Samsung Galaxy S7 Set For January Release

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Rumors are increasingly circulating which suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S7 could be released earlier than expected. A typical release schedule for the flagship Galaxy S series is for the Korean corporation to announce the latest device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with the handset hitting the stores a few weeks later.

January release

However, it seems likely that Samsung will break this pattern with the Galaxy S7, with sources close to Samsung now suggesting that the device may be released in January 2016. SamMobile reported that its sources have indicated that Samsung is already developing firmware for the new smartphone, which is roughly one month earlier than the process begun for last year’s Galaxy S6.

It seems that Samsung is considering this policy in an attempt to eat into Apple’s sales of the iPhone 6s. It is hoped that users will reflect that if the Galaxy S7 is coming to market sooner than expected then it may be worthwhile waiting for the Android-driven device, as opposed to shelling out for an iPhone unit over Christmas.

Whether this strategy will turn out to be successful is debatable, as Apple retains a status in the mobile marketplace that is certainly unequalled by any other company. IPhone units tend to fly off the shelves during the festive season, and thus despite the prospect of a Galaxy S7 being released in January, it will be difficult for Samsung to make a serious dent in iPhone sales.

According to SamMobile, two models of the Galaxy S7 will be released, which conflicts somewhat with recent reports. It has been suggested in the last couple of weeks that Samsung would in fact simplify its product range and ultimately produce three separate units of the Galaxy S7, which would then be released simultaneously.

Two Galaxy S7 release

However, murmurings from close to the Samsung supply chain suggest that the existing Galaxy S7 project features two internal codenames, suggesting that there will indeed be two units when the device is released. Considering the popularity of the curved screen variants of its mobiles, it seems reasonable to assert that Samsung will release one flatscreen smartphone and a curved screen alternative when the Galaxy S7 hits the stores. This policy was followed last year with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Another interesting aspect of the Galaxy S7 is that there is speculation this week that the new smartphone could be more affordable than predicted. With Samsung having to compete with the rampant Apple, it is essential for the corporation to produce smartphones at an affordable price point.

Thus, analysts are already suggesting that the Korean electronics giant could be tempted to reduce the price of the Galaxy S7 to give sales a boost. In particular, Chinese analyst Pan Jiutang has predicted that Samsung will slash the price of the smartphone by around 10 percent in an attempt to make its flagship device a particularly attractive proposition. Whether this more affordable price point could have an influence on the specifications of the device remains to be seen, but it would certainly represent an aggressive pricing policy.

There have been numerous new features associated with the Galaxy S7, and recent reports continue to suggest that one of these new functions will be a USB-C port. This is a new and extremely formidable form of connection that is already prominent in the Apple range of products, and Samsung has reportedly been working on implementing this in the Galaxy series behind the scenes.

Hydra imminent

Another possibly interesting aspect of the Galaxy S7 is that it could feature the mysterious ‘Hydra’ processor from Qualcomm. In addition to announcing its future flagship mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 820, leading mobile chipset maker Qualcomm is working on a new ARM based server solution. And although not much information has leaked out about this processor as of yet, it is possible that it could feature in the Galaxy S7, as Samsung renews its acquaintance with Qualcomm.

There is also a big debate regarding the quality of display that Samsung may include in the Galaxy S7. With Sony having just debuted the world’s first 4K smartphone, there will be pressure on the Korean company to follow suit. This is particularly the case considering that Samsung has become associated with high-quality screen technology, and indeed pioneered curved screens in the last couple of years.

Nonetheless, the weight of opinion generally suggests that Samsung will not produce a 4K device when the Galaxy S7 is released, and will instead opt to maintain the 1,440 x 2,560 quad HD resolution that it had utilized previously, concentrating on improvement elsewhere in the device.

However, reports out of China suggest that Samsung has partnered with Synaptics to make use of the latter’s ClearForce screen technology. So we certainly could see some changes in the Galaxy S7 display when it is released.

As camera technology becomes increasingly important in mobile devices, there will also be pressure on Samsung to improve the quality of the Galaxy S7 snapper. This has led to suggestions in some quarters that Samsung may up the megapixel quotient of the Galaxy S7 camera to 20-megapixels.

Samsung has become increasingly associated with high spec devices, and thus the corporation is likely to cram outstanding specifications into big Galaxy S7. This could see the RAM and battery size of the handset increased, as the Korean corporation attempts to improve the existing performance gap with the Apple iPhone range.

However, Samsung must do more to attract consumers. The iPhone remains extremely dominant in the marketplace, and despite the fact that Samsung has attempted to diversify its product range, it has yet to make serious inroads into Apple’s dominance. Despite the early release date of the Galaxy S7, this is unlikely to change completely in the next 12 months, but Samsung is already making plans to at least have some form of impact on the Apple operation.

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