Hasta La Gadget!

It is almost a given that Samsung will announce the Galaxy S5 at MWC 2014 at their Unpacked 5 event, although in the past Samsung has chosen to announce their handsets separate of MWC 2014, perhaps in a bid to be more exclusive. That being said, assuming that the announcement will indeed take place on the 24th of February, when might we be able to expect to get our hands on the device? Well according to reports out of Korea, it has been suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S5 might only be available for purchase towards the end of March which contradicts O2 Germany’s end-February prediction.

Why so late from its announcement? Well apparently there could be an issue regarding waterproofing, and the reports also claim that Samsung has yet to place their orders for the handset’s components. This means that assuming that Samsung does place their orders in the near future, chances are it will probably be only available for shipping towards the end of March. Either way we’re sure Samsung is eager to get the handset into the hands on waiting fans as soon as possible, so perhaps we will learn more about the Galaxy S5’s release at MWC 2014, so be sure to check back with us then for the details.

Galaxy S5 Release Date Pegged For Late March original content from Ubergizmo.

If there is one downside to smartphone flashes is that unlike dedicated camera flashes, smartphone flashes tend to be very harsh looking and unnatural, thus rendering photos with flash to be a very ugly affair. Apple has attempted to correct this with the iPhone 5s and the two-tone flash, and it looks like Samsung could be doing something similar as well with the Galaxy S5. This is according to a post by Samsung Tomorrow which basically talks about how Samsung’s labs have been hard at work at creating a new flash unit for smartphone cameras. The entire post itself is very technical, but what we managed to take away is that these flashes will output more light while looking more natural, which sounds pretty promising.

Now thanks to a paragraph, it seems that Samsung has confirmed that these new flashes will debut in the next Galaxy smartphone at MWC 2014 next week. “Of the latest LED mobile offerings, Samsung’s new reflector-integrated flash LED ─ the 3432 1.8t (FH341A) delivers over 165 lux at 1A and a minimum CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 80, assuring quality photos in daylight and at night. In recognition of such superb performance levels, the 3432 1.8t will be used in the next Galaxy smartphone, which is expected to be introduced later this month.” Needless to say we can only assume Samsung means the Galaxy S5 when they talk about the “next Galaxy smartphone”, and given how much they’ve talked up the flash, we can’t wait to see for ourselves as to how it might perform in real life.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Could Feature Upgraded Camera Flash original content from Ubergizmo.

Samsung has a new flagship smartphone coming soon, likely at Mobile World Congress next week, and new details are emerging about what the next smartphone from the Korean mobile giant will be packing. It’ll have a sharper, larger 5.2-inch display according to Bloomberg, better battery and camera, and possibly both eye- and fingerprint-scanning technology.

The fingerprint scanner report comes from Sammobile, a company-focused site that has a decent track record when it comes to Samsung hardware rumors. The site confirmed yesterday that Samsung’s Galaxy S5 will feature a fingerprint sensor, which is able to register up to eight different fingerprints for use in performing different tasks, from unlocking the device to launching specific apps, as well as opening special personal folders and enabling a new Private Mode that unveils hidden files and apps. You swipe your finger across the home key, where the sensor is located, to use stored fingerprint functions, unlike on the iPhone 5s, where only holding your finger on the sensor is required.

As for the other features reported by Bloomberg, they include the standard sorts of improvements that Android OEMs include in their generational updates. The display is said to be 5.2 inches diagonally, which is 0.2 inches larger than the current Galaxy S4′s screen. It’s also said to be “sharper,” which presumably means it’ll get a higher resolution than the current 1080 x 1920 (which still amounts to a whopping 441 ppi).

Details of the improvements to camera and battery tech aren’t included in the Bloomberg report, but previous reports peg the rear camera at 16MP, and battery capacity rumors range from a fast-charging 2,900 mAh lithium ion battery to a more capacious 3,200 mAh.

We won’t have to wait long to find out who’s right: Samsung’s Unpacked5 event happens on February 24 at 8 PM CET, and we’ll be providing you live updates of what’s announced right here at TechCrunch as they happens.

Based on Samsung’s Unpacked 5 date, we can only assume that Samsung will be taking the wrap off the Galaxy S5 on the 24th of February 2014. Either that or Samsung has other devices that might be announced in its place, although we’re guessing that the Galaxy S5’s announcement is probably a good candidate. That being said, while the handset might be announced on the 24th of February, when will it be made available for purchase? Unlike Apple who typically makes their products available for purchase within 1-2 weeks of its announcement, that usually isn’t the case for Android OEMs, but could Samsung be changing their tune this year?

According to carrier O2 in Germany, they have put up a registration page for the Samsung Galaxy S5 in which they state that the handset would be released “late-February”, suggesting that the phones could go on sale shortly after its announcement at MWC 2014. Also as you can see in the screenshot above, O2 seems to be hinting that the Samsung Galaxy S5 could have waterproof features, which coincidentally enough was one of the rumored features of the device. In any case we guess we will learn more next week at MWC 2014, so check back with us then for the details!

O2 Germany Pegs Galaxy S5 Release For Late February original content from Ubergizmo.

For the past few months now have been constantly hearing rumors about Samsung Galaxy S5. Recently the company sent out invites for its Unpacked 5 event at the Mobile World Congress 2014 later this month, its expected to finally unveil Galaxy S5 there. Despite that, the rumors keep coming in. A new screenshot has surfaced which claims to “confirm” some rumors we have heard about Samsung’s next generation flagship, particularly about the Galaxy S5 display.

It has been rumored countless times that Galaxy S5 is going to have a 5.25 inch Quad HD 2,560×1,440 pixel resolution display, though recently contradicting rumors suggested that the flagship will actually retain the 1080p display found on the existing flagship, the Galaxy S4. As per this screenshot, the Galaxy S5 display is indeed the QHD juggernaut everyone expects it to be, offering aforementioned pixel resolution at 560 pixels per inch.

Since other options are not expanded, this screenshot doesn’t “confirm” other hardware specifications. From what we have heard up till now, and summarized in our Galaxy S5 rumor roundup, this smartphone will tout a Snapdragon 800 processor with 3GB RAM, a 16 megapixel rear camera, a fingerprint scanner while running Android 4.4.2 under the hood. Samsung has kept mum about the Galaxy S5 and we don’t expect it to reveal anything prior to Unpacked 5, so all we can do right now is sit back and wait for the official word. [Image via samsunggalaxys5abonnement] 262N9GPG5KNZ

Galaxy S5 Display QHD Resolution ‘Confirmed’ original content from Ubergizmo.