Galaxy S5 Rumors: Samsung Patents Ornamental Design for Smartphone

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Monday, January 06, 2014

Two new design patents were awarded to Samsung recently that could end up being used to the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4.

U.S. patents No. D696,654 and D696,654 describe "ornamental designs" for a handset terminal and an electronic device. This does not necessarily mean they will be used for the company's 2014 flagships, however, there is a good chance this might be the case.

Designer Ivo Maric applied these patents to the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 creating illustrations of what they would look like. See those images.

The design features a curved display on the sides and would allow users to place handy shortcuts on the side of the touchscreen.

Another designer Jermain Smit came up with his own images based off the patents. It also features this same curved display and can be seen here.

The Galaxy S5 release date is expected to be sometime around this year's Mobile World Congress.

The device is expected to be unveiled around the time of the technology conference, according to a statement made by Samsung's Vice President and Head of Design Strategy Doog-hoon Chang.

MWC normally takes place in Feb. which means the Galaxy S5 unveiling could be just around the corner. Those expecting the smartphone to debut at CES will be a bit disappointed with the news.

Doog-hoon also revealed that a new material is being considered for the Galaxy S5 and did not confirm what it was. There is a possibility of Samsung releasing two versions of the S5 including a regular and Active model. The flexible display that is rumored for the Galaxy S5 is currently under review, according to the Samsung exec who also stated that he would be surprised if one was featured on the handset at launch. A curved version could end up being released after the original model.

All this information should be taken with a grain of salt as Samsung has confirmed nothing on the device at this time.