Upcoming smartphone 2016 

Galaxy S7 With Android 6.0 Marshmallow Rumored Release Date February 2016

A recent report out of South Korea indicates that the company's next-generation flagship handset, the Galaxy S7, will be released in February 2016.  The release would be a departure from Samsung's traditional April release schedule for S smartphones.

Samsung seems to be ramping up its production and release schedule to compete with Apple, its main rival. The company just released its two new flagship phablets, the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ in August, purportedly to beat Apple to the punch. Apple just released its newest iPhones, the the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, on Sept. 25, and has announced that demand for the devices shattered previous sales records, with more than 13 million of the new handsets already sold.

Now, an analyst in South Korea, Samsung's home turf, has stated that he expects the company's latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7, will be revealed in January 2016 and be available for sale the following month.

Last month, we reported  that Samsung has apparently been utilizing a new, speedier development methodology to produce its new devices sooner. Rather than the old "waterfall" method, which involved the development of smartphones one section at a time, Samsung has switched to an "agile" methodology, which allows for development of various components of a new device simultaneously.

The new development methodology adds credence to the early release rumor, as does the source. The analyst in question works at SK Securities, which is an affiliate of one of South Korea's largest carriers, SK Telecom. The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6 were both launched at Mobile World Congress and went on sale in April 2014 and 2015, respectively, but it appears as if Samsung may be pushing its release schedule up somewhat if this rumor holds true.

The Galaxy S7, which is code-named Jungfrau, is rumored to be packing a Snapdragon 820 processor and running Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.

Apple Is Building Google Now Rival 'Proactive' Into iOS 9

Rumors about a new Apple search engine have been doing the rounds since the start of the year. For once, this tech rumor seems to have had some basis in truth as the company looks set to launch a new discovery tool for iOS 9.

Code-named "Proactive," the tool isn't a traditional search engine but is more of a rival to Google Now that aims to provide iOS users with any information they need.

9to5Mac reports that Apple is set to reveal Proactive as a vital part of iOS 9 at the company's annual worldwide developer conference on June 8.  Proactive will reportedly combine information from Siri, Contacts, Calendar, Passbook and third-party apps to create an evolution of the Spotlight search feature that provides users with information when they need it, similarly to how Google Now operates. It will also work with Apple Maps to display points of interest personally relevant to the user in an augmented reality display and integrate with a third-party Siri API code-named "Breadcrumbs."

The report claims that Apple has been working on the tool since the 2013 acquisition of personal assistant app, Cue. Proactive will be located to the left of the home screen, where Spotlight lived in iOS7. Usage of Spotlight, Apple's system-wide search, dropped when it was hidden at the top of the screen in iOS8.

Within the Proactive screen there will be a search bar at the top, below which there will be content based on the user's Apps, Contacts and Maps. For example, if a user has a flight scheduled in his calendar and a boarding pass printed in Passbook, a bubble will show in Proactive close to the flight time to allow him to access the boarding pass quickly. It will also learn a user's habits and suggest apps based on those routines. For example, if you always check Twitter when you wake, a notification will appear in the morning allowing you to open your Twitter app with one click. It will also give restaurant or bar recommendations based on your phone's location.

Then there's the augmented reality maps that arise from the acquisition of Spotsetter, a social search engine. Using this feature a user can hold his phone up to a street and Proactive will display a virtual view of businesses on that street, including restaurant and cafe menus and shopping directories.

9to5Mac's sources also suggest that Apple will allow third-party developers to integrate their apps with iOS search results and Siri. The scaled down Siri API code-named "Breadcrumbs" is apparently a limited version of Siri as Apple believes integration with a full Siri API could lead to personal data being sent to the wrong third-party apps.

If the report proves to be true it would be a huge improvement over current versions of Siri and Spotlight and be a genuine rival to Google Now. It would make for some interesting news on June 8 when Apple is also expected to unveil its new streaming music service.

Sony: 2016 will make or break mobile business

For the first time in many years, things might be starting to look good for Sony's smartphone business, but it isn't out of the woods yet. The recently unveiled Sony Xperia Z5 looks promising but the company still needs to achieve a massive turnaround to recoup its losses. Naturally, Sony "feels" optimistic that things are going for the better, but just in case, it has set next year as the deadline for its mobile business, which could end up getting sold if things don't turn out well.

To be fair, Sony has been having problems across almost all of its divisions. It sold off its ailing VAIO PC business and was rumored to be even be considering doing the same for its TV line. Just this week, it spun off its imaging sensor division, it's so far strongest business next to the PlayStation, into its own company. That gives it the opportunity to hunker down on its biggest pain point: smartphones.

Sony once held a special spot in the market, but that has since dwindled down to a negligible one percent in the US, and even 17.5 percent in its home country of Japan. The company faces strong competition both from the giants like Apple and Samsung as well as the myriad of more affordable brands in Asia, particularly from China. It faces an almost Herculean task of reinstating its relevance in an already saturated smartphone market.

And Sony might have finally gotten it right this time around. After the flop that was the Xperia Z4/Z3+, the new Xperia Z5 family is poised to help Sony reclaim its spot, especially if it has finally gotten around the overheating problems that plagued its half-flagship. The smartphone's cameras have proven to be quite formidable, reinforcing Sony's prowess in the imaging field. And after refining its hardware, Sony is now focusing on the software experience. It has opened up its "Concept for Android" experiment to 10,000 owners of Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact devices in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany, in an attempt to solicit feedback on its next big step in smartphones.

Sony's three years' worth of cost cutting and restructuring might finally be paying off. Company representatives feel quite confident that they are on track towards a more profitable fiscal year next year. For now, they aren't yet backing out from the smartphone rat race, but how long that sentiment will last will depend on just how much its turnaround will be next year.

To be fair, Sony has been having problems across almost all of its divisions. It sold off its ailing VAIO PC business and was rumored to be even be considering doing the same for its TV line. Just this week, it spun off its imaging sensor division, it's so far strongest business next to the PlayStation, into its own company. That gives it the opportunity to hunker down on its biggest pain point: smartphones.

9to5Mac's sources also suggest that Apple will allow third-party developers to integrate their apps with iOS search results and Siri. The scaled down Siri API code-named "Breadcrumbs" is apparently a limited version of Siri as Apple believes integration with a full Siri API could lead to personal data being sent to the wrong third-party apps.