NEW YORK — Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone not only delivers higher performance and more features that its predecessor, but it also outperforms the iPhone 5 in many ways.
The Samsung Galaxy S4, for example, offers a faster CPU than any other phone announced to date, with a choice of Qualcomm 1.9GHz quad-core CPU or Samsung 1.6GHz octo-core processor depending on the geographic market. It also boasts such hardware improvements as 5-inch screen vs. the S III’s 4.7-inch screen; 1080p FullHD display with 441 ppi vs. the S3’s 720p screen with 306 ppi; and front and rear FullHD cameras (13 and 2 megapixels, respectively) vs. the S3’s 8-megapixel 1080p main camera coupled with a front 1.9-megapixel 720p camera. The S4’s screen and camera specs also exceed those of Apple’s iPhone 5.
The S4 might also be the first phone announced to date with Wi-Fi 802.11ac in addition to a/b/g/n.
The S4 is also the first phone announced to date with global LTE roaming, enabling roaming in up to six LTE bands globally. The phone also features 4G HSPA+42Mbps technology.
Key software and user-interface improvements include:
• Smart Scroll, which lets users tilt the phone up or down slightly to scroll text up or down;
• Smart Pause, which automatically pauses a video when the users looks away from the screen;
• Air Gesture, which lets users wave their hand to change music tracks, scroll through a web page, and accept a call;
• Air View, which enables a quick preview of content, like an email, by hovering a finger over the screen;
• A Dual Camera feature that places the face of the person taking a picture into a window appearing on the picture taken by the rear-facing camera;
• Dual Video Call, which lets users make and receive a video call while showing people on the other end of the call what you are looking at;
• Sound and Shot, which records sounds when a picture is taken and plays the sounds back when the picture is displayed;
• S Translator, which translates up to nine languages;
• Share Music, which enables multiple nearby S4 phones play the same song in sync via Bluetooth and NFC after tapping the phones together;
• Samsung Knox, which creates separate personal and enterprise identities on a phone so users can use the same phone for personal and business uses and prevent IT departments from accessing personal information;
• S Health, which uses multiple types of sensors to do such things as track calories burned during exercise and monitor heart rates; with optional accessories, the phone will also monitor blood sugar and blood pressure and collect information into a report; and
• S Voice Drive, which offers a more intuitive user interface when a car is in motion.
