SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Samsung is all set to reveal the next generation of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S4. Since the beginning of 2013, the internet has been flooded with rumors on what Samsung will be bringing to the market for its customers with the S4.

The Galaxy S Smartphone series by Samsung has become the most sought after device running the Android OS by Google. There is not an iota of doubt that over the years this series of Smartphone has brought Samsung to the forefront of mobile technology and given a stiff competition to the iPhone, Apple’s 5 year old baby (well, almost 6 years now).

The Samsung Galaxy S Smartphone over the years

Each year, Samsung has made the Galaxy S bigger and better. This year also, the electronics industry giant plans to do the same. Here is a rumor roundup of all the features and specifications that the 4^th generation of Galaxy S Smartphone, Galaxy S4, will most likely be having.

THE SCREEN

It is rumored that Samsung will be going with a 5” display, increasing the screen size by .2” over its predecessor, the S3.

The Galaxy S3 is using a 4.8” Super AMOLED display giving a pixel density of 306 ppi. However, if you strain your eyes, you can look at the pixels on the S3, due to the company opting for PenTile technology. The S4 is speculated to have a newer technology, known as the green-PHOLED. This helps in improving the efficiency of the screen by converting energy into light at the display level. It is being learnt that since this technology does not pertain to all the colors, this gives room for more energy efficient mobile screens in the future (maybe implemented for more colors on the Galaxy S5).

With an all new technology, the screen will supposedly have a mind blowing pixel density of 440 ppi, making it by far the highest pixel density in any mobile phone. However, incorporating such high density in a 5” screen will be a challenge for the South Korean tech giant.

UPDATE – The S4 does in fact have a 440ppi Super AMOLED Display. Samsung did go crazy with this device’s screen.

THE BUILD

When it comes to the design and build quality of a Smartphone, nobody does it better than Apple. However, of late, the scuffgate for iPhone 5 has put a big question mark on the quality control department of Apple.

Samsung has somewhat lagged behind when it comes to the design aspect of their flagship devices. While the devices itself look perfectly mobile like, it’s the premium feel that they have always lacked. When Apple decided to use glass on the back panel for the 4^th generation of their flagship mobile device, it instantly made for a gorgeous device that had killer looks and a premium feel.

Left: Samsung Galaxy S4 | Right: Samsung Galaxy S3

While polycarbonate does help to keep the device light and prone to dents and scratches from accidents, it does no good to please the eyes. Aesthetically, polycarbonate makes the phone look like a toy. So, no matter what hardware the phone supports, if it’s anything short of gorgeous, it will make a negative impact on your sales.

With the S4, the company has hinted at retaining the plastic body and whether you like it or not, even the home button is going to stay. However, there has not been any solid evidence supporting the rumor.

Samsung revealed a photo of a device that is emerging from the shadows on its twitter account, suggesting that it was going to be the design of the S4. However, that seems unlikely as it does not have an earpiece, front facing camera or any of the standard sensors seen in the Smartphones these days.

The alleged picture of the S4 on Samsung's official Twitter Account

UPDATE – The design and build quality remains pretty similar to the predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S3. Due to a larger screen, it is longer and slimmer than the S3 (copying Apple, Samsung?).

THE HARDWARE

PROCESSOR	1.9Ghz Exynos 5540 Quad Core (Likely) 1.8Ghz OCTO Core (Wishful thinking)
GPU	PowerVR SGX 544MP
CAMERA	Front – 2.1MP, 1080p @ 30fps Back – 13MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, 1080p @ 30fps
Battery	Li-ion 2600 mAh
Sensors	Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass, Barometer
NFC	Yes
4G/LTE	Yes
S-Pen (Stylus)	No

Apart from all the above mentioned hardware, it is also rumored that the S4 will have an eye tracking sensor. Yes, you heard it right.  It still remains to be seen how the company plans to implement this in the device.

Samsung has been developing its own fancy camera function that will be supposedly included in the stock camera app of the S4. The function, called the Samsung Orb, is capable of taking 360 degree panoramic shots and comes with Facebook integration, allowing an easy share option on the social networking website.

UPDATE – Whatever we wished for, Samsung has done it. To be honest, if they hadn't they wouldn't have had anything in particular to boast about. Samsung has always been famous for making a notable difference from the previous models.

The S4 features an Exynos 5, 1.6 GHz OCTA core processor for certain regions (NOT for USA) and a 1.9 GHz Snapdragon 600 processor for USA. However, The OCTA core version will use only 4 cores at a time.

To add to the list of sensors, the device now features an IR Sensor that makes the S4 an universal remote.

As predicted, the S4 does have a 2,600 mAh battery. 

THE SOFTWARE

It was earlier speculated that the S4 will bring with it, Android’s latest OS version, the Lime Pie Key, or simply, Android 5.0. However, with just one day away from the big launch, that seems highly unlikely.

Since Android 5.0 would not be possible as of now, the next obvious choice is Android 4.2, or Jelly Bean, slapped with Samsung’s Touch Wiz skin. The skin’s functionality still remains debatable (a personal opinion).

UPDATE – The big brother of the Galaxy S series, the Note features the S pen which can be used to get brief details about the things (Emails, pictures, etc) when you hover the stylus over that particular item. Instead, in the Galaxy S4, your finger becomes the stylus.

Eye tracking feature of the S4 is what everybody has been discussing vastly. How the eye tracking feature works is - when you’re watching a video and suddenly move your eyes away from the screen, the video will get paused automatically and play it again once you’re looking at the screen.

Air View – The Galaxy S4 features a Samsung proprietary called, the Air View, in which the user can perform certain hand gestures, without touching the screen and perform operations of the phone. For example, to answer an income call, you can wave at the phone. Scroll the web or change a track by using hand motions. Personally, I wouldn’t be doing all of this if I was in public. Would you?

The camera features a host of operations which include dual shoot mode, 100 photos per 4 seconds, and audio images amongst the other standard camera features.

THE LAUNCH

No rumors to this section of the post. Samsung has confirmed that the 4^th generation of Samsung Galaxy S will see the light of day on March 14, 2013.

THE COST

USA - $579 (16GB)

UK - £529 (16GB Sim-free)

India - ₹41500 (EMI option available. Available on flipkart.com)

MODDING

UPDATE – For all the people who don’t like Samsung’s Touch Wiz and prefer ‘rooting’ it their phone, CyanogenMod has released an official press statement on their website stating that Team Hacksung, which has provided custom ROMs to the previous iterations of the Samsung Galaxy S series, has revealed that it won’t be supporting the Galaxy S4.

The justification states that nobody in their team plans to buy Samsung’s latest offering and the bugs present in the S3 would be there in the S4 as well. That is a big disappoint and may eventually end up denting the sales of the S4.

Will you buy the S4? Let me know in the comments!

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