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Samsung parodies rumor mill with talk of 'all-glass' Galaxy

Company creates a list of "rumors" surrounding its upcoming Samsung Galaxy, having fun with the massive amount of speculation that precedes a smartphone's release.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read

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Samsung makes fun of the hype by releasing a picture of a hypothetical smartphone. Samsung

As rumors surrounding the upcoming Galaxy S6 flare up, an unlikely participant has joined the fray to comically stoke the flames.

Samsung on Wednesday published a page on its Norwegian site, called "Is this the next?" The page offers several "rumors" about its Galaxy handset, providing a bit of comic relief before the company gets down to the serious work of taking on Apple's iPhone and other competitors in the smartphone market.

"Rumors point to an all-glass Samsung Galaxy," one of the fake rumors posted to the Samsung site says. Another states that the "Galaxy display is supposed to reach onto 3 sides." All of the fake rumors are accompanied by images showing concept art for what the Galaxy would look like if the rumors were true.

Samsung will announce a new handset at its Unpacked event on Sunday. The event, which will help kick off Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is expected to play host to the company's new Galaxy S6 smartphone.

For Samsung, a lot is riding on the Galaxy S6. The company has watched its market share decline in key areas, such as China, and has acknowledged that times are tough in mobile. Samsung has promised investors that it will reduce the number of handsets it offers by a third in 2015 and will dedicate more of its resources to boosting profits in that division.

The Galaxy S6 will be crucial to helping Samsung regain its footing.

Over the last several weeks, rumors have been flying fast and furious over what Samsung might have up its sleeve. The company has provided tantalizingly few details on the flagship handset, but the rumor mill has picked up the slack, with reports saying that the device could come with a metallic finish, an edge-to-edge screen and more. There is also talk of updated TouchWiz software interface that could come with Microsoft applications.

While many of the reports have been based on leaks from manufacturing plants or comments from unnamed sources inside Samsung, T-Mobile gave some credibility to some rumors earlier this week by launching a "Samsung's Next Big Thing" page. The page includes an image appearing to show Samsung's next-generation Galaxy device with an edge-to-edge display, similar to the company's Galaxy Note Edge. T-Mobile said that it will share more information on the handset after Samsung's announcement on Sunday.

Samsung has hinted at the announcements it might make at Unpacked, but the company's "Is this the next?" page is the first to take a comical stab at all the rumors. The page is also helping to keep momentum going. Thousands of people have taken to Twitter early on Wednesday to mention or comment on Samsung's page. If nothing else, the jokes have put the upcoming Galaxy handset into an even brighter light.

Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.