{"id":38903,"date":"2014-08-13T11:52:18","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T11:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=38903"},"modified":"2014-08-13T11:53:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T11:53:00","slug":"samsung-reveals-galaxy-alpha-metal-framed-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=38903","title":{"rendered":"Samsung reveals Galaxy Alpha metal-framed smartphone"},"content":{"rendered":"
Samsung says a metal frame and curved corners give the Galaxy Alpha a “sophisticated” look.<\/div>\n

Samsung has announced a new smartphone with a metal frame that is smaller and thinner than its flagship model.<\/p>\n

The South Korean company describes the Galaxy Alpha as representing a “new design approach”.<\/p>\n

The firm has previously been criticised for the plastic feel of its handsets at a time when other firms have opted to use materials marketed as having a “premium” feel.<\/p>\n

Samsung Electronics saw a 20% year-on-year drop in its last quarter’s profit.<\/p>\n

It blamed “slow global sales of smartphones”.<\/p>\n

The company recently lost its status as China’s bestselling smartphone-maker to Xiaomi, a local rival, according to the research group Canalys.<\/p>\n

Xiaomi’s latest handset, the Mi 4, also features a metal-framed build.<\/p>\n

\"Xiaomi<\/div>\n
Xiaomi made a virtue of its Mi 4’s metal frame design at a press conference last month<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

“This is a clear acknowledgement by Samsung that it needed to address some of the criticism that it faced on the Galaxy S5 and deliver a more premium feel,” Ben Wood, chief of research at the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight, told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“To actually make these devices in the kind of volumes that Samsung needs to deliver them across all its markets is a real challenge, so it’s quite remarkable that it’s been able to turn this product around so quickly.<\/p>\n

“The challenge will be marketing it without cannibalising sales of the S5.”<\/p>\n

‘Missed opportunity’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new handset has a 4.7in (11.9cm) screen, making it slightly smaller than the Galaxy S5.<\/p>\n

Its camera also has a lower specification of 12 megapixels, but it benefits from being nearly a fifth slimmer, measuring 6.7mm (0.26in) deep, and is also lighter, weighing in at 114g (4oz).<\/p>\n

Samsung\u00a0replaced the head\u00a0of its mobile design team in May, when Lee Min-hyouk took over the role from Chang Dong-hoon.<\/p>\n

The move followed several reviews that had praised the Galaxy S5’s capabilities while criticising its feel.<\/p>\n

Other manufacturers that had already shifted to offering part or full-metal bodied phones at the time included HTC, Huawei, Apple and Sony.<\/p>\n

One expert, who tested the Galaxy Alpha before it was formally announced, has doubts about the new device.<\/p>\n

“The back is still a plastic cover and it doesn’t do enough to compete with the look and feel of the HTC One, for instance,” said Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile devices analyst at the research firm IDC.<\/p>\n

“This was an opportunity for Samsung, and it’s missed it again.<\/p>\n

“Unless the Alpha is made very affordable and put in a mid-tier price band, it may have difficulty as the materials don’t feel as premium as some of its competitors.”<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/div>\n
Marketing materials for the new handset focus on its design rather than its specifications<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Samsung said it would announce the device’s price and shipping date at a later stage.<\/p>\n

The company is expected to unveil the Galaxy Note 4, its latest large “phablet” handset, in Berlin on 3 September ahead of the start of the Ifa tech show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samsung says a metal frame and curved corners give the Galaxy Alpha a “sophisticated” look. Samsung has announced a new smartphone with a metal frame that is smaller and thinner than its flagship model. The South Korean company describes the Galaxy Alpha as representing a “new design approach”. The firm has previously been criticised for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":38904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[18,715],"class_list":["post-38903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dr-akwasi-osei","tag-queen-janes-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}