Samsung Galaxy S5 rumours: A mobile user’s nine lives

They’re just a bunch of circles, but based on the smartphone industry’s reaction, a graphic on the invitation to what will likely be Samsung’s Galaxy S5 launch later this month holds more meaning than Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Samsung will host its next “Unpacked” series of events at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 24, and while there was no mention of a successor to the popular Galaxy S4, there were nine intriguing buttons. The round, multi-coloured symbols include “Speed,” “Fun,” “Social,” “Fitness” and “Life,” among others. At a time when it’s getting harder to impress consumers with major changes to the size, shape and feel of a smartphone, Samsung may be suggesting it is placing far more emphasis on what happens inside.

Though there might be comparison to Apple’s decision last year to completely revamp its operating system, iOS 7, with a much flatter and cleaner look and feel, Samsung is unlikely to make major changes to Android, the Google OS its machines run. What Samsung does control is TouchWiz, the interface it created with some partners for the Galaxy smartphones, not the underlying mechanics. Apple’s iOS 7 required developers to make major changes to their apps, but if what Samsung is teasing on its invite is about a new version of TouchWiz, the bigger impact may be on the way apps are categorized.

Samsung is clearly intent on not making the mistake BlackBerry made, which was to fail to provide a rich enough selection of apps on its otherwise excellent mobile devices. That’s why, this past October, it held its first developer conference in San Franciso, where it released a mobile software development kit (SDK) that will make it easier for developers to create apps for products like the Galaxy S5. For example, the SDK will help developers’ apps to connect with things like Samsung’s S-Pen, or add in gesture controls or audio commands. This kind of groundwork is crucial to making the Galaxy S5 more than just another smartphone launch.

The problem now, of course, is not that there aren’t enough apps. It’s more that there are far too many for most people. According to a study last year from mobile analytics firm Localytics, 22 percent of all apps are used only once and then abandoned. That may be because as our use of apps increases, it becomes more difficult to organize them across tiny, cluttered smartphone screens. Samsung’s nine buttons could be a radical, if risky solution.

If those circles really represent icons, they’ll definitely be larger and cleaner than the TouchWiz interface on the Galaxy S4. Whether they’ll be an easier way for consumers to get to what they need is another matter. They would force consumers to essentially learn a new way of navigating a mobile device, which isn’t an easy task. However it’s intriguing to see Samsung include circles with the words “Style,” “Outdoor” and even “Curiosity” among its choices, suggesting an effort to balance ease of access with the pleasures of exploration and discovery.

This is what the world should watch for when Samsung hosts its next Unpacked: not the array of new software and features that will come out, but how the Galaxy S5 will pack them all in.