Numerous sources and rumors are suggesting that the Galaxy S8 will be ready for release in the middle of Q1 next year as we expect from Samsung despite the disaster that has been the “rushed” Galaxy Note 7 and its subsequent suspension/demise.
Source: FlickrSamsung wants to wow with flagship Galaxy S7 in February, Forget the disaster of the Galaxy Note 7
At the risk of understatement, Samsung has had a truly awful second half of 2016. After introducing the Galaxy S7 at the Mobile World Congress last February in Barcelona, the phone was instantly hailed by many critics and users alike as the best smartphone on the market. While that may remain the case with Apple doing little to knock the Galaxy S7 from its perch with the iPhone 7, the Galaxy Note 7 became the Samsung story of the summer and beyond.
And the debacle that was the Galaxy Note 7 and the fires and explosions it created as well as properly angering Chinese state CCTV over the recall in China will ultimately be forgotten but not anytime soon. It’s difficult to deal with a phone that likes to catch fire, a massive recall and then the replacing of millions of devices with new batteries that also like to explode or at least catch fire is not something that inspires a terrific amount of confidence in the company, and it wouldn’t be a surprise is Galaxy S8 sales were slow for the first month as consumers wait to hear, or for Samsung hopefully not hear, stories of whether or not the phone is a fire risk or one of the best smartphones on the market.
Time will tell, but if Samsung truly wows with the Galaxy S8, it should ultimately put the company back on course. Surely, if the company ever returns to producing the Galaxy Note Line, likely under a different name, that same forgetfulness will not be enjoyed by the South Korea company.
Samsung Galaxy S8 firmware already being produced
I think Samsung is approaching this correctly, the company has a window with the release of a beautiful and fast, but perhaps lackluster, iPhone 7 failing to really wow consumers when Apple released the device along with the iPhone 7 Plus in September. Apple produced a beautiful Jet Black finish to each device, but it scratches easily. Apple also finally got around to waterproofing its flagship, but Samsung was already doing that with reports suggesting that Samsung is actually working on technology that will actively repel water. That said, Apple did beat Samsung to the dual-camera system punch, but I think Android aficionados will happily and eagerly give Samsung another chance with the Galaxy S8.
According to the (Samsung) news site SamMobile, Samsung is working on the ROM for the Galaxy S8 which, per normal, will launch immediately in some countries including China, South Korea, the UK, the US, Italy, Germany, France and Poland.
Speaking Samsung rolls out to some countries at nearly the same time and then releases to other countries in a tiered release.
SamMobile was quick to point out that it was about this time last year that Samsung began working on the ROM for the Galaxy S7 which should see the company on track to release the Galaxy S8 on schedule. By on schedule I simply mean day one of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) beginning February 26, 2016.
Quick rumor roundup for the Galaxy S8
Admittedly, we don’t know much about the next flagship from Samsung beyond the fact that that it is vital to the company to hit a home run to help the memory of the Galaxy Note 7 fade into a one-off affair and that Samsung is back.
One would expect that Samsung will be looking for an edge-to-edge display which allows for 4K resolution which would give Samsung a serious edge over the competition as it would be one of the first, if not the first, to offer that capability in a flagship phone.
If, indeed, Samsung plans to offer 4K resolution I wouldn’t expect to see anything less than 6GB of RAM to accommodate the phone’s marketing as “cutting edge” when it comes to virtual reality from a smartphone.
Some will be angry if Samsung gets rid of its home button, but they will soon get over it if Samsung can give them an OLED option for fingerprint reading for opening the phone and making secure purchases.
Apple didn’t see a tremendous backlash from the removal of the 3.5mm jack this September despite many being up in arms before the official unveiling and Samsung may look to go the same route and use a USB-C port for audio output.
That’s it for now; we will certainly continue to roundup the rumors ahead of February.
