Samsung to launch new flagship phones on March 1, hints at new Edge model

The company's Unpacked event will take place in Barcelona ahead of Mobile World Congress. The invitation the company sent out on Monday includes an image that with a curve hints the company will introduce the Galaxy S6 Edge along with a standard model.

The launch is important because of the struggles Samsung had last year. While the overall smartphone market grew, Samsung's unit sales dropped. The company needs to prove that it can build a flagship smartphone that looks good, performs well and has a cleaner user interface. The Galaxy Note 4 was a step in the right direction that Samsung should build on.

A steady stream of rumors of what improvements the Galaxy S6 (a name that hasn't been confirmed) will feature have been published during the last couple of months. They include plans to launch at least two models, one with a flat screen and an Edge version with a screen that wraps around one or both sides of the device.

The screen is expected to have a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and to be close to the Galaxy S 5's 5.1-inch screen in size. In general, this year's batch of Android high-end smartphones are expected keep the screen size of their predecessors. Other anticipated specifications include a 20-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel camera on the front.

One of the more talked about changes is the processor. The company is expected to go with an Exynos octa-core processor developed in-house, following heating issues with the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810. Last week, Qualcomm lowered revenue expectations for its chip division for the second half of the year, in part because the 810 "will not be in the upcoming design cycle of a large customer's flagship device." Even though it didn't mention Samsung by name, the mentioned flagship is likely the Galaxy S6.

Most other high-end Android smartphones are still expected to use the Snapdragon 810. LG has said it hasn't suffered any heating issues on the recently launched G Flex2.

Samsung will have some heavy competition at Mobile World Congress, where the likes of HTC, Sony and Huawei Technologies are also expected to show new flagship models.

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