Samsung 'Project Zero' aka Galaxy S6 Release Date, Specification Details: What we Know so Far

Samsung's 2014 marquee smartphone Galaxy S5 is still more than two months away from completing its first-year cycle (24 February), but that has not stopped rumour mills to churn out speculations on its successor Galaxy S6.

Most of the scoops that have surfaced online are all indicating that the new Galaxy S6 would be a major upgrade over its predecessor.

Past Galaxy S series devices (S3, S4 and S5) have been only incremental in upgrade with no innovative features, which eventually hit Samsung's revenue this year.

The 2014 flagship model - Galaxy S5 - reportedly failed to live up to its reputation. Adding to woes, Apple released bigger iPhone 6 (4.7-inch) and iPhone 6 Plus (5.5-inch), eating away some market share from Samsung in niche high-end smartphone segment, while the emerging Chinese firm, Xiaomi with its dirt-cheap feature-rich Mi-series devices has pushed Samsung to the wall in mid-range and budget smartphone sector.

Squeezed from both sides by Apple Inc and Xiaomi, Samsung's recent Q3 earning saw a staggering 60% plus drop in the profit margins.

Even Andy Griffiths, company's President (UK and Ireland regions) in an interview with Forbes reportedly admitted the failure of Galaxy S5 to sway consumers.

"The S5 slowdown was inevitable to some extent, and the future for Samsung will lie in its new ideas, and R&D." he said.

In that order, Samsung is already hard at work on a program, tentatively titled – 'Project Zero'. This is an initiation to make radical change in design, hardware specifications to make Galaxy S6 a true marquee device, which is expected to reinvigorate the Galaxy S series smartphones.

We have sifted through numerous reports and have pieced together list of probable specifications which are likely to make the cut in the upcoming Samsung flagship smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S6 aka Project Zero- Display and Design:

Word on the street is that Samsung Galaxy S6 will be an advanced model of the recently released limited edition Galaxy Note Edge sans the screen size and S-Pen stylus feature.

It is said the 2015 flagship Samsung phone will have a dual-edge display; where-in phone's screen will be curved on both right and left side, reported G4Games.

Galaxy S6 will reportedly flaunt a 5.3-inch super AMOLED based 4K ultra HD display with 4,096x2,160p resolution, that's two times richer than the current high-end smartphone's standard 2K (1,560x1,440p) screen resolution.

Samsung Galaxy S6 aka Project Zero-Processor, RAM and storage:

According to the leaked internal document available with SamMobile, the upcoming Galaxy S6 is said to come in two chipset variants.

One of the Galaxy S6 model is said to pack in-house built 64-bit class based 20 nano-meter Exynos 7420 Octa-core (four Cortex-A53 + four Cortex-A57 cores) processor and another with Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU set. It is also said that the upcoming flagship handset will feature Samsung's LTE modem (either model SS333, or Exynos Modem 333), making it the first company device to incorporate a proprietary modem chip, previously they used to pack the Intel modem.

Whereas second model is expected to feature the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 series quad-core processor, which can clock a maximum CPU speed up to staggering 2.7GHz is bound for the US market.

In terms of storage, one can expect the new Samsung smartphone to come with 32GB inbuilt memory having expandable options via microSD card.

In December 2013, Samsung's Electronics had announced the next generation 20nm class based 8GB LPDDR4 (Low Power Double Data Rate series 4) RAM for mobile devices.

The company has planned to integrate four of the new 8GB chips into a single 4GB LPDDR4 package that can provide the highest level of performance (50% more), density, efficiency, and still be able to consume 40% less compared to the current crop of physical memory chips found in the high-end smartphones.

The new memory chip will enable smartphones to support high resolutions display, resource hungry 3D games and maximum data transfer rate per pin of 3,200Mbps.

It was rumored to feature in both Galaxy S5 and Note 4, but never materialised, now many are expecting Samsung to incorporate 4GB RAM to efficiently manage the big-screen Galaxy S6.

Samsung Galaxy S6 aka Project Zero-Special Features:

Fingerprint Sensor or Iris Scanner?

Samsung has already introduced the finger-print sensor in its current flagship phone Galaxy S5, so were expecting Galaxy Note 4 go to next level by incorporating much advanced biometric technology Retina scanner.

Even a tweet from the company's chipset arm – Samsung Exynos in July had hinted that the future smartphones may feature Retina scanner, inciting speculations of the possibility of incorporation of the in the upcoming Galaxy Note 4, but after the official announcement of the flagship phablet, this rumour met a quick death.

However, the rumour has once again resurrected with Samsung's plan for re-invigorating Galaxy S series in the industry.

The Iris scanner would have actually debuted with Galaxy S5, but it was later learnt that Samsung technicians were required to incorporate a second dedicated camera on the front, leading to changes in the Galaxy S5's structural design. This shortcoming reportedly forced the company to adopt the finger print scanner.

[Read more: Samsung to use Finger-Print Sensor for Galaxy S5; Drops Iris Scanner Sensor Plans]

Since then, enough time (more than 10 months) has passed by for the company to experiment with the new phone, which is said to have major design over-haul. If Samsung does become successful in incorporating this advanced bio-metric technology, the company will certainly rise the benchmark for rivals.

For the uninitiated, 'Iris Recognition' is said to be more advanced and near fool-proof system as it involves camera technology with subtle infrared illuminations to capture the detailed nerve pattern on the iris (eye). Using this information, digital impressions are created by mathematical and statistical algorithm so that accurate profile is created. This biometric technology is nearly impossible to crack by an imposter, unlike finger print scanner which can be forged with a fake thumb print.

[Also read: "Apple iPhone 5S Fingerprint 'Touch ID' Security Feature Breached, Says German Hackers"]

Water-proof certifications:

2014 flagship model Galaxy S5 boasted IP67 water-and-dust repellant certifications, so one could also expect the S6 to have either same or higher certifications.

As of now, Sony Xperia Z3 has highest IP (Ingress Progress) 65/68 rating. This new Sony phone can survive a dip in the swimming pool (or any other water-body), 1.5 meters (five feet) under water for close to 30 minutes, provided all the open ports are closed by the flaps provided in the package, where Galaxy S5 which as IP67 certification, enables users to operate the phone one meter (or three feet) under water for close to 30 minutes.

Heart-rate sensor and UV (Ultra-Violet) sensor:

Samsung has already incorporated heart-rate and UV sensors in the Galaxy Note 4 series, so one can also expect these value-added features in the upcoming Galaxy S6 as well.

Samsung Galaxy S6 aka Project Zero-Mobile Operating Systems:

Since the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 is a flagship device, it is certain to come with latest Android 5.0 Lollipop OS

Samsung Galaxy S6 aka Project Zero Camera Specifications:

In this aspect, Samsung is in two minds having problem to decide whether to go with 16.0-megapixel (like in Galaxy Note 4) or to go with the 20.0-megpaixel camera.

If sources of SamMobile have to be believed, the company is likely stick with the 16.0-megapixel camera and incorporate value-added features like OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and an ability to take good picture under low-light conditions.

And on the front side, Galaxy S6 is said to house a 5.0-megapixel camera.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Release details:

Galaxy S5 made its debut in late February  at the company's 'Unpacked 2014 Episode 1' event at Barcelona, just days ahead of the internationally acclaimed MWC (Mobile World Congress) electronics trade-fair took-off.

So Samsung is most likely to go with same strategy with some flashy event as many are anticipating Galaxy S6 to be a game changer for the company in terms of revenue and the ever aspiring loyal fans.

Expected Specifications of Samsung Galaxy S6 aka Project Zero: