“Back to the Basics” Samsung Galaxy S5 Targeted for March or April

In a January 6 interview at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show, Younghee Lee, Samsung’s Executive Vice President of Marketing, Mobile, candidly discussed her thoughts about the Galaxy S4 and hinted at their plans for 2014.

During the interview, Lee assured that Samsung was targeting a Galaxy s5 release in March or April, in-line with their previous device releases. The Galaxy S4, while having superior hardware, was quite similar to the Galaxy S3 and did not stir the market in the way they had hoped; Lee went on to elaborate the Galaxy S5 would be a “back to the basics” with changes to the screen and cover of their upcoming flagship.

“For the S5, we will go back to the basics. Mostly, it’s about the display and the feel of the cover.”

She also mentioned that the Galaxy Gear should also launch with the Galaxy S5 and treated to a refined, less bulky, of a design. Lee said health care related functions are viewed as a growth area by Samsung and ways to monitor heart-rate, calories and stress levels would be included in future wearable’s. Samsung is also looking into iris recognition technology, a counter to the Apple 5s fingerprint scanner. Lee stated, “Many people are fanatical about iris recognition technology, ” but somewhat dismissed that it would be a feature in the Galaxy S5.

The next iteration of the Galaxy Note handset is expected in the 2nd half of the year which Lee said will be “targeting consumers who want more professional use and tend to be willing to pay more for handsets.” This is inline with what we saw at the Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 announcement with “proactive, progressive and productive” being the moniker.

Via: Engadget
Source: Bloomberg
Image Credit: Samsung