Countdown begins to launch of Apple iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy Note 8

There is a dash of excitement in the air, with merely 48 hours to go for the launch of two much-awaited flagship devices of Apple and Samsung, namely, the iPhone 8 and the galaxy note 8, respectively.

The two smartphone giants have been pitted against each other, as the launch of their flagship devices coincide on September 12.

This year, Apple is launching three phones at once, namely the iPhone 8, priced at around USD 1000, and updated versions of the iPhone 7 and 7 plus, reports suggest.

The latest device reportedly sports a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED display, and a glass back and aluminium bumper. In a major change, a pressure-detection technology with 3D Touch may replace the conventional home screen button and fingerprint-reading technology. There may also be an infrared scanner that unlocks the phone using facial recognition software, powered by a 3D scanner.

The new devices is said to function on the latest iOS 11 software enabled with new safety features, a 'do not disturb while driving' mode and emergency SOS option. Apple may also introduce wireless charging in its new devices.

With regards to the camera, the iPhone 8 is rumored to have a dual-lens 12 MP camera capable of optical zoom and blurring the background of shots for a broken effect.

It may also have a 'SmartCam' feature that can automatically recognize scenes and objects and adjust the camera settings to the optimal ones for shooting them.

It is being speculated that the 'Anniversary edition' will come in three variants: 64, 256 and 512 GB. While reports have surfaced of three colour variants- white, black, and copper/gold hue, there may be a fourth 'Blush Gold' variant.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which is slated for a similar release and pricing is powered by an Octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor with a 6-GB RAM and 64-GB, 128-GB and 256-GB ROM variants. Apart from this, the device also comes with a microSD card for additional memory expansion.

The flagship reportedly sports a 3300mAh battery, with a USB Type-C port for charging. Although the device comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat, an upgrade to Android Oreo 8.0 could be expected in the foreseeable future.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 sports a 6.3-inch 'Infinity' display with minimum bezels on the sides, protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The Super AMOLED display comes with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 18:5:9.

The premium smartphone is built-in with a fingerprint scanner, which is on the back of the device. It is IP68 certified, making it dust and water-resistant.

The Note 8 boasts of dual rear cameras of 12MP each, with f/1.7 aperture lens, Dual Pixel Technology, and 2x optical zoom support. Meanwhile, the front camera is 8MP with f/1.7 aperture lens.

The smartphone is rumored to be launched in four colour variants - Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Deep Sea Blue and Maple Gold.