LIVE: Samsung launches Galaxy Note 8 in India at Rs 67,900

13:45 The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 costs Rs 67,900 and will hit the market starting September 21. Users can pre-bookings from today. There's an offer for early buyers too — a wireless fast charger free of cost and and one-time screen replacement without any cost. HDFC customers will enjoy a cash back of Rs 4,000.

13:37 Bixby Voice will be available in India shortly. It will be available on Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 devices. What's more? It can recognise Indian accents. So, no matter which region you come from, Bixby Voice will likely understand your voice commands.

13:35 A Samsung executive now takes everyone through Bixby, Samsung's virtual assistant. The assistant has capabilities like Google Assistant. It is voice-operated just like Google Assistant or Apple's Siri.

13:30 "The #GalaxyNote8 camera is twice as good as before. Literally," says Warsi.

13:27 Moving on, Warsi explains features of S Pen. It lets users give personal touch through the stylus. The S Pens adds another dimension to the messages one sends, he says.

13: 18 Infinity display in Note 8 will help users do bigger things, he adds. It gives users a bigger canvas to read, write and sketch without compromising on the user experience on the display.

13:17 Samsung India SVP Asim Warsi takes the stage. It's been a thrilling journey with Samsung Galaxy Note 8 — our most powerful smartphone ever — for the past few weeks, he says. The company reached out to Indian customers to know their views on Note series devices. Two-thirds of Note users would recommend the devices to their family and friends, Warsi says.

13:11 Hong spells out the features of S Pen.  One can use the S Pen to draw some amazing sketches on the Galaxy Note 8.

13:07 The company is expanding its production capacity in India. Samsung will continue to work for New India, Hong says.

13:05 Samsung has been with you since 1995 and we are committed to you for the years to come: HC Hong

13:02 HC Hong, Samsung President & CEO, Southwest Asia, takes the stage. "Namaste everyone," he says.

12:54 The moment that we have been waiting for has arrived. Samsung's event for the launch of Galaxy Note 8 has begun. The attendees have been asked to take seats and the company is Samsung advertisements are being played.

12:53 Clash of Titans: Apple, Samsung and Google to launch flagship smartphones ahead of festive seasonFull report here.

12:52 Google is likely to launch flagship device the Google Pixel 2, early in October. To add to the choices, Finnish device maker Nokia will be launching the all new Nokia 8 anytime this month.

12:50 Samsung will launch Galaxy Note 8 in India shortly while Apple is launching the latest iPhone X worldwide. Needless to say, both the phones have been the most talked about phones since the beginning of the year.

12:47 Meanwhile, there's a power packed line-up of high-end smartphones waiting in the wings. You will be spoilt for choices this year as four of the biggest smartphone makers Samsung, Apple, Google and Nokia are coming up with their flagship phones this festive season.

12:38 And if nothing else works, there's always the YouTube channel.

12:33 You can also tune in to the event by going here.

12:29 To watch the livestream of the launch event, you can go here.

12:26 The phone is currently available for pre-booking on Samsung’s website and on Amazon India.

12:21 The launch event is set to begin in about 10 minutes from now.

12:20 The Note 8 has generated a lot of interest from Indians and as a matter of fact, reports suggest that a total of 2.5 lakh people registered to buy the phone, with 1.5 lakh registering on Amazon India and the rest registering on the Samsung India website.

12:15 Samsung on Tuesday said pre-orders for its Galaxy Note 8 premium smartphone have hit the highest-ever for the Note series, beating its predecessor Note 7 over five days by about 2.5 times. Pre-orders reached about 650,000 Note 8 handsets over five days from about 40 countries.

12:10 The device features security measures such the 'Iris scanner', while the fingerprint scanner has been moved to the back.

12:05 What about the cameras? The phone has a 12-megapixel primary camera with an aperture of f/1.7 & f/2.4, 2x optical zoom and dual LED flash.

The 8 megapixel front (secondary) camera is capable of recording 1440 pixel videos at 30fps along with autofocus.

12:00 While Samsung has not announced the price for India, it is expected to be just above Rs 60,000.

11:55 The Note 8 has a dedicated "Bixby" voice assistant hardware button on the side as well an 'S-Pen', which marks its return on the Galaxy Note series.

11:50 The phone has 6 GB RAM and has an internal storage capacity of 64GB, expandable up to 256 GB with a dedicated microSD card slot.

11:45 Galaxy Note 8 sports a massive 6.3 inch screen with a resolution of 2,960 x 1,440 pixels. The screen with Gorilla Glass 5 has an AMOLED Infinity display which is nearly bezel-less.

11:40 Interestingly, the Samsung Note 8 launch in India will clash with the unveiling of Apple's newest iPhones, which will take place later tonight.

There is a lot riding on the phone for Samsung as it is the successor of the Note 7, which saw multiple recalls because of the battery explosion fiasco.

11.35 The global launch of the phone took place in New York City in August and India has had to wait for more than three weeks for the phone to arrive on its shores. The phone is currently available for pre-booking on Samsung’s website and on Amazon India.

11.30 India's wait for Samsung’s latest flagship Note 8 will end today with the phone set to be launched in the country. The launch event will begin in New Delhi at 12.30pm IST and Samsung will be streaming the event live.