Smartphone rumors: Nokia flagships, Samsung Galaxy SIV specs

Samsung has released its first teaser video ahead of the Galaxy SIV's official launch on March 14 and details have leaked regarding Nokia's next flagship phones.

Nokia

Though the Finnish smartphone-maker was highly visible at this year's Mobile World Congress and used the event to launch a number of more affordable Lumia Windows 8 Phone handsets, there was no glimpse, or even an off-the-record confirmation that Nokia is also about to release a new flagship handset.

The latest rumors suggest that Nokia will indeed launch two flagship phones later this year -- one called the Catwalk that is expected to offer the same performance as the Lumia 920 but in an aluminum rather than polycarbonate casing, plus another codenamed EOS which, with its 41-megapixel sensor, will offer the same photography performance as a true, standalone digital camera.

Unwired View claims that both handsets will be sold by US network carriers this summer, prompting many to speculate that, like Samsung, HTC and BlackBerry, Nokia is planning a standalone launch event to showcase these phones.

Samsung

Unlike Nokia, Samsung has confirmed that its latest smartphone, the Galaxy SIV, will be officially launched at a dedicated event in New York on March 14 and has even revealed a teaser video that went live on Monday. What isn't clear is what to expect in terms of size, performance or unique features.

However, the go-to source for insider Samsung news, SamMobile, claims to have the lowdown. In a move that will no doubt lead to more unwanted comparisons with Apple, Samsung's new flagship is expected to come in black or white and to offer three levels of on-board storage -- 16, 32 or 64GB. It is also expected to buck the trend for oversized displays and, while the screen will be bigger than that of the outgoing Galaxy SIII, the change will be marginal -- 4.99 inches up from 4.8 inches.

Unlike the iPhone (which Samsung officially doesn't copy in the UK or Japan but definitely does in the US), the Galaxy SIV will be constructed from plastic rather than ceramics or aluminium. Likewise, SamMobile suggests that it will have an SD expansion slot, meaning that if a user plumps for the 64GB model, he or she could expand that storage to a huge 128GB -- the same as a notebook computer circa 2006. It is also widely expected to feature a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and wireless charging and to ship with Android Jellybean 4.2 onboard.

Just as Nokia is to Windows, Samsung is the posterboy and therefore the reference point for Android. Samsung's choice of processor, screen size, onboard memory and form factor will dictate the next iteration of other premium handsets in the market place. This year's trend of 5-inch HD displays is in direct response to the Galaxy S III's 4.8-inch display as much as it is to Samsung's experimentation with the phablet form in its Note and Note II handsets.