The long awaited Samsung Galaxy Note 3 hit shelves and amid all the excitement there was a little dampener on the mood as well as it quickly emerged that the new phablet is region locked!
That means that people who buy the Galaxy Note 3 in Europe or North America will not be able to use it with a SIM card from another region.
That's according to the blogger Clove.
If you are a Galaxy Note 3 user and something of a jet setter, the locked device means you could notch up extortionate roaming fees as you will not be able to take advantage of switching to a different from the local network of the area you travel to.
If you did do that, you would not be able to make any calls except emergency calls and the device would work via WiFi connectivity only.
Clove's post featured the picture of a sticker on its stock of Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which read: "European Model: This product is only compatible with a SIM-card issued from a mobile operator within Europe."
It's confused Samsung fans as the device has been advertised as unlocked. On eBay, unlocked Note 3s are selling at $749 from eBay seller "qualitycellz".
US carrier versions will be out in a few days, with T-Mobile offering a no-contract price of $703.99 for the device.
For those unable to shell out $700 for their phone, they can go with a 24-month contract on T-Mobile for $21 a month and $199.99 upfront.
AT&T users will have the option of 1- or 2-year contracts and AT&T users only will get 3G support.
The device has HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 bands and won't work on LTE.
Sprint was one of the last to reveal its offer, but it will be making the device available from October 4 and costs $349.99 with a new line or eligible upgrade and two-year service agreement.
Sprint is the only US carrier to guarantee unlimited talk, text and data on the Sprint network for the life of the line of service.
But no sooner has the heftily priced Note 3 hit our shelves and there are already rumors circulating about a cheaper version for release possibly at the end of November.
And the reason, apparently, is so that the Korean company can increase its market share in countries where the current Note 3 may price it out of reach for many consumers. Countries like India, where Samsung is a big seller.
The price hair cut will probably mean similar for the features, so we can expect a less impressive camera than the 13.0 megapixel camera on the original Note 3, and possibly a LCD display rather than a Super AMOLED screen.
Samsung already stated its goal of shifting 10 million units of the Note 3 so the question remains as to whether Samsung would release a cheaper variant before hitting that target.
