of smartphone bling

Everything is better with a few curves. While the concavity of the Samsung-built Nexus phone failed to set the world alight, that's no reason to stop bending it like Beckham. That's according to Samsung's "head of strategic marketing" who told reporters assembled for the Seoul launch of the Galaxy Note 3, including one from …

COMMENTS

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  1. LarsG

    Gold, the new Black

    1. mraak

      Curve is the new flat

    2. JaitcH

      Gold, the new Black?

      Only for this model year then Cook and Company will be touting a new colour - especially since they hit the bumpers technologically speaking with Siri, Crappy Mappy and anything goes finger scanning.

  2. Eddy Ito

    Curved, hmmmm

    Perhaps if it were bent different, you know, the other way. Oh, well yes I suppose the other way could have meant convex but no I meant the long way like this here, see. Hmm, no that won't do either. Ok, let's try it another way, push those corners up so it's concave there and push these down like this so it's convex on that end and give it a bow across the middle and... No, it looks like a bloody monkey saddle. Here, give me a new napkin.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Curved, hmmmm

      A tie in with Pringles on the cards?

    2. miknik

      Curved Smartwatch please

      The idea is a bit meh for a phone, but would vastly improve the aesthetics of a smart watch. That "flat panel on a strap" look kills it for me, a curvy screen with a wrist hugging profile would greatly improve the appeal.

  3. Cliff

    Screen technology

    I know Samsung have flexible LED-stuff screen technology which they showed off at one or other Reg-covered computer jolly recently. Part of the demo was to wrap the screen around the edge of the device so you could read status bar stuff from the edge of the device. That would suit a gentle convex curve on the edge.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Screen technology

      Exactly, the curved screens will be convex. I thought that demo in the conference (Note 3?) with the screen running down the edge as well looked pretty cool and I liked the notifications down the side thing.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Screen technology

        Also, their concept video, showing a tablet that could fold in half look amazing. I know it was all CGI but if they ever make a device like that I'm buying...

        About 20 seconds in on this video:

        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung/9794055/CES-2013-Samsung-unveils-smart-phone-that-can-bend.html

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Superior?

    "..but what we want is something which marks you out as superior without being quite as bling as a golden tooth..."

    If you think that by buying a phone you will look/feel superior than everybody else, than you have bigger problems than the curvature of the screen.

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: Superior?

      Why? Oh so many people spend their time typing words into a box then posting those words on the internet with no greater intent than "feeling superior." How is getting a product that actually does something valuable any different from the aforementioned self-aggrandising textual masturbation?

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Re: Superior?

        Trevor, did we get out of bed the wrong side this morning? A rather pithy comment IMHO.

        I get the feeling that Samsung is going all out to get the 'Chavs' off their iPhones. The new 'shiny-shiny' device. The fandoids will have to accept that their beloved device is becoming 'Blingy' and 'Chavvy'. Cue much gnashing of teeth.

        1. Squidgell

          Re: Superior?

          >The fandoids will have to accept that their beloved device is becoming 'Blingy' and 'Chavvy'. Cue much gnashing of teeth.

          Now that's one measure where Apple is way out in front.

          - Got my shell suit on? Check!

          - Got my Croydon face lift well-toigh'? Check!

          - Got my 6" white stile'os in handbag for la'er? Check!

          - Got my iPhone? Check!

          Watchout town, I'm coming to gechoo!

      2. Squidgell
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Superior?

        You do one in private and the other in public.

        At least, I do.

        Paris, because she demurely averts her eyes when I'm typing.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Superior?

      He has a point.

      Size of appliance in relation to size of appendage is a well known fact.

      When women see men using big screen phones they know for a fact that it will be on the small size... Especially if they drive a BMW or Audi.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Superior?

        Not just a BMW or Audi but any German car. This especially applies to the 'd**khead' in an Audi (I can afford a Porche Cayenne) Q7 who ran into the back of me yesterday. I was riding my Motorcycle (Brit not German). He even had the nerve to claim that it was my fault.

        Mr Plod was not amused with him when it came to light that his insurance had run out. Now I've got to sue him personally for the damages or I'll lose my no-claims. He also had one of those tablets with a phone built in.

        1. Dig

          Re: Superior?

