Even though Samsung is planning on skipping this month’s Mobile World Congress in favor of their own big announcement, possibly next month, that doesn’t mean they can’t steal away some of the headlines from the companies that do attend. They can do that by perfectly timed leaks no matter how small.
So far the leaks have centered around Project J which are rumored to be a pair of handsets and possibly a watch. The devices are code named The Altius (Galaxy S IV), The Mini Serrano (Galaxy S IV Mini), and The Active Fortius (Samsung Smart Watch), and all have had some of their accessories leaked.
Today’s rumor also deals with accessories but this time it tells us when they will go on sale. According to the new information, Samsung wants the Clear Cover, Flip Cover and Protective Cover for the Mini Serrano to be ready for sale by week 21 of 2013, which is May 20th through 26th.
Now it’s not unreasonable to think that the Galaxy S IV Mini will be available either on that same week or possibly before. Manufacturers don’t necessarily release accessories before a device is launched. In fact a lot of the time they come along way after the device hits the market. (Hello Google!)
If this holds true then it will mark the first time that the “mini” version will be launched at around the same time as the flagship. The Galaxy S III for example was launched back in June of 2012 while the S III mini first appeared in October of the same year and even got a refresh in January of 2013. Of course by launching so much later you lose a lot of the original excitement that is created with the “Main Launch” of the flagship, so releasing them at or near the same time makes more sense.
Not much else is known about the S IV Mini but logic dictates that it will see spec bumps from the S III Mini. That device is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and features a 5-megapixel camera. It has a 1500 mAh battery and 8/16GB internal storage options. It also has features like S Voice, Smart Stay, Direct Call and S Beam.
Odds are that we’ll be seeing more Project J leaks in the next few days an attempt to generate buzz away from the upcoming trade show, so stay tuned for further developments.