Exchange your Note 7 for a Galaxy S8 - for FREE

A concept image of the Samsung Galaxy S8 - which may become free for owners of the Note 7.

Disgruntled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owners, the Korean company has an even better for you: wait for some more until next year and get the one that's next in line - and a better compensation offer.
After announcing an exchange and refund programme for the burned flagship, in which Note 7 users can get either an S7 Edge or cash, reports have it that customers can get a pretty nice discount for Samsung's next flagship, the Galaxy S8.
The S8 is expected to be released in February 2017, and Techradar says that it would come in two screen sizes - both with curves - with the larger one donning a 4K-resolution screen and a dual-lens camera, ala-iPhone 7 Plus.
However, this discount is, as of now, only available on Samsung's home turf in South Korea, a report on Softpedia says. So far, no further details have been officially divulged, though the report adds that Korean customers who trade in their S7 or S7 Edge smartphones will get the S8 at half the price. Not bad.
But here's even better news: another report indicates that Note 7 owners may actually get the S8 for free.
"The new compensation programme is designed to make it easier for those who exchange their Galaxy Note 7 with existing Samsung smartphones, to shift to our next model coming in next year," Samsung has apparently said in a statement, according to WCCFTech.
The 50 per cent discount is shared by ZDNet, but with another bomb (no pun intended): Samsung is apparently planning a Note 8, and that Note 7 owners could also get it at half the price. While there was speculation that the company will be killing the Note series thanks to the Note 7 mess, the move also means that Samsung is hell-bent to prove that it is ready to rise above the ashes (pun intended).
The Note 8 was indirectly confirmed by Samsung, according to Phone Arena; the Korea Herald, meanwhile, was more direct in mentioning the would-be next phablet from the company.
And oh, before you Samsung die-hards get excited, remember that you'll still need your receipts or proofs of purchase to avail of any of these compensation offers.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com