If you found the Samsung Unpacked launch event of the Galaxy S4 to be somewhat cheesy, what you witnessed was actually theatrical mastery compared with what the poor folks of India have been burdened with from the Korean company. Now granted, the company is feeling a bit patriotic having seen compatriot PSY's 'Gangnam Style' become the most-watched, most-liked video in the history of YouTube and indeed, t'internet, but the smartphone vendor really shouldn't have gone as far as to bring it's own, ahem, 'Samsung Style' adaptation for the Indian launch of the new flagship. But regrettably, it did.
Samsung is beginning to ship its new flagship Android smartphone to millions of users around the globe. And with that, in typical Samsung fashion, the company is offering an insight into its design process by releasing a new customary video explaining some of the decisions that went into planning for the Galaxy S4. Check it out after the jump!
In this fast-moving smartphone industry, it's fair to say that both Apple and vendors of Android devices move in similar ways. If one device contains a certain feature, it's almost certain that a rivaling model will look to bring something similar with the next generation, but one area in which Android and iOS handsets have always differed is the display. Apple has stuck faithfully with LCD, while the likes of Samsung have placed their faith in OLED, but according to DisplayMate, the new 1080p Super AMOLED panel of the Galaxy S4 more than holds its own against the iPhone 5's Retina LCD display.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 is currently among the most sought after devices in the smartphone industry. The latest in a long line of successful Galaxy S releases, it packs a quad / octa-core processor, 13-megapixel snapper and a hefty two gigs of RAM, among a deluge of other high-spec features. One oft-visited critique of the device and those preceding it, however, is that the cheap, polycarbonate finish is not adequate protection for such a high-end device, and although stopping short suggesting a sturdier finish to the outer shelling, Samsung Gulf Electronics president Young Soo Kim has indicated that the company's prized asset may arrive as a dust and waterproof device in the next few months.
One of the first videos to show a Galaxy S4 to have a knife taken to it shows that Samsung's new smartphone should be able to hold its own in a pocket full of pointy things!
The Galaxy S4 is just a week or two away depending on which carrier you associate yourself with and whereabouts you reside, and the excitement is certainly increasing as the launch dates draw ever nearer. To give prospective owners an idea of what accessories will be available from the get-go, maker Samsung has drawn up a detailed list of all the device's launch accessories and peripherals, including the Flip Cover, Spare Battery Charging System, and Smart Dock.
For months, smartphone users worldwide have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Galaxy S4, Samsung’s newest smartphone. If you are planning on using AT&T, you can now pre-order Galaxy S4 through the network and be one of the first to get their hands on it.
The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is set to proceed from the end of this month, although specific details on when the handset would land on each carrier have remained largely undisclosed. Today, however, a leaked document originating from US retailer Staples appears to have revealed the exact release dates for the handset on three of the big four carriers, and although the dates are described as "tentative," they at least offer a ballpark timeframe for consumers to begin preparing to make the purchase.
For any smartphone user who owns an Android-based device and is slightly geekish, rooting comes as naturally as eating, sleeping, and other basic human instinct. Not only does it unlock the true potential of your device, but also makes it possible to run several apps that otherwise are out of question. Android, in this regard, also holds a great advantage over its fruity counterpart, iPhone, as the open source nature of the former makes it much easier to gain root level access on the device. The fact that Android developer community is huge doesn’t hurt either. Thus, whenever a new device comes out, people expectantly wait for the developers to work their magic and provide root methods. Now, it turns out, that you don’t have to even wait for the actual device to come out, because renowned developer Chainfire has rooted Samsung Galaxy S4 with a fully working auto-root mechanism.
Although things have been somewhat quiet from Nokia and Windows Phone 8 in light of the upcoming smartphone releases from Samsung and HTC, the camera of the Finnish company's Lumia 920 is still considered among the best in the business. Conversely, the Samsung Galaxy S Series' snappers have tended to underperform, and while Nokia's flagship completely smoked the Galaxy S III in terms of still camera performance (particularly in low light), the Galaxy S4's much-hyped 13-megapixel offering brings the kinds of improvements you would expect of a next-gen handset. To test one category, one user has taken the opportunity to produce a stabilization comparison video of Samsung's apparent best video camera against that of the 920, which of course includes that much-lauded PureView technology. Which came out on top? Find out, after the break!
