Now that Samsung's Galaxy S 4 is official and in the hands of consumers, the rumor mill has turned its attention to the company's other flagship smartphones, the Galaxy Note line. Korean publication ETNews claims to have been told by its sources that the Galaxy Note III will come to market packing a 13-megapixel camera and possibly optical image stabilization (OIS) or 3x optical zoom functionality. The site was reportedly told by an unnamed Samsung executive that while the company is "pondering various technologies" like OIS, nothing has been confirmed.
Both the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II sported 8-megapixel cameras, and so it wouldn't be a total surprise to see the Galaxy Note III come to market with a 13-megapixel shooter, just like its Galaxy S 4 sibling. However, the rest of this report is very much still a rumor for now.
It's possible that Samsung is indeed interested in adding special camera functionality as a way to help its phone/tablet hybrid device stand out in that growing category of devices. Optical image stabilization tech could be a good way for the Note III to offer an improved camera that can produce sharper images, and while an optical zoom may also be a possibility, ETNews notes that such a feature could make it tough for Samsung to keep the Note III's thickness down.
Samsung hasn't made any official announcements regarding a new Galaxy Note smartphone, but the company is widely expected to introduce a new model of its flagship S Pen-toting handsets later this year. The original Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note II were both announced at IFA in Berlin, and so the 2013 edition of IFA seems as likely a place as any for the Galaxy Note III's formal debut. That show is taking place from Sept. 6 through Sept. 11, and you can bet that we'll be bringing you all of the news from the event as it happens, including any announcements of a Galaxy Note with a souped up camera. What features would you like to see in the next Galaxy Note smartphone?
