Samsung again appears to defend its phone design choices
Samsung's new Galaxy Alpha and Apple's iPhone may look like they were separated at birth, but Samsung would like to assure you that -- no -- they are not related.
Samsung claims the design for the Galaxy Alpha harkens to a Samsung design from 2006. Samsung
In a blog post Wednesday, Samsung walked through its design choices for the Alpha, which has a metal frame -- like the iPhone -- with curved corners -- like the iPhone. The phone hits the market next month, starting in the UK.
You may think a metal design seems to be something new from Samsung, which has produced a series of smartphones with plastic frames and backs. Samsung would like you to know that you are wrong. It took pains to list its history of metal in its phone and wearable designs and added that the Alpha's look derives from the Samsung Card Phone from 2006 (which, incidentally, came out a year before the iPhone).
The Galaxy Alpha is Samsung's attempt to quell the complaints that its line of high-end smartphones have a cheaper plastic feel than the iPhone 5S or even the metallic-framed HTC One M8. The Alpha is expected to be the first among a series of smartphones from Samsung to incorporate a metal design.
Still, Samsung needs to be mindful of avoiding any designs too close to Apple's. The two companies have been in court for the past few years over patent issues, with both companies accusing each other of copying designs and functions. Amid the continuing disputes, Apple on Wednesday again failed to win a sales ban on some older models of Samsung phones found to infringe on Apple patents, Bloomberg reported.
Samsung Galaxy Alpha shows off metal frame (pictures)
Samsung has heeded our calls for a metal Galaxy smartphone. We've got the first official images here, so click through to take a look, and learn about the Alpha's key specs. The Alpha will go on sale in September in the UK, with availability in other countries and prices yet to be confirmed.
The Alpha comes in five colours: black, white, gold, silver and blue. It's packing a quad-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz, or an octa-core chip in some countries.
The 4.7-inch display is a little disappointing. The Alpha has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution, which isn't as high as the 1080p resolution we're used to seeing these days.
That's a 12-megapixel camera on the back. The front features a 2.1-megapixel snapper, for selfies and Skype calls.
The Alpha has 32GB of internal memory and 2GB of RAM -- but here's another bit of bad news: there's no microSD card slot. That's unusual for Samsung, and could annoy those who regularly transfer files to and from their phones.
The camera records video in a 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. That means your footage will have plenty of pixels, though we'll need to do some hands-on testing before we can vouch for the quality of the video it captures.
The Alpha has the same dimpled look as the Galaxy S5 and the Tab S tablet.
As this picture shows, the Alpha is quite slim, measuring 6.7mm thick, and weighing a mere 114g (4 ounces).
We're working hard to get some detailed hands-on photos of the Galaxy Alpha as soon as possible, so stay tuned for more images. In the meantime, let us know what you think of the design.
Samsung said the corners of the Galaxy Alpha are curved to "balance the straight lines on each side," calling the appearance "rhythmical." The Korean tech company added that the weakest parts of a smartphone are its corners, so a curved design broadens the point of impact if a user drops his device, helping improve shock resistance.
But it's undeniable that there's a resemblance between the Galaxy Alpha's curved edges and the iPhone's own "chamfered" edges, or what Apple calls the polished edges around its frame. Both phones also include similar looking speaker grills on the bottom.
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This isn't the first time Samsung has provided an explanation on its design choices. When the company came out with a gold Galaxy S4 days after Apple revealed the gold-colored iPhone 5S, Samsung came out with a similar blog post ticking off the history of its gold designs.
Apple and Samsung representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Apple is expected to come out with a new iPhone next month that is rumored to steal from Samsung's playbook by providing a bigger screen. Maybe Apple should get its own blog post ready to explain that.
