New features?
Faster device?
Longer battery life?
Getting better community support?
Something new?

...or the obvious, its smaller than previous models but has a bigger screen. Much more handy when chrooting ubuntu.

They need a new killer feature or something strange. Why not audiotransmitter or a beer opener... Or even better, mic/headphone in spen.

I might be dense but what's OG?

Original Gangster that's the street name for the note.

I was thinking of getting a note 8. Is that a solid budget tablet. Can I expect more updates like 4.3?

Leave it to Dave999 to know the argot of the cellphone hood...

Yes OG is the first galaxy note. Does that mean that the Galaxy Note 2 can be referred to as Son of Original Gangster or SOG?
BTW does Ice-T have an OG?

Samsung sold more Note 8 tablets than any other tablets.
Chances are it will get a longer support period from Samsung.
And an even longer by community efforts/members.

As to the question, is it solid?
I think its about as solid as any tablet could get, but its made out of cheap Fisher Price plastic construction.

I don't like how Samsung managed to sell heaps at a profitable price, while holding back the specs for it (screen, SoC, etc etc).

edit: Between the New Nexus 7 (Newus7 ?) and the Note 8, I'd choose the Nexus 7. But the Note 8 has advantage in terms of:
- Size. Unlike the 7incher, its a "full-tablet" size but more portable.
- S Pen.
- Multi-Window. Exclusive to Sammy devices, no open-source alternatives.

It's pretty cheap and plastic is fine by me. Having the new nexus 7 I'm not mostly after the pen.

But I would like to see a 4.3 upgrade.

Is it possible to buy a Galaxy note lll in US and use in Asia or Europe or all US phones are locked to operators?

Its possible from AT&T.
Its probable from T-Mobile.
Its (usually) impossible from Verizon or Sprint.

US Versions will get the slightly "inferior" Snapdragon 800 SoC.
They will have different baseband/modems and are always last for updates (through Carrier-OTA or direct from Samsung/Kies). US Versions get "leaks" much later too, which proportionally affects development.

US Versions may have locked bootloaders that are harder to crack than the international model.

If 4G-LTE is compatible from international model, or you don't care for it.... its best to import it to the USandA. If its a money issue and you want it subsidized, then get the plan of your choosing. Choose the latest iPhone, sell/swap that for the Note 3. Yes its not the best, but its a working solution.