anyone wants to see galaxy s4 before the official launch?

[µT6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gfzom-RdrwI

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Galaxy-S4-Leak-Video-Photos-Announcement,21481.html

"The second, unofficial leak is far more interesting: A user of the Chinese forum 52Samsung seems to have found himself in possession of a Samsung Galaxy S4, and taken lots of photos and video (embedded below) to prove it. In this case, the phone is slightly larger than the Galaxy S3, and has a 5-inch display along with a smaller bezel. The photos confirm that the S4 has 2GB of RAM, a 1920×1080 display, Android 4.2.1, and that this particular handset is a dual-SIM model (GT-i9502) destined for use on China Unicom’s network."



http://www.extremetech.com/computing/150490-samsung-galaxy-s4-hardware-and-software-specs-leaked-ahead-of-march-14-unveil

[joechimp]

Would you own this? You have a pretty good grasp on whats good and whats not.

[µT6]

the price tag it has now, probably, will be cost prohibitive

the hardware in it seems t be very good

they are testing a 8 cores cpu in that thing, 4 with one higher clock speed and 4 with another slower speed, so system always has 4 cores minimum available, and that supposedly helps to save battery and offers a great overall experience to the user when great cpu power is required

no idea how the camera will be, that only can be answered by a depth review

the body is very similar to the rest of the galaxy phones, especially to the s3 i think, so if you liked previous models, you will like this one too

the version of android used, i have read some good reports and other bad, most people would prefer android 4.2.2 and not 4.2.1 but this phone could be fake so not sure that it is important or not

from the previous rumors, most people were expecting a very different device but it seems to be just a incremental step over the s3 so if you get a good deal on it and you wanted a galaxy s3, this is a ideal purchase, not that big, not that heavy, decent quality body and great parts in it

what remains to be answered is battery life, that will require multiple tests, fortunately samsung still likes to make phones with removable batteries and this is a must have for some users

[joechimp]

Wow, 8 cores.

Wonder if they are ever going to hit a wall on anything?  Is there a time when there will be no improvements necessary? Is there any limit to what is needed and what can be done.

[µT6]

arm cpus are just beginning their race, not like x86 that is progressing in small increments

the first android had a single core at 500mhz and something around 128 mbs of ram and that was in 2008

this phone is at 1.8ghz for the fast cores and 1.2 ghz for the slower ones, 8 in total with 2 gbs of ram

size an battery usage are always a concern but the size of arm cpus is still very decent, doesn't occupy much of the pcb of the phone and doesn't make much heat so it doesn't waste much battery

future improvements for phones will be flexible body(screen mostly), flexible battery, hdr cameras with lots of lens and sensor improvements with image stabilization and faster autofocus

other stuff for the moment, seems to be a mix of speculation and just rumors like eye tracking, no touch touch screen and many other things

the limit is not being imposed on size and price, since apple is not leading the market for the moment, there is no real limit on what you can put on those devices

one thing seems to be certain, those devices will keep working to make phone calls 

[µT6]

officially launched

"Full HD, Super AMOLED 5-inch display with 441 pixels per inch
Measures 136.5mm long by 70.6mm wide
Weighing 130 grams
3G and4G LTE
Supports downloads up to 100Mbps and uploads of50Mbps
2GB of LPDDR RAM
Storage options: 16, 32 and 64GB of internal storage possible
Supports up to 64GB of external storage via microSD card
2,600mAh removable battery
Two cameras: 13-megapixel on the back and 2-megapixel front-facing camera
Can take shoot more than 100 shots in four seconds
S-Translator supports nine languages with 3,000 useful phrases ready
Will be available with 327 carriers across 55 countries"

http://www.zdnet.com/samsung-reveals-the-galaxy-s4-photos-7000012642/

and

"The S4 will have 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM across the board, but it comes in three available models varying in storage space. 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models will be available for purchase, but keep in mind that storage can be expanded by up to 64GB with a microSD card. It also comes in two different colors: Black Mist and White Frost, so the number of models jumps up to six total. Depending on the market, it will either sport a 1.9Ghz quad-core processor or a 1.6Ghz eight-core processor. (See: Samsung Galaxy S4 dimensions, weight, battery, and hardware specs confirmed ahead of launch)"

"There are just too many features to even mention. As ridiculous as the presentation was, the feature set might be even crazier. Both software and hardware bullet lists seem never-ending. Accelerometer, RGB light, geomagnetic, proximity, gyro, barometer, temperature, humidity, and gesture sensors are all included in the S4. I mean, a humidity sensor? Yikes, that’s a lot of hardware in that tiny casing. Will anyone actually want to use these, though?"

http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/150785-samsung-galaxy-s4-emerges

barometer?  

teardown



http://www.tomshardware.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s4-teardown-hardware,21544.html

looks like if something breaks, it will be very easy to fix, unless it is the display, it is glued with the touchscreen

[joechimp]

Excellent breakdown µT6. Thank you very much. That is some phone.

