Now, this is just getting silly. Samsung is said to be developing displays for the next iteration of its popular Galaxy Note — the Galaxy Note III — and according to “officials from a local parts supplier” in Asia, they measure in at 6.3 inches diagonally. That’s 0.75 inches bigger than the Galaxy Note II’s display, and 1.3 inches bigger than the original Galaxy Note’s display.

At which point do we stop calling this handset a smartphone, and start calling it a tablet?

I love the Galaxy Note. I had the original, and despite mostly being an iPhone user, there were a lot of great things about the original phablet that I really liked. Those who have never used the device may snigger at its massive display — we all did when Samsung first announced it — but after using it for a few days, you get used to it. Other smartphones begin to feel too small in comparison.

For the Galaxy Note II, Samsung made the handset’s display a little larger — upping the 5-inch display to a 5.55-inch one. It’s not a massive difference, and Samsung made the bezel around it thinner so that the handset itself isn’t noticeably wider. But even so, the phablet got bigger. Is it time to leave it there? Apparently not.

The Korean Times cites sources from local parts suppliers in Asia, who say Samsung’s currently developing a 6.3-inch OLED panel for the Galaxy Note III. That’s a whopping 1.3 inches larger than the original Galaxy Note’s display, and just 0.7 inches smaller than the Nexus 7’s display.

Samsung might make the bezel even thinner again, giving the handset an ‘edge-to-edge’ display. But there’s only so thin that bezel can be — you’re still going to feel a lot of that extra 1.3 inches. I’m not sure I could live with a smartphone quite so big, and that’s one of the reasons I feel this particular rumor may not be quite spot-on.

The report doesn’t tell us what else the Galaxy Note III may offer, unfortunately. But it does say that the Galaxy S IV will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February — not at CES a month earlier.

• SourceKorea Times