Samsung Galaxy S IV announced; rollout in 155 countries starts in April

Samsung Galaxy S IV announced; rollout in 155 countries starts in April

Samsung Galaxy S IV announced; rollout in 155 countries starts in April

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After the never ending stream of leaks that seemed convinced that the Samsung Galaxy S IV will also include a rocket launcher, the real deal is finally here. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4 at an event in New York. The smartphone gets an eight-core 1.6GHz processor, with 2GB of RAM. The company says that the phone will be rolled out in 155 countries starting April 2013. We will keep you posted on the India availability, as we get the details.

Samsung has clarified that the international version of the Samsung Galaxy S IV will be powered by the Exynos 5 Octa chipset. This particular chipset has four Cortex-A15 cores clocking to a maximum of 1.6GHz and four Cortex-A7 cores clocking up to 1.2GHz. The graphics are handled by the PowerVR SGX 544MP3 chip. But, there will be a second version that will only hit certain markets. This version will be powered by the recently launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset with its quad-core Krait 300 chipset and the Adreno 320 graphics. Both versions will have 2GB of RAM, and will get the LTE feature in certain markets. It will also feature wireless charging in some markets.

The Galaxy S IV features a 4.99-inch 1920x1080 pixel Super AMOLED display, giving it a pixel density of 441 ppi. There will be three storage options – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Just like the HTC One, the Galaxy S IV also has an IR blaster allowing you to control the entertainment devices at home (using Samsung's WatchON service), as well as Wi-Fi 802.11ac support. The Galaxy S IV, at 7.9mm, is actually thinner than the Galaxy S III, despite a bigger display, with a less profound bezel. Some users may be disappointed though, given that the Galaxy S IV carries forward the same plastic build, with the hyper glaze finish at the back.

Samsung says that the Galaxy S IV will be available in two versions – White Frost and Black Mist, though more colours are due soon. The S IV will have Android 4.2.2 on board, with a spruced up Touchwiz UI. The rest of the specs include a 13MP rear camera, a 2MP front camera, NFC, 4G in certain markets and a 2,600mAh battery. 

The Galaxy S IV has also been stuffed full of exclusive software features, with Samsung throwing everything but the kitchen sink at its new flagship. For the camera, Samsung has added the ‘Sound and Shot’ feature, which captures 9 second clips with sound. This sounds very similar to what the Zoe feature does in HTC One’s Ultrapixel camera. Similarly, you can erase objects from a photograph, and combine burst shots into a single image. There is also a ‘Drama Shot’ time-lapse feature. Another camera feature is the new ‘Story Album’ function, which automatically creates albums according to a timeline or event, while geo-tagging information. These can be delivered as offline photo album through Blurb.
The new TouchWiz UI also includes the old eye-tracking Smart Stay feature, as well as the new Smart Pause – video playback will be paused the moment you look away from the screen; and Smart Stay – which allows you to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen, combining eye tracking and gyroscopes to scroll the pages up or down accordingly – features.

Samsung has also added a ‘Group Play’ function, with which users can share and sync media and documents with those around them without using a Wi-Fi AP or cellular signal. The S IV also features an ‘S Translator’ which provides instant speech-to-text and text-to-speech translation on applications including email, text message and ChatON. Other new features include ‘Air View,’ which allows users to hover with their fingers to preview the content of various apps, without having to open them; and ‘Air Gesture’, with which users can change music tracks, accept calls, and scroll web pages with a wave of their hand.

Samsung has also included ‘S Voice Drive,’ to allow users to use voice commands when driving, via Bluetooth, and also speaking out information using text-to-speech. An ‘Optical Reader’ has also been included, helping to recognize text and QR code information, while also providing other features such as translation and search. The S IV also has ‘S Health,’ a combination of sensors built within the device that systematically monitors the user’s health and surroundings, to help improve the “quality of life.”

Finally, Samsung has also included ‘Samsung Adapt Display,’ which optimizes the viewing experience for each type of application, and ‘Samsung Adapt Sound,’ which adjusts sound level and type.