When Samsung is involved, there are bound to be endless rumors, especially about, “The Next Big Thing,” which in this case is their next Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has landed, so we need to move on to Samsung’s next flagship device, the Galaxy S5, which is still several months away from release, so please take these rumors, from the IB Times, with a grain of salt and a pinch of pepper.
Operating System
Reports are swirling around that the Galaxy S5 may arrive with BOTH an Android and Tizen variant. It is no secret that Samsung, while wanting to maintain strong ties to Android (the OS that made them the mobile phone giant they are today), have also developed their own Tizen Operating System. What exactly Samsung’s plans for Tizen are not clear – they may use it on low to midrange phones for emerging nations or they may put out both an Android and Tizen version of their smartphones, flagship included, to see what kind of reception it receives. Might Samsung eventually move away from Android as Tizen matures, again, this is only speculation. One thing we know for sure is that the Galaxy S5 will come out with Android 4.4 KitKat.
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
We are almost sure to see OIS on the camera of the new Galaxy S5. It was rumored to be on the new Galaxy Note 3, and should have been, but at the last minute, that rumor was squashed. Instead they added Samsung’s Digital Image Stabilization as a patch, so to speak. With all of the other top guns incorporating OIS, it is hard to dispel this rumor. IOS adds so much to the photo experience:
- Reduced blurring when capturing in motion
- Compensates panning and tilting the camera
- Stabilizes the recorded image by varying the optical path to the sensor
- It is compatible with Digital Image Stabilization
- Zooming out to its maximum magnification will make the camera extremely sensitive to motion
Materials in Body
This is one rumor that will make many Samsung critics happy – NO MORE PLASTIC! Samsung has long used a polycarbonate for the body on all of its phones, even the flagship Galaxy S and Note series. The Note 3 was rumored to get a metal body, but instead we received faux leather made out of plastic…certainly an improvement, but still not what we were hoping for. There have been reports of Samsung engineers sent to Vietnam to explore the possibility of using aluminum and magnesium metals to craft the next bodies of Samsung’s next generation of phones.
No release date has been announced, but rumors have the Galaxy S5 possibly launching as early as March 2014. A lot is riding on this flagship of Samsung as they seek to quiet their critics about using cheap materials and only adding gimmicks to their phones. But a Tizen version with OIS and a metal body, that’s just plain crazy, I tell ya!
Would you like to try the Tizen OS or do you bleed Android green?