For those who have been patiently waiting for the “next big thing” from Samsung, I have some good news for you. Samsung has issued an official invitation to their next “Unpacked 5” event, which will take place on February 24 at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain. We also have new Galaxy S5 rumors from the highly accurate Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin, who gives a breakdown of all the new specs we could see featured in the S5.
Samsung Galaxy S5 release date and availability
Based on the invitation sent out by Samsung yesterday, it looks like the Korean giant will skip out of holding their own event to announce the upcoming Galaxy S5. If you remember back in 2012, Samsung held an event in London to show off the Galaxy S III. The following year, they went for the extravagant with a bizarre Broadway spin-off event in New York City to unveil the Galaxy S4. This year, however, Samsung is headed back to their roots by unveiling the device at Mobile World Congress, which is considered the biggest event in the world of mobile devices. (Samsung also showed off their Galaxy S II their back in 2011.)
Unlike Apple, Samsung does not put an exact street date on their devices. Instead, we typically see the launch taking place 30 to 45 days after the announcement event. For example, the Galaxy S4 was first unveiled on March 13 in New York, and the first units were sold 44 days later on April 26. But the exact time frame usually depends on both carrier and region (Asia/US/Europe/Middle East).
With the three-week early unveiling confirmed by Samsung for the 24th of this month, Samsung now has two options for a release day. The first option is to stick to a traditional 45-day cycle, which would put the device in stores around April 9. If they stay with a Friday release day like last year, April 11 would be the in-store date. The second option Samsung has is to “freeze” the market by delaying the release. This would make consumers hold back on purchasing other high-end new devices, like the pending HTC One 2, Sony Xperia Z2 and LG G3. These new flagships could be launching around the same time as the Galaxy S5, the delay could force consumers to rethink those purchases.
Samsung Galaxy S5 specs and design
Being an owner of both the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S4, I was disappointed when the design of the S4 did not bring a premium look or finish over the S III. With devices like the metal HTC One and the glass Xperia Z from Sony, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 became the plastic trick phone in my arsenal. I think many consumers may have felt the same way as well. Our data here at Gazelle showed that during the second half of 2013, Galaxy S4 trade-in volume was 138% higher than trade-in activity for the Galaxy S3 during the second half of 2012. Samsung will need to incorporate metal, premium glass and perhaps even leather to bring a more premium look and feel to the device. In my opinion, I truly expect to see a metal and glass Galaxy S5, while the leather trimmed finish will stay with the more executive looking Note series of devices.
When it comes to power under the hood, Samsung will bring their “A” game to the S5. The famed Russian tech blogger Eldar Martizan shared his opinions on the potential specs of the S5:
(image courtesy of Twitter – via Eldar Murtazin)
According to Murtazin, the device will have a 5.24-inch 2,560×1,440 AMOLED touchscreen; either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor or a Samsung Exynos 6chipset; 3 GB of RAM; 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage; a 16 MP rear camera; a 3.2 MP front camera. and a 3,200mAh battery. If this is true, these specs would make the Galaxy S5 the most powerful device on the market. However, one thing I noticed is that he left out any talk of a potential fingerprint scanner that has been heavily rumored over the past few weeks.
With all the Galaxy S5 rumors still floating around the web, your best bet is to wait until the 24th of this month. Samsung should hopefully unveil the Galaxy S5 with full details on power, performance and, most importantly, the release date.
Remember to stay tuned to The Horn for all the latest coverage on the Galaxy S5 and Mobile World Congress later this month.
via: Unwired Review
image – Samsung Mobile
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