Samsung Galaxy S4 officially announced

[DKT27]

Samsung tonight unveiled the successor to its wildly popular Galaxy S III flagship smartphone. With a 5" Full HD screen and 13MP shooter, it's a big upgrade to the world's most popular Android phone.



Samsung tonight unveiled the successor to its wildly popular Galaxy S III flagship smartphone. The event occurred at 7pm local time at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The device itself, which in appearance is almost identical to its predecessor, is housed in a durable polycarbonate shell that comes in "Black Mist" and "White Frost".

On the face of the handset a 5" Full HD 'Super AMOLED' screen glares back at you, incorporating 441 pixels per inch (PPI); a full 115ppi more than Apple's iPhone 5.

The unwavering quest for ultimate smartphone processing power Samsung pursues doesn't stop with the Galaxy S IV. The final device, depending on your region, will ship with either a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 or Samsung Exynos 5 processor. Coupled with 2GB of RAM, a roomy 2,600mAh battery and either 16, 32 or 64GB storage (with further compatibility for a microSD card), the S IV is built to be the most powerful Android device on the planet.

'Dualshot' allows users to take a picture with the front and rear cameras simultaneously - so you can finally get the ugly front-facing snap of you taking a picture you've always strived for. With this, you can insert both photos into a myriad of flashy templates Samsung provides. 'Drama Shot' takes multiple photos - 25 per second - and layers them into a continuous image. Samsung's demo showed the annoying young boy from the 'Jeremy' S IV adverts perform a tap dancing routine, after which the device layered shots into an exciting collage.

Samsung's new handset has a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2MP shooter up at the front, as well as both 3G and 4G mobile connectivity.

The S IV runs Android 4.2.2, the current version of Google's mobile OS, but is barely visible over Samsung's aesthetic alterations.

At an initial glance, the Galaxy S IV won't jump out as a revolutionary device, but its killer specs and smooth new software features are only likely to further the Korean company's lead over other mobile manufacturers.

Samsung Galaxy S4 at a glance:

• General: Optional 2G/3G/LTE connectivity
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm, 130 g
• Display: 4.99" 16M-color Super AMOLED HD capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (441ppi)
• Chipset: Exynos 5410 Octa / Snapdragon 600
• CPU: 1.6 GHz Quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 and 1.2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 / 1.9GHz Krait 300
• GPU: PowerVR SGX 544MP3 / Adreno 320
• RAM: 2GB
• OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Memory: 16/32GB/64GB storage, microSD card slot
• Still camera: 13 megapixel auto-focus camera, face detection, touch focus and image stabilization, Dual Shot, Cinema Photo; 2MP front facing camera, video-calls
• Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL features (TV Out, USB host), GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, Infrared port
• Battery: 2600 mAh
• Misc: TouchWiz UI, Extremely rich video/audio codec support, built-in accelerometer, Smart stay and Smart rotation eye-tracking, Smart pause, Smart school, S Health, Air Gestures

View: Original Article & Specs and images from GSMArena 1 and GSMArena 2

[ck_kent]

So, is it? Is it more powerful than HTC One?

Interesting, Apple is said to be a major stock holder of Imagination Technologies, which created the PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU their using right now. :huh:

[calguyhunk]

Can somebody pleeeeezzzz pleeeeezzzz pleeeezzzz gift me one? *puppyface*

I'm not a hot chick, so I'll prolly not be of much use to any one of you, ( :P ) but a random act of kindness maybe? To a rather hairy 6' dude? :P

[dcs18]

Hope my son doesn't see this one. :frusty:

[DKT27]

So, is it? Is it more powerful than HTC One?

Interesting, Apple is said to be a major stock holder of Imagination Technologies, which created the PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU their using right now. :huh:

Kinda. See this and you decide. I should note though, US. version will use Snapdragon instead of Samsung's Exynos (as Exynos doesn't support LTE), and, and, the processor will be exactly the same as HTC One, however, S4 would be 1.9GHz instead of One's 1.7GHz.

Now that you have mentioned it. Lot of Apple's products are based on PowerVR SGX:

As it turns out, we were wrong. Word has it the Exynos 5 Octa will have a PowerVR SGX 544MP3, a variant of the PowerVR SGX 543 that Apple uses in the iPhone 5 and 4S. The primary differences are that the 544MP3 supports DirectX 10—which is good news for Windows RT—and it has a higher maximum frequency.

The PowerVR SGX 544MP3 (MP3, meaning three cores) runs at 533 MHz. That's high—the four-core SGX 554MP4 found in the iPad 4 and the SGX 543MP3 found in the iPhone 5 are clocked at 'just' 233 MHz. This makes for higher processing power for gaming than the iPhone 5, although still less than the iPad 4, which theoretically remains 40% more powerful in terms of raw brawn.

