Samsung unveils Galaxy S4,takes battle with Apple to home turf

Samsung remained mum on the pricing. It will launch the Android Jelly Bean-powered device from end of April across 155 countries in partnership with 327 mobile operators globally.

8220;All the innovative features of Galaxy S4 were developed based on the insights and needs we found from our consumers all around the world,8221; Samsung President and Head IT and Mobile Communications J K Shin told reporters here at Manhattan8217;s iconic Radio City Music Hall.

He said that following the successful GALAXY S series,this phone is yet another 8220;great proof point of people- inspired innovation8221;.

The S4 features a five-inch full HD super AMOLED touchscreen,1.9 GHz quad-core processor,13 megapixel back and 2MP front camera and supports both 3G and 4G networks.

Compared to S48217;s 5-inch screen,iPhone 5 features a 4- inch screen and 8MP rear and 1.2MP front camera. It is priced at USD 200 onwards in the US.

A new feature included in the Galaxy is 8216;Smart Pause8217; users can pause a video just by looking away from the screen,while the 8216;Smart Scroll8217; tool allows them to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen.

It also has 8216;Air View8217; feature,which allows users to hover with their fingers to preview the content of an email,S Planner,image gallery or video without having to open it by just gesturing in air.

Samsung,which is the market leader in smartphone category in India,also did not disclose the timeline or pricing for the Indian market.

According to research firm IDC,the overall mobile phone market in India reached about 218 million units in 2012,growing 16 per cent year-on-year.

Of this,16.3 million units were smartphones,but the category saw a growth of about 48 per cent. Samsung was the leader in the quadcore and 5-inch plus screen size models,IDC added.

Globally,Samsung had 30.3 per cent share of the smartphone market with sales of 215.8 million units in 2012,while Apple had a 19.1 per cent share with sales of 135.9 million units,according to IDC.

Competition from Apple and new devices from BlackBerry and Nokia have put pressure on Samsung to add new software features to maintain its market lead. These include a function to detect facial movements and let users control the screen by

the direction they look.

The S4 has new imaging features like 8216;Dual Camera8217; and 8216;Dual Video Call8217;,which allows users to click pictures and make video calls using both the front and rear cameras simultaneously.

It also has shooting modes like Drama Shot allows users to see all the action in one continuous time-lapse and Sound amp; Shot,which stores sound and voice together as the picture.

With the 8216;Group Play8217; function,users can share music,photos,documents and games with those around them without using Wi-Fi or mobile connectivity. It also has the S

Translator features,which provides voice-to-text and text-to-voice translation.