Mark your calendars Android fans, as multiple sites are pointing to March 14 as the announcement date for Samsung’s Galaxy S IV.
A tweet earlier today from Mobile-review’s Eldar Murtazin noted that there will be a “big announcement” on that date and that it’ll be bad news for HTC (below). Samsung fansite SamMobile followed up, noting that the tweet was a reference to the launch of the Galaxy S IV in New York City. Now the Verge is reporting that March 14 is “definitely” the date for Samsung’s next flagship debut.
Save the date for a big announcement – March 14 :) And keep silence ;) HTC will miss HTC One sales again :( Like it was in 2012.
— Eldar Murtazin (@eldarmurtazin) February 18, 2013
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The timing makes sense for Samsung, as it comes two weeks after Mobile World Congress, which begins next week in Barcelona. HTC is also hosting a huge event in New York City tomorrow, where we’re pretty certain it will unveil the next version in its flagship One line. Now instead of focusing on HTC’s phones or whatever will be announced at MWC, the media and gadget geeks will be focused on Samsung.
As the Verge tells it, Samsung is once again keeping the design of the Galaxy S IV a “tightly-guarded secret.” Last year Samsung revealed it went to great lengths to keep the Galaxy S III’s design a secret — the team designing the phone worked in a isolated lab with its own security, and they couldn’t even describe details of the Galaxy S III to other Samsung employees.
Expect more features like the creepy “Smart Stay” eye-tracking in the Galaxy S IV, instead of a focus on specifications, according to the Verge’s sources. The phone’s design may also be reminiscent of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, which is rumored to be debuting at Mobile World Congress next week.
Samsung can’t really go much beyond the Galaxy III’s 4.8-inch screen without approaching Galaxy Note territory, so I hope the company spends more time refining its materials. In particular, I hope to see more metal than plastic this time around.
Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
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