Samsung
A man is silhouetted against a video screen with Apple and Samsung logos as he poses with a Samsung S4 smartphone in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, August 14, 2013. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

What will it take to make the Galaxy S6 sell a whole lot better than the Galaxy S5 on the former's rumoured release date in the first quarter of 2015?

As expected, Samsung is doing its best to ensure that the S6 will outperform the S5, which the Asian tech giant has admitted failed to meet even the modest expectations - that is in terms of global sales numbers.

And the latest round of rumours are floating solid ideas that would render the next Galaxy smartphone a worthy iPhone rival again.

Total reboot

The plan, according to SamMobile, is for the Galaxy S6 to do away with history and give the device a fresh start - a complete reboot in fact. The Samsung-centric blog site was first to suggest in an earlier report that Samsung engineers will design the S5 sequel from scratch, which explains the handset's Project Zero codename.

And in a latest development, SamMobile has reiterated its claim that Sammy fans can expect the S6 to deliver more than specs and feature bump ups - the device will be an entirely new mobile experience in the making.

The usual killer features and high-end components, of course, will be part of the package but really the highlight of the Galaxy S6 is Samsung's promise that the device will be the product of its core instruction to "go back to the drawing boards."

One indicator of such is the likelihood of an S6 variant that will be called the Galaxy S6 Edge, precisely because of its curved display panel that Samsung first showcased with the Galaxy Note Edge.

It may sound vague at the moment but one thing is sure, the S6 will reflect a huge jump from its immediate predecessor.

A new operating system

Samsung ditching Android in favour of a new and untested operating system is quite a wild idea at best but according to Jay Yarow of Business Insider, if the author of that OS is Scott Forstall then the S6 is off to a start.

Forstall, of course, is recognized as the genius behind Apple's iOS and is currently on a retirement phase following his abrupt departure from the iPhone maker a few years back.

The question is: Can Samsung lure the former Apple executive out of extended vacation, work for his ex-employer's bitter rival and start a possible thermonuclear conflict beginning with the Galaxy S6?

It might be remote but Yarow is optimistic that Forstall on Samsung is possible with an insane amount of cash - to cover for salary and Forstall's likely non-compete agreement with Apple.

If the Samsung plan will go smoothly, it should be safe to expect the Galaxy S 6 release date as early as February next year with the introduction in time for the CES 2015 in Las Vegas.