Samsung Galaxy S6 release date: Flagship phone to pack Apple Pay-like feature?

Samsung Galaxy S5 [Photo credit: Samsung]

Samsung has not yet revealed any official detail about the Galaxy S6 but there already tons of rumors going around online.  Based on latest whispers, the device might have a feature similar to Apple Pay.

The rumor started as Re/code reported that Samsung is in talks with the company LoopPay, and it is speculated that the LoopPay technology will be integrated with one of the Samsung smartphones bound for release next year. However, the negotiations with the company are not yet finalized and it is still possible that the talks will fall through.

The current Samsung Galaxy S5 and Note 4 have PayPal integrated in their systems, and it works with the devices' fingerprint sensors.  However, it is accepted in fewer stores than Apple Pay. LoopPay technology, on the other hand, can be used in more locations than Apple Pay.

Currently, smartphone users need to attach a dongle to make the LoopPay feature work. This will be changed if Samsung will partner with the company, and this will give Samsung an edge if more establishments accept payment via the feature.

In contrast, Apple Pay works in places equipped with a special near field communication (NFC) pad that can communicate with the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. The vast majority of merchants do not support Apple Pay although there are some major stores that do support the feature. Apple announced that it is working in adding more locations for the new Apple Pay.

Meanwhile, Samsung Galaxy S6 is rumored to be released in March at the Mobile World Congress, and it is expected to be much better than the Galaxy S5. Some of the speculated specs of the Galaxy S6 are: 5-inch screen display with quad HD resolution; either a Qualcomm 20nm Snapdraon 810 chipset or an octa-core Exynos 7 SoC with 64-bit architecture paired with 4 GB of RAM; the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system; 32 GB and 64 GB storage variants with microSD slot; 16-megapixel rear camera; 3.1-megapixel front-facing camera; and longer battery life.

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