Samsung introduced the world to the Galaxy S4 tonight, and it seems the smartphone is ready to take the torch from the S III, and become Samsung´s new flagship smartphone. The Galaxy S IV is relatively similar to last years model however, it has definitely undergone some serious enhancements and upgrades. The new Galaxy S4 is sporting a much slimmer frame, a massive 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 441ppi. A much bigger jump on the Galaxy S3′s 306ppi display.
It seems the Galaxy S IV did indeed put Apple´s iPhone 5′s 326ppi retina to shame!
Now down to business, which is some of Samsung’s most exciting features unveiled tonight in New York.
The Galaxy S4 houses Samsung’s suite of user-tracking functions, this includes a new Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, and the very cool, floating touch controls. Samsung also made some incredible improvements to its camera technology. With Smart Pause, the Galaxy S4 uses its front-facing camera to detect when a user looks away from the video they are watching, and then automatically pauses playback. With Smart Scroll, users can scroll through pages by simply waving their hand. The Floating touch feature is just like the Samsung Pen, but you get to use your fingers – users can point and hover over an item to view.
Some new camera functions include Dual Shot, Eraser, Drama Shot, and Sound & Shot. The Galaxy S3 has an 8-megapixel sensor, which impressed, but the S4 is touting a built-in 13-megapixel camera. The Dual Shot feature allows users to capture images from both the front and back at the same time. With the Eraser feature, users can capture multiple frames and remove any unwanted people/objects. With Sound & Shot users can capture five seconds of images and audio before the capture button is even pressed, and Drama Shot composites moving objects for action shots - impressive enhancements to Samsung’s camera technology.
One cool feature sure to be a favorite among many is the S Translate, a realtime translator that supports 9 languages, including Portuguese, Italian, and French. The S Voice Drive feature improves on GPS, gives users a hands free and much safer experience. In true form, Samsung has gone ahead and developed a photo album publishing service…just like Apple’s greeting card service. Samsung’s publishing service allows its users to design their own customized photo album directly from the phone, and the coolest part is it will be shipped to your home.
Powering the Galaxy S4 is Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa processor (the world’s first 8-core mobile processor), introduced to us at CES back in January. The S4 comes with a much larger battery than the S3, which is a 2,600mAh battery. A much thinner and lighter design…3 grams lighter to be exact. Finally, it comes with 2GB of RAM, which is double of the iPhone 5; and 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of on board storage.
The new Galaxy S4 will be shipping in April, in 155 countries in both 4G LTE and 3G versions as well; and on 327 carriers. Here in the US it will be offered on Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and others.
What do you think? Do you like the new features? Is it everything you had hoped for? Let us know in the comments below!
Sonia Ingriselli
Sonia is the Executive Editor here at Geek Insider. Sonia has a passion for gadgets, technology and game consoles; she is proud to call herself a Zombie loving Tech-monster and spends most of her day's just writing. Follow me on Twitter @SoniaIngriselli
