Samsung Launches Presale of Note8 in Iran

The official representative of Samsung Electronics in Iran launched online presales of the company’s new flagship product Galaxy Note8 on Saturday.

According to Samsung statement emailed to the Financial Tribune, the device is offered as part of a presale bundle and costs 35.9 million rials ($930). The handset will be delivered to buyers within two weeks time.

The bundle is available on local online shop DigiKala and in addition to the handset includes a 4G SIM card of Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran with a free 20GB Internet package.

Samsung is also offering three 500,000 rials ($12) gift cards to each customer. The gift cards can be used for purchasing goods from DigiKala, DigiStyle (online clothing store) and Fidibo (online bookstore).

In the international markets and through official Samsung stores the device is offered for $929.

Earlier in April, Samsung offered Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus through a similar scheme in Iran via four online shops, namely  DigiKala, HamahangIT, Parsamtel and MicroTel. Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus were priced at 28.8 million ($768) and 31.8 million rials ($848) respectively.

 iPhone X vs Galaxy Note8

The new crop of high-end smartphones from Apple and Samsung has been unveiled. Both companies have packed the devices with the latest technologies with the aim of grabbing a bigger share of the market.

The new iDevices (iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus) as always are eye-catching and attractive. Though Apple boss CEO Tim Cook proclaims iPhone X as “the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone”, some tech professionals have already branded several aspects of the new gadget “out-dated”.

The handset has been hailed as “revolutionary” but some of its features are  available on numerous Android phones, including several made by Apple’s arch rival Samsung.

One of the main features of the phone is its “edge-to-edge” display, which increases screen-to-body ratio significantly; an aspect which has been available on Samsung’s S8 series — available since April. The same feature is available on Note 8.

On the other hand, Samsung S8 series problems have piled up since their launch, from the much-discussed screen’s red tint issue to error messages, to Samsung’s broken artificial intelligence system and wireless charging problems.

Furthermore, the S8 was slammed by users since its facial recognition software which lets users open the phone with their face is easily hacked. The device can be unlocked with a picture of the owner.

Apple’s new flagship offers a similar technology and seemingly it is not as flawless as the company claims. During the first ever public demonstration of iPhone X, Apple executive Craig Federighi attempted to unlock the device using the company’s new Face ID feature, but the feature failed, bumping Federighi to an old-fashioned pass code entry screen and forcing him to switch to a backup phone.

Later Apple offered an explanation for the embarrassing glitch, arguing that the phone didn’t make an error – the company’s staff did.

The company says far too many people were messing around with the phone backstage. “People were handling the device for stage demo ahead of time,” an Apple spokesperson said, “and didn’t realize Face ID was trying to authenticate their face. After failing a number of times, because they weren’t Craig, the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his pass code. Face ID worked as it was designed to.”

The iPhone X is slightly priced higher than Note8. According to the company’s official website, the device is offered in two colors, Silver and Space Gray and two capacity options 64GB and 256GB which are priced respectively $999 and $1,149.

iPhone X goes on sale on October 27, and it ships November 3. The company does not have a representative in Iran but iDevices arrive in the local market few days after their international sale is launched. In early stages of their sales in Iran, Apple prices are usually gauged three to four times their international tag but gradually come down to normal after the enticement fades.

The newly unveiled devices are not available for testing, so there will be no verdict now on which is the better.