Samsung
unveils sleek new Galaxy phones to battle Apple
Send a link to a friend
[March 02, 2015] By
Se Young Lee and Harro Ten Wolde
SEOUL/BARCELONA (Reuters) - South Korea's
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unveiled its latest Galaxy S smartphones,
featuring a slim body made from aircraft-grade metal, in a bid to
reclaim the throne of undisputed global smartphone leader from Apple
Inc.
|
Designed from scratch in an operation dubbed "Project Zero", the
Galaxy S6 and its curved-edges variant are critical for Samsung's
plans to reverse plunging smartphone revenues that led to its first
annual earnings fall in three years in 2014.
A warm initial reception sent Samsung shares on Monday to their
highest in nearly nine months. Some technology publications
described the phones as Samsung's best-looking to date after its
previous flagship device, the Galaxy S5, failed to impress.
The shares closed up 4.9 percent, outperforming a 0.6 percent rise
for the broader market.
"We listen to our customers and we learn from our missteps," J.K.
Shin, Samsung's mobile chief, told a packed hall in Barcelona ahead
of the annual Mobile World Congress trade show, where the Galaxy S6
and the Galaxy S6 edge were unveiled on Sunday.
By some estimates, arch-rival Apple surpassed Samsung as the world's
top smartphone maker in the fourth quarter, with record sales of the
big-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/02/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
Samsung begins its fight-back on April 10 when the revamped Galaxy
phones go on sale in 20 countries in one of the most important
product launches in the company's history.
Stand-out features include a casing made from light-weight metal
used in airplanes, a step up from the plastic that disappointed many
critics of the S5, and Corning Inc's Gorilla Glass on both front and
back.
In addition to camera and screen upgrades, Samsung stripped out many
of its unpopular in-house apps that infuriated users by gobbling up
memory. The new phones will be powered by Samsung's own 64-bit,
14-nanometer Exynos processors, a departure from its previous
reliance on Qualcomm Inc's chips.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/02/images/ads/current/ccaonline_lda050208.png)
In another departure, batteries in the new phones cannot be
replaced. To compensate, the devices are the first from Samsung to
support wireless charging without a dedicated accessory and can also
get four hours of power with a 10-minute charge by cord.
Samsung is also touting the Galaxy S6's compatibility with a new
mobile payments system it is preparing to launch in the United
States and South Korea in the second half of this year.
The system, in partnership with major U.S. banks and credit card
companies including Visa and MasterCard, will allow users to make
mobile payments through magnetic strip-card readers without an
external accessory needed for other models.
The rival Apple Pay system, launched in the United States in
September and rapidly winning retailer support, requires merchants
to install near-field card readers, limiting its reach as
contactless credit cards have been slow to take off there.
(Editing by Tony Munroe, Susan Fenton, Kenneth Maxwell and Kavita
Chandran)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/02/images/ads/current/stacy_sda_121014.png) |