          "I can afford a Porche Cayenne" but apparently not fully comp with legal cover.

          1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
            Mushroom

            Re: Superior?

            It matters not, they are all D**kheads.

            1. Neil Greatorex
              WTF?

              Re: Superior?

              Who?

              The knobhead that bought the Porsche Cayenne or the dickheads that buy Audi Q7's ?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No love for the pleather backs?

    No love for the classy stitched plastic leather backs!?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh Samesung. Why do you do it?

  7. TheFiddler

    Want to differentiate?

    Then give me a proper keyboard built in like the old Nokia Communicators, not something like those crap blackberry keyboards but a decent sized for speedy 2 thumb typing. People seem happy to accept larger phones again so I can't see it being that hard to market.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Professor Clifton Shallot

      Re: Want to differentiate?

      I was always adamant that only a proper physical keyboard would do but I have to say that Swype and similar slidey keyboards have my words-per-minute on my Android phone above what I could manage on my Nokia N71's physical keyboard.

      Part of that is the software - the predictions are getting better and better - but still it means that a 'real' keyboard is no longer on my list of preferences.

  8. Charlie Clark Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    What's this got to do with the Note 3

    So, having a go at Samsung for trying stuff out, sometimes just because it can, is now an excuse for writing an article?

    Not sure if I want a curved phone but I certainly would like to see what a wall of 5° curved screens looks like: IMAX

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: What's this got to do with the Note 3

      Agree, good to see Samsung trying stuff out.

      However, I do wonder if we'll see a smart phone based on the Nokia 8110 or 7110 design - curved with "slide to unlock" screen protector...

    2. Piro Silver badge

      Re: What's this got to do with the Note 3

      It works for IMAX because of exactly that - the curve is very slight, and basically the entire wall is filled.

      It wouldn't work if the edges of the screen are still firmly within your centre of vision.

      Oh, these silly companies.

  9. Someone Else Silver badge
    Coat

    Oh, the choices...

    ...of what pocket to put the curvilinear phone in! (Actually, this seems to limit those choices a bit, doesn't it....)

    1. LarsG

      Re: Oh, the choices...

      If you have a large ars* you will find your back pocket a comfortable fit.

    2. Eddy Ito

      Re: Oh, the choices...

      You're pocketing it wrong.

      Huh, wait, what? No, you're meme? Oh, sorry.

  10. dssf
    Joke

    Not to nitpick, but...

    http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/grille.html

    Unless the phones and Madonna's and LGGs, and R's teeth covers can double for cooking surfaces, hahahaha.... In which case those braces/bling pieces can be used as kinky branding irons, hahahah. Maybe if the phones batteries burst, though, the exhausting heat or gas might prove a "grilling" and "gruelling" experience.

  11. elaar

    "So Apple painted its flagship gold, a trick Samsung has already copied"

    Surely not, copying a colour?? I knew I should have patented "black" just a few years ago when it was completely undiscovered!

  12. ~mico
    Facepalm

    Is it just me or...

    ... writing on curved surface would be awkward, and this is a Note series product?

    I'd say, someone forgot to run it through usability study.

  13. the spectacularly refined chap

    Why?

    Does no-one remember even 15 years ago when true flat screen CRTs and then LCDs were advocated specifically because of the flat screen. The argument was that they don't reflect light in the same way, or more precisely is is all sent on one specific direction that is generally not the natural viewing angle. Curved screens have a much greater chance of having a reflection somewhere on the display.

    Of course these displays are concave as opposed to convex but the same argument still holds. In fact possibly even worse since such a screen will tend to focus reflected light.

    I can already picture the headlines - iPhone 8 users are "holding it wrong" because focused sunlight burns the users face whenever they make a call...

  14. Goat Jam

    LOL

    Curved TV screens? Talk about a solution looking for a problem.

    Engineer: "Hey look, I've figured out how to make a curved LCD panel!"

    Marketeer: "Cool, let's start marketing it right away!"

    Engineer: "For what application?"

    Marketeer: "Errr, I dunno, how about TV's?"

    Engineer: "What benefit would that have to the viewer?"

    Marketeer: "It's curved!!!!"

    Engineer: " . . . . . ? "

    Why on earth would I want to have a curved telly? To reduce the viewing angle? Unless you are sitting smack in front then the "experience" (to borrow a revolting term much loved by marketing idiots) would be totally crap.

