Samsung launched the new Galaxy S4 on March 14th at an event held at the New York Radio City Music Hall. The handset would be launched on 4 key US carriers in April. This was a phone that has been wildly speculated upon; however, the reality fails to deliver. This phone is definitely superior to its S3 counterpart, but the updates are not really major. A lot of new software has been added, but it seems to exist more for decorative purposes than for any real use.
The new Samsung flagship phone boasts a slightly bigger screen – 5”, as opposed to its predecessor’s 4.8” display. The 1080p panel has a 441ppi, which is superior to the 326 ppi of the iPhone 5. Samsung has dubbed it as a ‘Full HD Super Amoled’ display. The rest of the features are as expected, with a 2GB RAM, a micro SD card slot for expanding its already formidable 16GB, 32GB and 64GB memory. A 2600mAh battery and a 13-megapixel rear camera complete the rest of the picture. The front-facing camera is capable of taking 720p videos.
There is some new software which comes as a part of the new phone. A S Voice Drive works similar to iPhone’s Siri and Apple Maps. A translation app, new camera modes and ‘Air Gestures’ are the other new additions. Air Gestures is something that would allow you to flick through your snaps without having to actually touch your screen. Whether that is really a value addition is something that only the users would decide. Several new camera modes, including the Cinema mode that allows you to create videos with a stationery snaps and a moving background, have been added. A Sound and Shot mode that allows you to mix audio with still snaps is another addition.
The smartphone has the latest Android 4.2.2, which has proved Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller wrong as he had stated that in all probability the S4 would have a year-old OS.
Samsung is doing a pathetic service towards innovation by releasing cheap, plasticy, ugly, oversized spartphones…they are not helping in anyway towards innovation…Google too is dragging the bar low, by releasing cheap operating system too in the form of android….
The only companies that are really doing something good, other than apple, are Nokia and HTC, their recent products have been awe inspiring…
I just want the sapphire screen cover. Putting invisible shields on my phone just degrades the look of it. It’s a constant battle within myself whether it’s worth the risk of scratching the glass and having to live with it or whether I want to enjoy the clarity of naked glass.
I believe Samsung said there will be even 4g lte global, but not sure when or on which module. it might be like when s3 came and than 4g lte came months later. you might get first a multiband 4g lte and ferw months later real world wide 4g lte, the same goes with octacore cpus, it wont be available on many countries at first since the production just started. so I would probley wait with s4 till summer till they have added all extras…..