Samsung galaxy S5 to be launched February 23rd in Barcelona at 6pm

Eldar Murtazin, a well-connected blogger with a relatively good track-record when it comes to leaks, has tweeted that the Galaxy S5 will launch on February 23, ahead of MWC 2014 which is to be held in Barcelona.

Murtazin claims the Galaxy S5 will be announced on Sunday, February 23, at 6PM, and that it will be in stores by the end of April.

Samsung Galaxy S5 launch – 18.00. Barcelona. 23 February. Price the same. Launch – end of April. Specs – u know them  new touchwiz 

— Eldar Murtazin (@eldarmurtazin) January 21, 2014

There’s no way for us at 360nobs to verify Murtazin’s claims. What’s more, Eldar Murtazin predicted the launch date of the Galaxy S4 almost to the day last year, which lends his words a lot of credibility.

Rumors that Samsung would accelerate the release of the Galaxy S5 have been surfacing periodically for about half a year now. On January 2, Korean media reported that a Samsung VP stated — off the record — the device would be launched around MWC. Samsung did not confirm or deny that report, but on January 9 another executive revealed – on the record – that the device will be released by the end of April, which suggests it would be introduced in February-March.

While Samsung used its standalone Unpacked events to unveil the last two versions of the Galaxy S, it continued to launch its other big flagship, the Note series, ahead of IFA Berlin in September. It’s possible that the Korean giant is adopting the same strategy for the Galaxy S5. MWC 2014 will officially open on Monday, February 24, 2014.

An earlier release would allow Samsung to steal some of the thunder of competitors like Sony, HTC, and LG, which are all preparing new flagships for the first quarter of the year.

Murtazin also vaguely “confirms” the specs that have been floating around in connection with the Galaxy S5 (5.25-inch 2K display, S800, 3GB RAM), as well as the launch of a new TouchWiz version. In a different tweet, the Russian blogger claims the software of the S5 will have a different name, but that essentially it will be an evolved TouchWiz.