Samsung Electronics went to Broadway to lift the curtain on its upcoming
Galaxy S4 handset, showing off what it hopes will be crowd-pleasing features.
My colleague Jeff Jedras from our sister publication Computer Dealer News was in New York Thursday for the launch and reports the handset will be available from almost all carriers in the second quarter, meaning sometime between April and June. A link to his report is here.
Among the new capabilities of the flagship handset is the ability to browse the Internet without having to flick a finger up and down the screen. Instead, once the handset recognizes that a face is looking at the screen, the user tilts the handset and the browser scrolls up or down.
There’s little doubt that the S4 will allow Samsung to continue to challenge Apple’s iPhone 5 for domination of the smart phone market, with its bigger, higher resolution screen. However, pricing hasn’t been announced.
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Travellers may appreciate the handset's Optical Reader, which will make a stab at translating text, including business cards.
Among the reporters who had quick initial comments on the S4 was
Forbes Larry Magid, who was "impressed but not blown away," although he admitted that might change once he has his hands on one for a full review. But he did say the S4 is "a few steps ahead of Apple when it comes to the “cool” factor. That's important because being cool is what BlackBerry is trying to do with its new Z10.