Samsung Galaxy S6 rumor

CES 2015 is behind us, which means it's time to start looking forward to the next technology smorgasbord: Mobile World Congress. New phones and tablets make the rounds at the annual conference held in Spain, but Samsung has yet to officially announce any word on its expected upcoming flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S6. So, what can we expect from a Galaxy S6? All of this is conjecture, of course, but here's our best educated guesses on the details of Samsung's next big phone. 

 Announcement and release dates: March to April is the mostly likely option -- possibly at Mobile World Congress, or maybe at a totally separate Samsung-only event. Both have precedents: The Samsung Galaxy S5 was unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2014 in February; its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S4 got its own splashy (and unintentionally controversial) launch event at Radio City Music Hall weeks after MWC in March 2013. Both phones went on sale a few weeks later. 

 CPU: Expect top-of-the-line guts for the GS6. Whether that's a Snapdragon 810 quad-core processor from Qualcomm (as found in the upcoming LG G Flex 2) or Samsung's own Exynos 7420 is anyone's guess. The company could also have different CPUs in different territories -- something it's done with past flagship phones. 

 Screen: The well-regarded Samsung Galaxy Note 4 packs an attractive AMOLED display, and it stands to reason that the Galaxy S6 would follow suit. Rumors suggest that the screen size will be around 5.5 inches. 

OS:Android 5.0 Lollipop will be the star of the show, coupled with Samsung's TouchWiz Android skin. But there's a curious wrinkle here: some rumors claim that Samsung is hoping to dial down TouchWiz on the new device, with the aim of improving performance. 

 Plastic or metal?: This is anyone's guess, though devices like the all-metal Samsung Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3, as well as the Galaxy A7, suggest that Samsung might be looking to spruce up its image with premium metal designs. 

 Camera and more: We can likely expect a beefy front-shooter, too. Like it or not, smartphones at CES 2015 were all about the selfie, so there's a good chance Samsung will pay close attention to the oft-ignored front-facing camera. The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 both sported excellent cameras, though the former lacked optical image stabilization. That's becoming increasingly prevalent on kitted-out smartphones -- see the iPhone 6 Plus -- so it stands to reason Samsung would bake it into their latest phone's rear camera.