Samsung is reportedly veering off the beaten path its next flagship smartphone. Specifically, the South Korean tech giant is addressing what's often described as its Achilles heel: software.
According to a report from Sam Mobile, Samsung is hard at work on optimizing its software to operate at near-stock Android levels and heavily reducing the amount of bloatware that comes pre-installed. Many of Samsung's homegrown apps will now be optional downloads.
Perhaps even more compelling is what Samsung plans to replace those apps with.
Sources told the publication that Sammy will install several Microsoft-branded apps on the Galaxy S6 including, but not limited to, OneNote, OneDrive, Office Mobile (with a free 365 subscription) and Skype.
It's unclear if this strategy on Microsoft's part has more to do with the fact that Windows Phone has failed to make a noticeable impact in the industry of if it's more about the company's recent push to expand to virtually every ecosystem possible. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's a little bit of both.
Other software changes on the Galaxy S6 are said to include a revised keyboard, more themes to choose from, more color in the Samsung apps that do stick around, the ability to adjust the app drawer icon layout and a revised UI for the dialer app that apparently looks as "green as grass."
TouchWiz on the S6 is said to be amazingly fast compared to Lollipop on the Note 4, Samsung's current flagship phablet.
Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S6 at its Unpacked media event scheduled for March 1.