‘Wave to move’ Galaxy S4, packs 5-inch screen, translator
(03-15 09:57)
Samsung unveiled a slim, feature-rich Galaxy S4 as it takes on Apple in the smart phone arena.
The South Korean consumer electronics giant introduced the Galaxy S4 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall and said the smart phones would roll out in 155 countries in late April. Pricing was not disclosed.
S4 features include a high-definition, five-inch screen, enhanced picture-taking capabilities and the capacity to translate to and from nine languages, AFP reports.
Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg said on Twitter: “Features are impressive but a lot of them feel gratuitous. Also a lot of features available for other Android devices through 3rd party apps.’’
One of its features allows the user to move a web page or an image with a wave of the hand.
Samsung played up its online hub for music, books, and video and the ease with which the S4 can share video with televisions made by the company.
Samsung is the biggest maker of smart phones powered by Android software that Google makes available for free. It has a 29 percent market share worldwide, according to IDC, while in the US market Apple remains the king and sells more than one of every three mobile phones.
The Galaxy S3 has sold more than 40 million worldwide since its launch last May.
The S4 is thinner than its predecessor and weighs just 130 grams despite having a bigger screen and battery.
The smart phone also boasts a “dual camera’’ function that lets the front and rear-facing cameras be used simultaneously for pictures or videos that combine images of subjects with that of the photographer.
A Group Play function lets S4 handsets close to one another share music, photos, documents or games, or even work in unison as a sound system for a song.
An S Translator feature lets people speak or enter text in one tongue and have it instantly converted to another.
Sensors in the S4 detect when a person looks away from a video and then pauses play until the distraction has passed and eyes are once again directed at the screen.
S4 sensors combined with S Health software enable handsets to be used to track exercise, eating, heart rate and other fitness factors.
The handsets were also designed to measure temperature and humidity.
Samsung also took aim at the trend of people using their own smart phones for work with the addition of new Knox software that builds a secure wall between personal and business data on handsets.
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