Galaxy S5 finally here

Samsung Electronics unveiled a new smartwatch and fitness band along with the latest version of its Galaxy S5 smartphone on Monday. "With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics," JK Shin, co-chief executive and president of Samsung's mobile business, told an audience of Samsung employees, partners and media at the annual Mobile World Congress technology trade show in Barcelona. Samsung will roll out the Galaxy S5 globally on April 11, with pricing details yet to be disclosed.

"Our consumers do not want eye-popping technology or the most complex technology," he said. Instead, they want beautiful design, a better camera, faster connectivity and technology that would help them keep fit, Shin said. Market expectations for the new S5, one of Samsung's marquee product launches this year, remain subdued given its comparative lack of innovation.

"The Galaxy S5 has great features and will probably sell well due to massive marketing support," Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson said. "But is the total product experience it offers differentiated enough to continue the sales success story? Is it enough to bet on fitness and fingerprint sensors to beat Apple (AAPL.O) - rooting the experience in people's daily lives? I don't think so."

The Galaxy S5, which will be available in April, has a slightly bigger screen than its predecessor, at 5.1-inches compared to the prior model at 5-inches, has an improved camera technology and better protection against water and dust, Samsung said. It also has a fingerprint scanner on the home button, which rival Apple introduced in the iPhone 5S last year. The function can be used to protect data and provide security credentials in a swipe.

In order to encourage domestic production of mobile handsets, the finance minister in the interim budget had announced an excise duty reduction to six per cent with Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT) credit or one per cent without CENVAT. In the last Budget, however, excise on all mobile handsets was raised from one to six per cent. This also means the company is pursuing its plan to see Indian among its top markets across the globe. “We expect India to be among top five markets globally for Samsung by 2020,” Mr Park said, continuing, “we’re doing very well in India currently.” Samsung had last year announced that it is planning to invest over Rs 500 crore to ramp up its mobile production capacity in India. The company had also revealed that it would manufacture Samsung Galaxy S4 in its Noida facility. The Noida facility manufactures 3.5 to 4 crore phones annually.

Here is a peek at the specifications of the new flagship model from Samsung.

• Network: LTE Cat.4 (150/50 M/ps).
• Display: 5.1” FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080).
• CPU: 2.5GHz Quad core application processor.
• OS: Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat).
• Camera: 16MP (rear), 2.0MP (front).
• Memory: RAM: 2 GB.
• Internal storage: 16 / 32 GB, microSD slot up to 64 GB.
• Additional features: IP67 Dust and water Resistant, Ultra Power Saving Mode, Download Booster, S Health 3.0, Quick Connect, Private Mode, Kids Mode.
• Connectivity: WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2x2), Bluetooth: 4.0 BLE / ANT+, USB: USB 3.0, NFC, IR Remote Sensor, Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor.
• Dimensions: 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm, 145 g.
• Battery: 2800 mAh.
• Standby time: 390 hrs / Talk time: 21 hrs.