If I'd fabricated this story back on April 1, 2013, I'd have been called an idiot. (Hell, I probably still will today.) Yet, here we are, August of 2014 and Samsung has just announced the iPhone 5... er... the Galaxy Alpha. According to Android Central:
After a short flurry of leaks, Samsung has this morning taken the wraps off a new metal-clad Android smartphone, the Galaxy Alpha. Boasting a metal frame and a 4.7-inch display, the Galaxy Alpha represents a departure from Samsung's predominantly plastic-focused lineup, with a squared-off design furnished in more premium materials.
I'd quote the classic Cordelia Chase line — "Oh please, like shame is something to be proud of?" — but Samsung was making real progress towards their own, distinct product line and design language and it's hard to consider this anything other than a massive backwards misstep.
Maybe Samsung felt people who love the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s wanted a bigger screen option, but they also want iOS 8 and that's something Samsung has zero shot at copying.
HTC has shown they can make metal phones that look nothing like the iPhone. Nokia has shown they can make plastic phones every bit as good looking as metal. So why make an iPhone clone, and why do it in 2014? Where's the pride in that? Where's the Samsung-shaped dent in the universe?
Hopefully the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 returns Samsung to their own destiny, because with low-cost Chinese smartphones battery their bottom line, it's not going to get any prettier. Especially not with the oncoming freight-train that's the iPhone 6...
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