Samsung launches plan to lure away users from iPhone

For people who are looking to switch from iPhone to Android, Samsung has come out with a new deal that could be worth considering.

The company announced that it would pay the monthly installment bill for users' new phone until 2016.

The discount would apply if users wanted to buy a Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, or Galaxy S6 Edge Plus on an installment plan from T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, or US Cellular.

The plan, however, would not be applicable for users who want to buy a new phone on AT&T's network.

Users buying Galaxy S6 through Verizon's installment option, would typically need to pay $24 per month for 24 months to fully pay off the device cost. However, Samsung was now offering to take care of those monthly payments until 2016 for people who bought a new Galaxy phone between now and 9 October. The rebate was capped at $120.

For users switching from the iPhone, Samsung said it would also add a $100 Google Play gift card.

The announcement comes immediately after the launch of Apple's new iPhone 6S in stores.

Meanwhile, Tech Gadget Central reported that the highly-credible Korean publication EToday indicated that the Samsung Galaxy S7 would be released this winter. Earlier, according to rumours, the S7 was supposed to be out in March, 2016. However EToday said it would  actually be released in January, only nine months after the release of the Galaxy S6.

Commentators say that is surprising, considering that most major smartphone players followed an annual release schedule. However, Samsung's flagging sales and relatively poor projected performance in the latter half of the year might have motivated it to release the Galaxy S7 earlier than usual.

It is also worth noting that the Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset was scheduled to be released in Q4 this year, and according to Gizmodo, Samsung has just announced a new $100 version of the headset.