Samsung Galaxy S4 launch thread

[Dave Hester]

Today is the launch date for the new Galaxy S4. For everyone on here that isnt an apple fan boy and prefers the Android operating system, may be excited about the launch of the worlds most advanced smart phone ever.

Live streaming tonight at 11.pm from New York.

Rumours suggest the Samsung Galaxy S4 will include some innovations in input methods, letting you use the device without actually touching the display.First up is Floating Touch, which lets you control the phone by hovering a finger over the screen, rather than touching it directly. As our sister title*Expert Reviews*notes, Samsung already uses a similar*technology*with its S Pen in the Galaxy Note tablets.Another rumoured input innovation is eye-tracking, such as what we've seen before from Tobii, although Samsung's own patents suggest this may be an in-house development. A report in the*New York Times*claims the*Galaxy S4 will use its cameras*to watch users as they read, automatically scrolling the page when they hit the bottom of the text. While the eye scrolling system would make its debut Samsung with the Galaxy S4, the handset maker has previously made deeper use of the camera - the Galaxy S III, for example, uses the camera to know when someone is looking at the screen, turning it off or dimming it otherwise.

Display

It seems almost certain that the Galaxy S4 will arrive with a Full HD, 1,080 x 1,920 display. With an expected screen size of 5in - up a smidgen from the 4.8in, 720 x 1,280 display of the*Samsung Galaxy S III*- the S4 will have a far higher pixel density than its predecessor.

Processor, memory and storage

It now seems likely the Galaxy S4 will arrive with a quad-core processor. Indeed,*specifications leaked to SamMobile*show that the Galaxy S4 will run an eight-core Exynos Octa 5410 CPU clocked at 1.8GHz.That's a generation on from the processor inside the*Galaxy Note 8*smartphone-cum-tablet unveiled at*Mobile World Congress, which shipped with a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos 4 processor, albeit powering a lower resolution screen (1,280 x 800).If Samsung wanted to raise the stakes with Apple, it could boost the minimum*storage*of the S4 to 32GB, but given that Samsung includes an SD card slot in its high-end smartphones, it's almost certain the base storage will remain at 16GB to keep prices as low as possible.2GB of RAM has become the standard for 2013's high-end smartphones - that's the amount of memory shipped with the Galaxy Note 8. The leaked specifications pin the Galaxy S4 at 2GB of RAM, and we'll be surprised if Samsung goes any higher when it finally launches.

4G
It comes as little surprise that the Galaxy S4 will support 4G networks. Britain's only current 4G provider, EE, has confirmed via its Twitter account that the new handset will work on its network.EE has put up a site that allows customers to*register their interest in the Galaxy S4*before the official launch.

Battery

To power that higher-resolution screen and quad-core processor, Samsung will have to improve upon the S III's battery if it's going to last the day without a top-up from the charger.Read more:*Samsung Galaxy S4 release date, price and specs: what we expect to see | News | PC Pro*http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/380194/...and-specs-what-we-expect-to-see#ixzz2NW3JBJU7

 

[Tom]

Can't wait.

 

[JamesBryan]

Schweeet

 

[treemanx]

Edit - Pictures on the first link

 

[clio37]

Keep checking for news .If it has some Decent Upgrades over my Note 2 I will trade the Note 2 in for it.

 

[Dave Hester]

 

[_Tom]

It will no doubt be awesome. I'm just not sure on the size..

Does anyone know when it's likely to be released in the UK?

 

[Dave Hester]

Agreed 5 inch is a big size but its looking like all top of the range smart phones will go this way until foldable screens come out in a few years. Tbh the 3.5 inch screen on my girlfriends iphone 4s seems utterly ridculously puny after using my s3 for the last 8 months. Early april for the Uk no actual date been released yet but its confirmed that its being launched in Europe before the US get it

 

[Cookie]

Excited.

 

[Paniro]

Can not wait!!!! All set for my upgrade

 

[Tom]

This is it right?

 

[_Tom]

I thought they were getting rid of the home button?

 

[Tom]

Guess we will find out. If its anything like that then that's disappointing.

 

[koi]

Will they announce the S4 mini as well?

 

[BeXE]

Hopefully the TouchJiz interface will be less intrusive and garish, but I wouldn't count on it.

Still, I'm watching this with interest as I'm due an upgrade next Friday, and I'm torn between this, the Xperia Z, HTC One, or a Nexus 4.

 

[treemanx]

Sightly disappointing if it looks that similar to the s3, but there's only so many shapes you can wrap round a rectangular screen.

 

[Gray]

Really looking forward to this.

 

[Krispwee]

Wow, this launch is pure cheese.

It feels once again like Samsung are continuing with the throw everything at the wall and see what sticks way of innovation on all these new "features".

 

[Tom]

I suppose it's too much to expect anything ground breaking these days.

Nexus 4 owners must be over the moon.

 

[sn00p]

I suppose it's too much to expect anything ground breaking these days.

Nexus 4 owners must be over the moon.

Yeah, it doesn't really matter what ever groundbreaking hardware features they add....it'll still be running and inferior version of the OS and that means I'm out.

There are some nice software features in it, but you'd have to put up with all the other alterations/bastardisations of the the OS.

You may not notice it initially (the crapware) but it'll kick in once the next major release of Android appears you'll end up waiting 6 months, 1 year or never for it.

 

[Tom]

It's the phone equivalent of bloatware.

 

[_Tom]

I'll stick with my Nexus thanks..

