Galaxy S5 to have better one-hand functions and new music player

Samsung has received a couple of patents which were published on the Korean patent information website called K.I.P.R.I.S. These are probably of their new interface for the GALAXY S5. Samsung has received patents for one handed operation on big smartphones. According to the patent Samsung gives everyone the opportunity to choose which corner they want to use this function. Customers are now able to use one hand and select all kinds of functions such as apps, notifications or favorite calls. We have to say that this looks pretty smart to use on big smartphones with huge displays!

Secondly Samsung received patents on probably their new music interface which is deeply integrated with social media. If we will see this application called “Friends Music” back on the GALAXY S5 remains the question. But one thing is sure, Samsung’s VP wants better software for their mobile devices and from the looks of it, they are busy with it!

According to the latest rumours will Samsung introduce the GALAXY S5 on day before MWC 2014. We of Celluloco.com will be live in Barcelona to cover MWC.

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Galaxy S5 won’t have magnetic resonance wireless charging, tech not marketable according to Samsung

Back in October, rumors emerged about the possibility of Samsung implementing magnetic resonance wireless charging, a technology that allows wireless charging of a device without direct contact with the charging pad, on its smartphones. The rumors suggested that the technology would find its way into phones from mid-2014, but some were still hopeful that it would be ready in time to find a place on the Galaxy S5.

However, that’s not likely to happen, according to a report from the Korean media. Industry officials have said that Samsung might skip on putting magnetic resonance wireless charging on the Galaxy S5; apparently, the technology does exist and it won’t be difficult to implement it on the S5, but Samsung doesn’t believe the technology is marketable yet and isn’t sure of whether consumers will be willing to cough up extra cash for the feature.

Samsung’s reluctance does make sense, as even standard wireless charging is a feature that hasn’t caught on in the market yet (mainly due to the cost of wireless chargers, and lack of the necessary marketing explaining why the feature is useful) – couple that with the already excessive prices of smartphones these days, and it could be a while before it becomes feasible to implement the contact-less wireless charging tech in consumer devices.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S5 may have a home screen akin to Google Now

Samsung’s TouchWiz software is getting long in the tooth, even with small yearly tweaks. Perhaps that’s why the company is rumored to be revamping the interface it uses atop Android, starting with the upcoming Galaxy S5. What might it look like?Leading tipster Celluloco.com has a reported screenshot, showing a home screen that looks similar to Google Now.

The home screen interface appears to be a cross between contextual cards and a stream of communication from contacts and social networks. Google Now, which just arrived on the desktop last week, offers similar information in a card view: local weather, package tracking, the latest sports scores for your favorite team and health tracking information, for example.

If this type of home screen ends up powering the Galaxy S5, I’d expect the experience to mimic that of Facebook Home in the form of a launcher. Essentially, the main screen provides instant information with frequent updates and the ability to interact with the data. A button press would then take you to all of your installed Android apps.

It’s an interesting approach because it provides more useful information at a glance. And after four years of the reworked icons in TouchWiz, it’s one I’m hoping we see on Samsung’s next flagship smartphone.

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EXCLUSIVE: Galaxy S5 specs confirmed, Galaxy S5 mini and S5 Zoom also in the pipeline

Ever since rumors surrounding the Galaxy S5 started to evolve from faint rumblings to full-blown tremors, there have been multiple questions raised about Samsung’s next flagship smartphone. Will it be made of metal or plastic? Would it be powered by the new Exynos 6 / Snapdragon 805 processor? Has Samsung finally implemented hardware optical image stabilization in the camera? Well, thanks to our insider, we can now answer quite a few of those questions, and also confirm some of the specs of the Galaxy S5 mini and Galaxy S5 Zoom, which are also in the works.

GALAXY S5

First, let’s get the most mysterious thing about the Galaxy S5 out of the way: Yes, it will come in both metal and plastic versions as has been rumored, with the metal version costing around 800 Euros and the plastic model coming in at around 650 Euros. It’s pretty much similar to what Apple has done, offering both a plastic iPhone (iPhone 5c) and a metallic one (iPhone 5s). Naturally, Samsung will be pushing people towards buying the much-anticipated metallic model – we weren’t given more details, but if a recent rumor is to be believed, the phone will basically have just a metallic back plate while being constructed of metal on the sides and front. Also, it’s still no telling whether the premium metal version will be named Galaxy F or something else.

As expected, the Galaxy S5 will sport an AMOLED display of 2,560×1,440 resolution; we were unable to confirm the size, though it should be around 5.25-inches as has been rumored often. The back of the phone will sport a 16-megapixel camera, though it’s unclear if it will have hardware optical image stabilization (OIS). Underneath, the Galaxy S5 will either be powered by the Exynos 6 processor or a Snapdragon 805, depending on whether it’s LTE-enabled or not. On the software front, the S5 will run on Android 4.4 KitKat, which is unsurprising.

While the Exynos 6 CPU was expected - which will likely be capable of operating all eight cores simultaneously - to power the handset, it’s only just been confirmed that the S5 will become one of the first smartphones to sport the Snapdragon 805 CPU, which should offer considerably higher performance than the Snapdragon 800 in the Galaxy Note 3, especially in the graphics department. It’s unclear what factors will decide what processor Samsung uses on which model – the metal version will likely have 64-bit support with the Exynos 6 processor, while the plastic model could be powered by the Snapdragon CPU (we’ve been told that LTE isn’t an issue for the Exynos CPU anymore, so we could see a change in tradition and find the plastic version of the phone with only the Snapdragon CPU in every country.)

When can we expect to see the Galaxy S5 come to market? Well, an announcement should be made in March, likely in London, followed by a launch in early April. We’re still unclear on a few details, such as the amount of RAM, battery capacity, and whether photos will be more blur-free through hardware OIS, but we’re pretty sure those details will show up in the coming weeks, as we near the official unveiling of one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2014.

Here’s a recap of the Galaxy S5′s specs:

• - QHD (2,560×1,440) Super AMOLED display
• - Exynos 6 / Snapdragon 805 processor
• - 16-megapixel camera
• - Android 4.4 KitKat
• - Plastic/metal versions

GALAXY S5 MINI, GALAXY S5 ZOOM

We were also able to confirm that Samsung will be launching the Galaxy S5 mini and Galaxy S5 Zoom sometime after the Galaxy S5, with an official unveiling taking place sometime in June and May respectively. Both devices will have a Super AMOLED display (4.8-inch on the Galaxy S4 Zoom, of qHD resolution) and run on Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, which are all the details we have on their hardware at the moment. The S5 mini wasn’t really unexpected, but it looks like Samsung will also be releasing yearly upgrades to its Galaxy S Zoom camera-centric smartphones, hopefully with a better design than the one on the Galaxy S4 Zoom.

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