Samsung is becoming a word synonymous to Android. As one of the leading innovator in the smartphone market, the South Korean company released its new Galaxy flagship series, the Samsung Galaxy S 4. The product first announced on March 14th, 2013 came out with specs and features never yet seen in a smartphone.
At first sight, the Galaxy S 4 that was first announced in New York, looks a lot like the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note 8. Roughly the same size despite having a larger screen with Super AMOLED, the S 4 is taller, thinner and lighter than its predecessor.
Samsung’s basic design hasn’t changed with its plastic like finish. Samsung squared the edges slightly and added texture to the surface, making it less prone to fingerprints. With "Black Mist" and "White Frost" colors, the company is aiming the GS 4 flagship smartphone to be the next successful product, succeeding beyond its predecessor's shadows.
Hardware: Bigger and Better
Samsung and Apple are both hardware companies that innovates mainly through software. But the hardware specs in the new Galaxy S 4 are worth noting. The 5" Super AMOLED; 1,920×1,080 screen, at 441 pixels per inch, is both bigger and higher resolution than the iPhone 5 that was introduced in September 2012. Samsung also upgraded its processor.
With its 2,600 mAH battery, the Galaxy S 4 processor is upgraded to either Samsung Exynos 5 or Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, depending on region. And its storage (internal: 16-64 GB) is capable to be extended to another 64 GB with its MicroSD external storage. Every model comes with 2 GB of RAM.
The GS 4 introduces a new 13-megapixel rear-facing camera comes with both upgraded hardware and some new software flourishes.
Software: The Innovation
The Galaxy S 4 runs Android 4.2.2, the Jelly Bean OS first introduced in Google I/O 2012. Samsung has spent its time adding various innovation on top of the OS. Some of these features include: S Translator which translates messages and emails to and from any language, Air Gestures to enable scrolling through pictures or a webpage by literally swiping a hand above the device, without touching the screen, Air View that gives a hovering option over an email or date and see the information hidden behind, which previously only the Note and S Pen combination could handle. Some others include: S Health, Smart Pause and Smart Scroll. Smart Alerts and Smart Stay.
Pictures taken from the GS 4's 13-megapixel back-facing camera is able to sort pictures into albums based on the background or the date and the user can order picture books directly from the device. Samsung has adopted some of the menus and options from the Galaxy Camera, like the on-screen mode dial and a few of the scene modes, and the Eraser mode.
The smartphone also has Samsung's version of Siri voice recognition. The user can ask it to read emails out loud and ask the phone to respond to a text message while on driving mode. It also handles navigation and other phone features.
The phone is available in the quarter of 2013 in 155 countries, on hundreds of carriers around the world including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Cricket and US Cellular. The international version features an eight core Exynos 5 Octa processor with four active cores at any time.
Impressions
The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is seen as a remake of the GS III with added features and improvements. At first glance, the Galaxy S 4 doesn’t feel revolutionary, but given the continued success of its predecessor. It can be seen as an innovative product but not yet a revolution.
Samsung's latest flagship smartphone is a faster phone with a better screen, a better camera, and some new software features. And for the company that’s nearly synonymous with the word Android, that may be enough to ensure another huge success.
During the hour-long production launch, neither Samsung's executives once mentioned Google or Android. This is all a not-so-subtle attempt by Samsung to distance itself from Google and Android. While Samsung may not actually abandon Android, the company is setting its own foundation to ensure that its own name - as well as the Galaxy brand -- takes the spotlight. In effect, it is leaving the Android name behind if Android remains the underlying operating system powering a vast majority of its devices.