 

[treemanx]

Omg samsung using touch wiz, there's a surprise...

 

[Dave Hester]

Being able to scroll down the page with just your eyes sounds awesome but i am slightly disapointed with the new design.

Still, im sure its a far more advanced upgrade than what apple will accomplish with the 5S

 

[Tom]

LOL, you can't help yourself. Love it.

 

[jakey18-1994]

Blown Apple out of the water again!

 

[cava83]

Blown Apple out of the water again!

Depends how you look at it.

Spec wise, yes it's better. But the next iPhone will have a better spec than this probably.

Every new device that comes out, is normally* better than it's intended competition.

I do like Samsung products, I think the S line Samsungs feel cheap to be honest, however they are excellent devices.

The issue for me is, I don't like android versions that have been played with. I much prefer Windows Phone (7.5+) to any version of Android.

If the S4 had Ubuntu Mobile installed, now that might be a winner !!

 

[BatFastard]

Should have just called it the Galaxy 3S to be honest. But probably didn't want to get sued again.

 

[_Tom]

Should have just called it the Galaxy 3S to be honest. But probably didn't want to get sued again.

Bit like the iphone 5 should be a iphone SSSSS

 

[seb]

Saw it on the BBC news website. Looks epically s**t.

 

[treemanx]

Dare I ask what phone you think is better seb?

 

[seb]

I think apple is better if you have multiple apple products as ios across the lot. Likewise if you are well into android or windows phones and use them their operating systems over different devices then makes snse you stick with them imo and would be better.

Just looked pretty dogs**t imo. Nothing exciting about it.

I have a iphone 4 if it makes any difference. Shouldn't do though. I also have a nokia phone too.

 

[Keydogg]

I think apple is better if you have multiple apple products as ios across the lot. Likewise if you are well into android or windows phones and use them their operating systems over different devices then makes snse you stick with them imo and would be better.

Just looked pretty dogs**t imo. Nothing exciting about it.

I have a iphone 4 if it makes any difference. Shouldn't do though. I also have a nokia phone too.

Apart from the build quality argument I can't possibly think how this looks "dogshit". It trumps everything out there for specs, what more could it have?! We're not talking about the OS btw.

 

[Tom]

It could well have the best spec in the world. Great. It's still made of plastic and still has that garbage skin.

That's what makes it dogshit.

Interesting they've decided to iterate this year. Seems to be the trend to follow. IMHO Samsung could redeem themselves slightly by offering a fully supported stock rom. But that won't happen.

 

[MicKPM]

Thing is though Tom my Note2 cost me just over £400 new and sim free. Whats the current price on a Sim free iphone 5 with 32gb or 64gb (£600-700)?

They may not have that "premium build quality" that Apple devices since the iphone 3 have had but they're by no means utter shite either... perfectly acceptable imo. My only gripe is they're slippery buggers and the Note2 especially needs a soft touch back for one handed use.

I won't be running out to buy the S4 or the new Note (if they announce it) because I'm happy with what I've got but at least I know that of I break this device its not going to cost me the best part of a grand to replace nor does it require an additional insurance policy costing me extra every month.

 

[Gally]

Apart from the build quality argument I can't possibly think how this looks "dogshit". It trumps everything out there for specs, what more could it have?! We're not talking about the OS btw.

"We're not talking OS", really?

So it can run like crap and be stupid but if it's fast and had lots of gimicky apps and features that you'll never use it's great?

That makes no sense. I spend a lot of time using an S3 and the more I use it the worse it gets. Partially because i'm used to simplicity and everything working quickly it just feels like going back in time. Clunky!

 

[treemanx]

It's like you're trapped in the matrix, where the iPhone is the only smartphone you can buy.

Be honest, it didn't matter what the S4 was going to be, you'd already decided it was crap.

 

[SC03OTT]

Looks smart enough and has a few cool features I suppose. It's be out of date by the time I upgrade so that's about it from me. I won't be having a good look.

 

[Dave Hester]

It's like you're trapped in the matrix, where the iPhone is the only smartphone you can buy.

Be honest, it didn't matter what the S4 was going to be, you'd already decided it was crap.

Nail. Head.

Many people that have invested alot of money in apple products across the range, iphone, ipad, imac that all work together plus the hundreds of pounds worth of apps and music, shudder to think how they can possibly move to something else even though the alternative is far better.

Just the same as my Dad and his huge vhs collection, took him years before he realised he had to let go and move to DVD.

 

[sn00p]

Thing is though Tom my Note2 cost me just over £400 new and sim free. Whats the current price on a Sim free iphone 5 with 32gb or 64gb (£600-700)?

They may not have that "premium build quality" that Apple devices since the iphone 3 have had but they're by no means utter s**te either... perfectly acceptable imo. My only gripe is they're slippery buggers and the Note2 especially needs a soft touch back for one handed use.

Nexus 4. Quality build, feels as premium as anything and it runs stock android. Cheap (239 or 279) and unlocked. You can have premium for substantially less than the cost of an iPhone.

And that's the S4's biggest problem, it's going to have none of those features. Still, they'll sell a crap load because people will be buying them subsidised on contract.

Samsung are almost hitting the bullseye, but keep falling short. Given that Apple is their competitor, why they don't just go for the jugular is strange. Stick the internals in a premium case (heck if LG can do it...) and release it as a Nexus device - heck even sell it at the same price point as Apple, premium product and all that.

Apple seem to have lost their class, more interested in name calling their competitors and talking trash than actually developing their own platform.