With Samsung’s Unpacked event currently underway in Barcelona, we’ve seen a slew of new devices. Samsung has just announced the Galaxy S 5, the 5.1-inch flagship device that will be available in gold, blue, white and black. The S 5 sports a fingerprint scanner for added security, 2GB of RAM, 16-megapixel rear facing camera and a 2.1-megapixel front facing shooter. Also shown in this announcement is the newly announced Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo.
Samsung’s many announcements contribute to a larger number. When JK Shin was on stage, he mentioned that Samsung has sold 200 million Galaxy S devices. That number is huge. Now this number is including all the worldwide sales, and Shin didn’t mention which devices were included in that number.
Samsung started the Galaxy S series back in March 2010. The Galaxy S series branched off into a couple different phones here in the US that were slated for different different carriers. Then, in 2011, Samsung announced the Galaxy S II. The SIII was announced one year after that, with the Galaxy S 4 coming in 2013. Those main devices and their different variations amount to 200 million devices in almost four years.
Over the last four years, it seems that Samsung might have learned a thing or two. With their newest announcement, Samsung has taken TouchWiz and calmed it down quite a bit. They have also slimmed down their added applications and the excessive features. Samsung seems to be taking the needs and wants of consumers and putting them to use. Samsung definitely toned down the craziness a lot with this announcement. Last year at the Galaxy S 4 event, Samsung heard quite a bit of rumbling and distaste for their insane Broadway production style event. This year was much calmer and a whole lot more controlled.
Samsung seems proud of the direction that they are taking now. I don’t think that we’ll see the Galaxy S line going away anytime soon, as JK Shin himself mentioned that Tizen still isn’t ready for a smartphone release. Samsung seemed extremely happy with their 200 million sales, and they really seemed like they wanted the consumer to be able to easily understand their device.
The news isn’t over, though. We’ll be seeing more announcements from other manufacturers throughout the week. We’ll keep our eyes open for more events at MWC.