Join CNET Wednesday for Galaxy Note 4 live blog
Samsung's invite to its Unpacked press conference at IFA 2014. Samsung
Samsung loves a big product launch and at Wednesday's "Unpacked" press conference, the Korean company's presentation will be typically vast. With simultaneous events in New York, Berlin and Beijing, Samsung is expected to announce the fourth generation of its big-screen phone with a stylus, the Galaxy Note.
We'll be on the spot at the central location for the big reveal, IFA in Berlin, with a live stream and live blog. Make sure you join us on Wednesday 3 September at 1.30pm UK time (8.30am Eastern) for our pre-show with CNET favourites Donald Bell and Brian Tong, and follow along when the press conference starts 30 minutes later. (Convert to your time zone at this link.)
Much derided on its reveal at IFA in 2011, the Galaxy Note has since carved out a decent niche for itself, with Samsung claiming that it shipped 10 million units in the first 60 days of the current model being on sale.
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Leaked pictures and other rumours point to a new look for the Galaxy Note 4, with a metallic-looking back that takes some design cues from the recently announced Galaxy Alpha.
Two weeks ago, a page hastily pulled from an Indonesian retailer's website stated the phone will have a 5.7-inch screen with a resolution of 2,560x1,440 pixels, a 16-megapixel camera and a microSD card slot that can take cards up to 128GB in size.
Another story suggests that two versions of the Note will appear, one of which will have a curved screen. As always, these stories are impossible to verify, so follow the live blog on Wednesday to see how accurate they are.
Another product likely to feature in the press conference is the just-announced Galaxy Gear S, a smartwatch with a 3G SIM-card slot. That makes it more of a standalone device than Samsung's previous smartwatches, and it features turn-by-turn navigation courtesy of Here maps. We'll get a closer look at the device and a hands-on right after the press conference finishes.
The Unpacked press conference is "critically important" to Samsung, Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight told CNET. "The company has had a tough first half of 2014 and its flagship handset, the Galaxy S5, got a relatively poor reception largely due to its design. Wearables are going to be huge at IFA and Samsung will want to capitalise on its lead in this area. This market is getting very chaotic so Samsung will have to unveil something pretty special if it is going to stand out from the crowd."
Join us on Wednesday to find out if Samsung can deliver, and if the company has anything else up its sleeve. Virtual-reality headset anyone?
