Samsung will release its Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone by this April with a brand new version of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch. It may even have an eye-scanner for security to compete with the Apple’s iPhone fingerprint scanner – iPhone 5s includes a fingerprint-identity sensor. Samsung also promises a new different design for the Galaxy S5.
Exec Lee Young Hee, executive vice-president of the company’s mobile business said the S5 would likely pack a substantially different design, without providing specifications, including screen size. She told Bloomberg that the new flagship will go back to basics. “For the S5, we will go back to the basics. Mostly, it’s about the display and the feel of the cover,” she said.
She also admitted that the Galaxy S4 may have fallen short of consumer expectations because its design was too similar to its S3 predecessor. “When we moved to S4 from S3, it’s partly true that consumers couldn’t really feel much difference between the two products from the physical perspective, so the market reaction wasn’t as big,” she added.
In order to compete with the extra layer of security Apple offers with its Touch ID scanner on the iPhone 5S, galaxy S5 will include a possible eye-scanner in the handset for greater security. Samsung is considering using an eye scanner in its top-end smartphones. “Many people are fanatical about iris recognition technology,” Lee said. “We are studying the possibility but can’t really say whether we will have it or not on the S5.” she added.
The Galaxy S5 will arrive with a brand new version of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch with more advanced functions, and the bulky design will also be improved. In addition, Samsung is also looking at significant changes for the next Galaxy Note handset, that may use a three-sided display allowing users to read messages from oblique angles.
Samsung Galaxy S5 will arrive in March or April after Mobile World Congress in Barcelona – Galaxy S III and S4 annouced around the same period in previous years – so no doubt Samsung is targeting the same time for Galaxy S5 release.
Source: Bloomberg