After so many “leaks” of the features of the upcoming Galaxy S4, Samsung fans finally got a glimpse of the latest iteration of the Galaxy S series of smart phones. The upgraded features did not disappoint most reviewers.
The case and location of the home button of the S4 looks very similar to the S3 but the S4 is lighter and thinner. It also has a larger battery capacity at 2600mAH vs 2100mAH on the older unit providing the extra juice for its slightly larger 5” 1080pixel screen and 8-core CPU (some markets may only have 4-core CPUs). Yes, that’s 8 microprocessors on this smartphone. Your regular desktop computer most likely will have less CPU cores.
A 13 megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel camera on the front and the camera software allows you to use both cameras simultaneously. That might come in handy if you pretend to take pictures of something in front of you but you are also taking a picture of someone behind you.
I like the addition of an infrared blaster which means you can use the S4 as a remote control for your TV, DVD and even your aircon. This may just be the reason why I’ll get an S4 over an iPhone 5 when I upgrade my lowly but quite reliable Galaxy S mini at the end of the telco contract. Pretty handy if I only reach for the S4 instead of three or more remote controls when I’m too sleepy to remember which is the power button on each remote.
There’s a ton of software upgrades on the S4, from the latest Android operating system (4.2.2 Jelly Bean), an improved camera software with new features and the Smart Pause when watching videos which pauses the video when you look away from the phone (too lazy to tap the screen?). There is also the ability to scroll a webpage just by tilting the device and to control the device using hand gestures which reminds me of the movie “Minority Report”.
Release in the US is set to April 2013. Let’s hope the Galaxy S4 will arrive soon in the Philippines, in time for my plan renewal.
[picture: http://asset2.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/03/15/Galaxy_S4_and_S3.jpeg ]
[Caption: The new Samsung Galaxy S4 (left) and the very successful predecessor, the S3. Source of picture: http://news.cnet.com]
http://mashable.com/2013/03/15/galaxy-s-4-hands-on/
http://mashable.com/2013/03/15/samsungs-galaxy-s-4-everything/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/03/15/samsung-s4-review-rundown/