Samsung plans for curved display smartphone in October, announces gold Galaxy S4

In Samsung news today, it’s something innovative and something copied.

A Samsung executive has confirmed that the company plans to announce a smartphone with a curved screen in South Korea next month, Reuters reports, a move that will make Samsung one of the first companies to explore new glass shapes.

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Samsung also announced this morning that it will offer two gold variants of the Galaxy S4, a clear attempt at copying Apple’s iPhone 5S gold color, which instantly deflates any goodwill over the company exploring new glass form factors. Since they’re being promoted on Samsung’s United Arab Emirates social accounts, the company likely won’t offer them worldwide.

This is today’s Samsung: A company that can still innovate but can’t escape the shadow of its competitors.

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone, released in late 2011, also had a slightly curved screen, although I’m expecting the company to aim for an even more extreme curve with its next phone. With its large-screen Galaxy Note lineup, Samsung has shown that it isn’t afraid to step into slightly oddball territory (the Note also proves those gambles can pay off for Samsung). Earlier this year, Samsung released an expensive $9,000 curved-glass OLED HDTV.

The gold Galaxy S4 will be available in gold/brown and gold/pink options. Given just how popular the gold iPhone 5S has been, it was only a matter of time before Samsung introduced its own models. (And we can expect them to be similarly popular).