Samsung Galaxy S6 Could Hit Markets 3 Weeks After Launch With Major Software Upgrades

Samsung employees cannot take vacation or sick leave from March 22 to March 30, if a recently leaked document is to be believed. Tech blog Phone Arena got its hands on a document that could reveal the time during which the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone may hit stores.

The S6 is expected to be announced on March 1 at a press event in Barcelona, for which the Korean manufacturer has already sent out invites. The invite includes the silhouette of a uniquely curved device.

Traditionally, Samsung’s flagships go on sale about one month after being announced; for example, the Samsung Galaxy S5 was announced on Feb. 24 and hit stores on April 11. The aforementioned dates are close enough to actually be the Galaxy S6 release dates, but of course, remain unconfirmed.

It is common for manufacturers to not want all hands on deck during the initial days of availability for their new smartphone and to bar employees from taking time off. Companies like Apple have been known to also designate “blackout dates” around the time a new phone comes out.

The second set of dates listed on the document, April 19 to April 27, could be when the rumored curved-display Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge may launch, Phone Area predicts.

But while Samsung employees are gearing up for the next big smartphone launch, the rumor mill continues to churn. Recently, tech blog SamMobile learned that the Samsung Galaxy S6 may include a major overhaul of software features. Prior reports have already suggested the smartphone may be stripped of many bloatware features to be more like Google’s original Android software, but that users may be able to download those apps separately; users may also see a host of physical changes.

An unnamed source told the publication that the Galaxy S6 default keyboard app may be updated to look like a cross between the Galaxy Tab S keyboard and the iOS keyboard. Users will be able to select app icon sizes between 4×4, 4×5 and 5×5, and users won’t be able to flip endlessly through their app drawer. Similar to pure Android, once users reach the end of the app drawer they will have to flip back to the first page. Samsung’s apps should be more colorful than before, with the dialer app reportedly being a grass green color. The system should include more theme options, and the music app should remain functioning in full-screen mode at all times.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 is also expected to feature third-party apps such as Microsoft OneNote, OneDrive, Office Mobile (with a free Office 365 subscription) and Skype.

The Galaxy S6 may be one of Samsung’s biggest device revamps to date. After an abysmal year of sales in 2014 for Samsung due to having too many very similar phones, the Korean manufacturer has vowed to overhaul its product line up with devices featuring metal designs and curved displays.