• Samsung Galaxy Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Smartphone (Photo : REUTERS/GUSTAU NACARINO)

The Samsung Galaxy S7 development is scheduled to be finalized January next year with the mass production to follow the month after, according to a new report originating from South Korea. The device release date is tentatively set February 2016 and the flagship handset is rolling out in two sizes - a 5.2-inch regular version and a 5.5-inch phablet edition, the report added. 

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The smaller Galaxy S7 will sport a flat screen that is similar to the regular Galaxy S6 build while the bigger device will have "a display that has left and right side of screen bent," South Korean news site Electronics Times said in a new report. The latter will be called the Galaxy S7 Edge, the report added, citing its unnamed industry sources.

As expected and as the Galaxy S6 successor, the S7 is Samsung's direct answer to the 4.7-inch iPhone 6S that Apple had unleashed in September. The S7 Edge, on the other hand, will slug it out with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6S Plus, setting up an epic battle between the two leading smartphone makers in the few months to come.

The Korean report was silent on the supposed S7 and S7 Edge specs though it carried an illustration that seemed to confirm the swirling rumors that the upcoming device will take a direct page from the Galaxy S6 in terms of build and design. And it should be safe to assume that the handset functions and features packed with the new model would reflect a huge step up from the immediate predecessors.

Electronic Times said that Samsung plans to manufacture an initial batch of five million units for its first 2016 flagship, "where 3.3 million will be Galaxy S7 and 1.6 million will be Galaxy S7 Edge."

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge release date, likely to happen in late February 2016, will mark the start of Samsung's quest to clear out 400 million smartphones by the end of next year, the report said, adding that as of September 2015 the South Korean tech giant has already sold 393 million units.