Samsung Unpacked

New Smarrtphone Launch

By Anca Gagiuc on Mar 5, 2013 in Technology

Samsung has announced that it is Ready 4 the show, inviting fans on March 14^th to New York for a special event where the newest device from the South Korean company will stand in the spotlight. The event will be live streamed on YouTube, announcing the next Galaxy. The star will be the Galaxy S IV.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the focus was on smartphones, but Samsung preferred to reveal the new 5.5-inch version of its Galaxy Note II tablet, leaving the descendant of GS III away from the curious audience. Chances are that this marketing strategy has been encouraged (if not triggered) by the requests received from the US carriers to hold the event in the US. This will be a premiere for Samsung, Samsung Galaxy S IV will be the first Korean device to be launched in the U.S. – GS III had its grand event in London last May, more than two months after the annual biggest trade show of the mobile industry.

Some leaks landed under the curious eyes of the media; a second set of leaks made their eyes even bigger, what’s the latest challenge Samsung has prepared for Apple?

The leak showcases a pretty fast smartphone:

• 1.9GHz Qualcom Snapdragon 600 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 4G LTE support
• 3100 mAh battery
• Bluetooth 5.0
• 16/32/64GB storage options
• Removable SD card slot (up to 64GB)
• 10-13MP rear-facing camera
• Multi-purpose/Dedicated camera button
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS

A real shame is that the much awaited device, contrary to some of the rumors, won’t be the first handset to use flexible AMOLED screen – a tough, yet flexible material that makes the display virtually crack-proof. Instead it might have a higher resolution, at 1080PPI, and maybe a bigger display (not too big though as there has to be some differentiation between GS IV and Note II).

The Orb technology is rumored to be one of Samsung’s surprises. This new technology allows users to capture 360-degree snapshots, having also the ability to compress the big, landscape ones to ease the upload of social networks.

The improved camera is not the only predicted advancement for Samsung’s smartphone line. The leak presents two possibilities: Air View and S Pen Stylus. The Air View feature allows usage of the smartphone without touching the device, being sufficient to float your finger above the screen and have the device respond to the commands. The S Pen Stylus is already part of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, a plus for those who use the tablet for writing. Remains to be seen if there will be room for a pen in the next Samsung Galaxy S IV, or will it have the cool Air View incorporated. Neither of the two is a breakthrough in technology, they have both been used before, but maybe Samsung will have the power to make it a widely used feature.

Hopes are high in the direction of an improved ecosystem as the current one is fragmented, lacking consistency. AllShare cloud-storage system in partnership with Dropbox and SugarSync is far from what a device of its class could offer. At the same time, improvement in the durability section would do the smartphone a lot of good; Galaxy S III didn’t come out victorious from the battle with iPhone5 in the drop tests. Perhaps GS IV will fix that. It’s understood that it’s harder to protect because of its large 4.8-inch screen, but definitely the plastic back doesn’t help.

What would you like to see in the next Samsung Galaxy?