    Having a curved tablet is equally dumb although the viewing angle issue is not important I suppose but there is still no reason to have a curved tablet so what is the point?

    At least the curved phone had some plausible purpose, even if it was ultimately unpopular.

    1. Obvious Robert

      Re: LOL

      Curved TV screens? Talk about a solution looking for a problem.

      Phase 1: Make curved LCD panel

      Phase 2: ?

      Phase 3: Profit

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: LOL

      If you're close enough then a curved screen will give a more immersive experience - but only if the program material takes advantage of it.

      For general home use I suspect enormoscreens will start being a less common item as more and more people watch on tablets.

  15. poopypants

    I bought my last mobile phone two years ago

    I'm really struggling to see anything else out there that would convince me to buy another one, since my current phone continues to do everything that impressed me when I bought it.

    OK, the battery needs recharging more often, but fortunately if that starts to annoy me I can easily swap that out and put in a new one.

    I really don't understand why people get so excited over non-essential improvements.

    I'm beginning to suspect I don't belong here.

    1. swissrobin

      Re: I bought my last mobile phone two years ago

      Without re-reading all of the comments and the article, I think the tone of both is mockery-to-meh on the interested in buying it scale.

      So whilst you might not belong here, it's not because of your apparent indifference to this particular product.

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: I bought my last mobile phone two years ago

        He/She does not belong here as he/she is clearly 'Off Message'.

        Being 'On Message' seems to me to be a worshiper at the Church of Android and think that Apple are the Devil Incarnate. Microsoft is a 'Meh' view.

        I'd better be leaving then as I clearly don't follow that gospel even though I have to use an company Android phone but it is crap. Drops calls when my old dumb Nokia does not.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Quality

    "phones have become incredibly good at noise cancellation while directional mics cut out most of the background sound"

    Really?

    So why is it pretty much every modern smart phone sounds far worse than a 6310i ?

    Must be because that phone's primary function was to make calls, not play games.

  17. Nett Eins

    am i missing something?

    a curved screen would mean you could reach more of it with your thumb when holding it in one hand, wouldn't it?

    i mean, i know it's only slightly curved, but even so it would make a bit of a difference.

  18. unlockworldwide

    Personally I perceive the "customer indifference" irrelevant; Samsung may not have created a "must have" device but appear unlikely to suffer any economic disaster by showing that they can do it.

    And there is the key; it is Samsung who CAN do it.

    It is not Apple engineering skill, it is the Korean's who invest in the R&D to attain those skills.

    Curved screen is more likely to impact the TV market where, on a larger scale than we are used to today, they can "suggest" a wrap around that the public comprehend and will WANT. The illusion that we innovate and they build it for us ..... is defunct.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    " it might make your mates look twice – which is, after all, what a flagship smartphone is supposed to do"

    So thats why you bought an iFolly?

    Yeah your mates are looking but what they are not saying is that they are laughing at your for being tricked, not cause you have a handset from the noughties.

  20. Mark .

    Seems like a good idea to wrap round the side to finally give us a real full screen device, though nothing revolutionary yet - I think the killer will be phones that fold out into larger displays.

    Reuters: "In January Samsung, which has taken over from Apple Inc as the global smartphone leader"

    I'm glad they've recognised Samsung as number one, but they mispelled Nokia again... (not to mention this happened 2 years ago, and is old news - Samsung is well established as the leader now). The attempts to shoehorn an Apple reference into an article nothing about Apple know no bounds.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Region Locked!

    Fresh news that Samsung will be region-locking the Note 3. This does also include the Galaxy Note, S2, S3, S4 and S4 mini produced at the end of July 2013 or later. For more info see http://allaboutsamsung.de/2013/09/samsung-gibt-statement-galaxy-note-3-galaxy-s-4-und-co-ab-sofort-mit-regionaler-sim-karten-sperre/ (In German.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Region Locked!

      Google Translate mangled the phone list. The Galaxy S2 is not included and neither is the original Note but Note 2 is.

  22. PAT MCCLUNG

    Clerk

    Truly, who gives a fat rat's ass about the newest and bestest smartphone? I am so sick of hearing about smartphones that I am losing my will towards continued existence.

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