Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to have New Form Factor: First Tizen Device Expected in Q2 2014

Even as Samsung's newest Galaxy S5 records significantly higher sales than last year's Galaxy S4, rumours are swirling about the company's next flagship smartphones.

After Samsung confirmed the global availability of the Galaxy S5 in 125 countries earlier this month, it emerged that the Galaxy S5's first day sales were double the Galaxy S4's sales on its launch day.

Although Samsung did not reveal any sales target for the Galaxy S5, it confirmed that the Galaxy S5 should do significantly better than the Galaxy S4.

"(The S5) is selling faster than the S4 so far, though it's difficult to share specific numbers as we're still at early stages," Yoon Han-kil, senior vice-president of Samsung's product strategy team, told Reuters in an interview. "S5 sales should be much better than the S4."

For the Galaxy S5, Samsung shifted its focus to key enhancements which include a better, water-resistant camera and ultra power-saving mode, which automatically turns off unnecessary apps when the battery level is low.

"With the S4, we thought smartphones shouldn't just focus on hardware. They also had to come with a lot of software and services, and that line of thinking did lead us to cram many services into the device," Yoon added.

"We still feel the same way but this time around, we decided not to put in so many things and only include what the user really needs, so I cut out a lot of services and software."

Samsung's first Tizen smartphone

Yoon Han-kil confirmed that Samsung's first Tizen running smartphone, a high-end model, will be launched by the end of the second quarter. The second model will aim at the mid-range market driving volume growth.

Samsung's move for Tizen powered devices comes as Google is trying to push its Android operating system in wearable devices.

Besides, Samsung dropped Android for Tizen for its second generation Galaxy Gear smartwatches. Also, Samsung wants the new Gear smartwatches to become compatible with a wide range of Android smartphones by pitching Tizen directly against Android.

Samsung is expected to introduce Android-based smartwatches later this year.

Next-gen Galaxy Note

Yoon also confirmed that that the next generation Galaxy Note, widely known as Samsung Galaxy Note 4, will be launched with a "new form factor", but failed to provide details.

According to Sammobile, Samsung is likely to use a curved display that folds to the sides of the device. This three-sided display using Samsung Youm flexible screen technology will allow users to view notifications and messages at an angle.

This is not the first time the next generation Galaxy Note has been rumoured to feature a three-sided screen. In February, there were indications that Samsung would use this technology in its upcoming Galaxy Note, which is said to be water- and dust-resistant like the Galaxy S5.

Recently, a Samsung official confirmed that Samsung was planning a launch event for the Galaxy Note 4 at the upcoming IFA 2014 event in Berlin. He added that Samsung was in the middle of finalising specification details of the new Note.