Oh, to actually have money to buy one. 

[µT6]

galaxy s4 or s3s?

"Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S4 — but looking at its hardware and software specs, I wonder if the Korean chaebol should’ve instead taken a leaf out of Apple’s playbook and called it the Galaxy S3S. Beyond its larger, 1080p screen — which by all accounts is a wonder to behold — there is almost no difference between the Galaxy S3 and S4′s hardware. At the presentation in New York, various Samsung execs spent a couple of hours detailing the S4′s new features — and, really, with almost no exceptions, they were all software-based."

and

"Smart Scroll, which automatically scrolls pages with a flick of the wrist, and Smart Pause, which pauses video when you look away, are both neat features, too. S Voice Drive automatically switches the S4 into driving mode when you connect a Bluetooth headset, automatically enabling voice commands. And who can forget Air Touch, which lets you interact with the screen by hovering your finger over something, rather than touching it. No longer must you avoid greasy food!

All of these features combine to make the Galaxy S4 a very desirable and feature-rich phone. Android purists won’t be happy — TouchWiz has almost superseded Android, it seems — but consumers will be over the moon. Power users will sneer derisively at the S4′s smorgasbord of cutesy features, just as they did with the S3 — but let’s not forget that the S3 went on to become the biggest-selling Android handset ever. The Galaxy S series of phones is aimed squarely at consumers who want to do lots of stuff with their phones and have fun in the process — and the S4 delivers that in spades. At this point, Samsung has as much momentum behind its smartphones as Apple; I wouldn’t be surprised if the S4 outsells the iPhone in Europe and Asia, and possibly in the US as well."

and finally

"Zooming out, it is clear to see that mobile hardware is experiencing the same deceleration as the PC, where obsolescence is almost obsolete. We have now passed through two generations of Samsung and Apple smartphones without a significant hardware shakeup. I’m not saying that the Galaxy S5 or iPhone 6 won’t include super-mega-high-resolution displays, or oodles of RAM, but ultimately it will come down to the software; it will come down to which phone helps the user get stuff done. In the next year or two, the hardware specs will grow increasingly meaningless; we won’t pick a phone based on how many cores it has, but whether it has the apps and peripherals that we need. Basically, the smartphone is finally becoming a PC."

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/150840-samsung-galaxy-s4-aka-the-galaxy-s3s-proof-that-smartphones-are-becoming-pcs

so much to consider from this article

[µT6]

some facts about 8 cores

"The processor is a technological marvel. Manufactured on Samsung’s advanced 28nm process, it has four high-performance Cortex-A15 cores and four low-power Cortex-A7 cores. Although Samsung has been quiet about it, Imagination Technologies confirmed earlier this week that the processor is using its PowerVR SGX544MP multi-core graphics. Samsung said the processor delivers twice the graphics performance of its Exynos 4 Quad and supports WQXGA (2560x1600) displays.

This is all pretty impressive. But it seems a bit strange to have eight-core processors in smartphones when most PCs are getting by just fine with dual-cores (or quad-cores in high-end systems). The truth is that very few apps are designed to really take advantage of four cores let alone eight. Furthermore many applications that really need a lot of horsepower are already off-loaded to specialized hardware. The Exyn
os 5 Octa has a hardware engine that can record and play Full HD video at up to 60 frames per second and an image processor that can capture 13-megapixel shots at 30 frames per second, according to Samsung.

The real reason mobile chipmakers are pushing to eight-core may simply be because they can. The size of a chip determines how much it costs to manufacture. A chip with eight Cortex-A15s cores would be too large (and use too much power), but the A7 cores are tiny and ARM has already done much of the heavy lifting to make them work well together. At a recent chip conference, Samsung said that the A15 delivers 3x the performance of the A7, but it is also four times larger and uses 6x more power. So with big.LITTLE chipmakers and their customers get the best of both worlds: they can market it as an eight-core processor, but it has manufacturing cost and battery life of a quad-core chip. While it is a bit misleading, it’s good for users too. Most of the time you will be using only one or two cores, but the extra performance is there if you need it."

http://www.zdnet.com/the-eight-core-era-arrives-7000012694/

what to buy a s4 or a s3?

"The new Samsung Galaxy S4 has launched, but savvy wireless customers looking for a bargain may still want to consider last year's Galaxy S3.
 
In this edition of Ask Maggie, I help a reader decide if the newly upgraded flagship Samsung smartphone is worth the hype. There's no question the device is a marked improvement over its predecessor the Samsung Galaxy S3. But the upgraded specs and added bells and whistles might not mean as much to the average consumer, who will likely be just as happy with last year's model, which costs less money."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57574672-94/why-you-should-still-consider-the-galaxy-s3-over-the-galaxy-s4/