Source.

However, that's the only comparison I can draw between S4 and Apple's products.

[Tweety.Abd]

...Samsung's Exynos (as Exynos doesn't support LTE).

This is not true. They couldn't figure out how to get LTE on Exynos properly, however they eventually did, as seen by how every Galaxy Note II variant (Incl. American variants) uses Exynos.

[DKT27]

...Samsung's Exynos (as Exynos doesn't support LTE).

This is not true. They couldn't figure out how to get LTE on Exynos properly, however they eventually did, as seen by how every Galaxy Note II variant (Incl. American variants) uses Exynos.

Hmm. You are correct. Actually, LTE on Exynos had a overheating problem. However, reading at some sites, it seems that all the S4 phones, worldwide, will come with 4G LTE. :o

[majithia23]

Samsung =

You get an Octa (8 ! ) core processor driving a 5" Full HD ( 1920 X 1080 @ about 400 ppi ! ) with a whole sh!t load of advanced features in a plastic casing !

Atleast get it in a Carbon Fibre enclosure ( .... ok , this is askin Too much ... :P )

or

Atleast in an all Aluminum fitting ! ( .... now this sounds reasonable ! :) )

Supplement the whole package to be a top notch , top of the line premium deal right from the hands on physical feel to the deep driven performance stats !

Plastic ...... ! :huh:

( .... just look at the HTC One for comparison ;) )

[DKT27]

Samsung =

You get an Octa (8 ! ) core processor driving a 5" Full HD ( 1920 X 1080 @ about 400 ppi ! ) with a whole sh!t load of advanced features in a plastic casing !

Atleast get it in a Carbon Fibre enclosure ( .... ok , this is askin Too much ... :P )

or

Atleast in an all Aluminum fitting ! ( .... now this sounds reasonable ! :) )

Supplement the whole package to be a top notch , top of the line premium deal right from the hands on physical feel to the deep driven performance stats !

Plastic ...... ! :huh:

( .... just look at the HTC One for comparison ;) )

I'll go on a limb and say that if they will use anything metal, Apple will sue them for infringing their patent, and U.S. will also award them the case.. As for the plastic part, Samsung loves using plastic.

[ffi]

Qualcomm's s4 last blew tegra 3 out of the water (i had the htc one x and one s), even if the raw specs seemed to favor tegra, battery life and just with day to day qualcomm was so much more responsive, I have a feeling this year it's the same with this exynos octacore vs the qualcomm.

Anyway both the HTC One and the SGS4 will have a qualcomm soc, so the soc isn't a deciding factor, it does make the SGS4 a little more attractive hardware wise but the SGS4 comes with touchwiz and touchwiz really is no match for Sense. When I had my SGS2 I always hoped for a sense port but it came only after I got my HOX and was very buggy. (I managed to break my HOX :( I need a new phone, decisions, decisions )

[DKT27]

Qualcomm confirms Galaxy S 4 will ship with Snapdragon 600 SoC in the US

The eight-core Exynos 5 variation will be limited to other markets.

Qualcomm confirmed Friday that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will come with a 1.9Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, and it has said to Ars in an email that this particular variation of the handset will be the one that launches in the US.

Yesterday at its official event, Samsung noted that it would be launching two different versions of the Galaxy S 4: one that uses an eight-core Exynos 5 processor and one that would be fueled by a quad-core Snapdragon 600 system-on-a-chip (SoC). However, it was uncertain which variation would make it to the US.

Originally unveiled at CES, the Snapdragon 600 uses Qualcomm’s ARM-compatible Krait cores and can deliver up to 40 percent better performance than its predecessor, the Snapdragon S4 Pro, according to the company. It also includes an enhanced Adreno 320 GPU and LPDDR3 memory support. The other SOC in the mix is Samsung’s Exynos 5, which depends on ARM’s big.LITTLE technology to combine four speedy CPU cores with four slower but more power-efficient ones.

The Galaxy S 4 will join both the HTC One and LG Optimus G Pro, two other handsets that also run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600.

View: Original Article

[Brrownie]

Awesome..I personally own galaxy S3 and galaxy note 2 but I prefer S3 which is easier to keep your pocket while at work. Personally I find note 2 better and fast but too big to carry in your pocket.

I still have a couple years left on my contract with Bell carrier but look forward to have S4 :P

[ck_kent]

I don't mind having a polycarbonate case rather than a metal one that you can't remove the battery.