galaxy s4

Friday Poll: Is the Galaxy S4 your top smartphone?

There's a newcomer hanging around town. It has 5 spacious inches of screen space. It flaunts a 13-megapixel camera. You can't deny the allure of its 2,600mAh battery. All those specs may put it one up on its competitors, at least on paper. But just because the Samsung Galaxy S4 wants to be top dog, doesn't mean the other guys aren't going to put up a fight.

The lead contenders to challenge the Galaxy S4 for the smartphone throne are the iPhone 5, the HTC One, and the BlackBerry Z10. They all have their claims … Read more

See the Samsung S Translator app in action

We put the S Translator app found on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 in action in the below video, and tested out two phrases in different languages. The first is, "Excuse me, where is the hospital?" and the second is, "Let's go to the mall."

Our verdict: It's not too bad, but you will need a data connection for this to work. Which means that if you're traveling, you will need to pay for a data roaming plan to make full use of this (or hope to get on free Wi-Fi networks).

In this scenario, it's probably better to use an offline-capable app such as Google Translate, which works just as well for the basic phrases we used and features an offline mode for when you need to travel overseas. … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S4 rocks the best phone OLED yet, says report

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may have a 5-inch screen with a killer 1080p HD resolution, but that doesn't tell you as much about its display quality as you might think.

That's because, as any display guru (like CNET's David Katzmaier) will tell you, a screen's ultimate rating spans resolution and pixel density, sure, but also color reproduction and accuracy, total brightness, viewing angles, and reflectance.

The screen material technology also plays a huge role; when it comes to smartphones, LCD displays make up the lion's share of manufacturers' choice, with Samsung at the forefront of … Read more

Verizon opens preorders for Galaxy S4 16GB

Verizon Wireless is now allowing Android and Samsung fans, and those fleeing the iPhone, to get in line for the Galaxy S4.

Verizon's preorder page for the 16GB version of the GS4 went live Thursday morning, priced at $199.99 with a new two-year contract.

The actual pricing breakdown is a retail price of $649.99, discounted to $249.99 with the contract, and an additional $50.00 coming in the form of a "Mail-in rebate debit card." So, it looks like customers can expect to initially be charged $249.99 before having some of that money … Read more

Busy fall for Apple, Xbox, and Amazon

CNET Update is out of breath:

Apple fans will have to wait until the fall for new "amazing" products, or so promises CEO Tim Cook.

Samsung fans will also be doing some waiting. The Galaxy S4 was said to hit stores this weekend, but the smartphone is facing supply issues -- and that's causing T-Mobile and Sprint to push back launch dates and only sell online. But you may be able to find one on Saturday in stores at AT&T, and on Tuesday at U.S. Cellular. [Read CNET's review here.]

For shoppers that … Read more

U.S. Cellular preps for weekend Galaxy S4 sales

Amid reports of delays with some carriers, U.S. Cellular is announcing its schedule to sell the Samsung Galaxy S4 online and in its brick-and-mortar stores.

The 16GB version of the marquee device goes on sale Friday online for $199.99 with an instant rebate.

A few days later, on Tuesday, the black or white handsets will show up in retail stores.

Starting on Friday, U.S. Cellular will start shipping the Galaxy S4 to customers who preordered the device, along with a free S View flip cover (video), a $60 value.

Galaxy S4 faces supply issue due to 'overwhelming demand'

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may be a hotter item than its previous hype suggested.

Samsung Electronics' upcoming flagship smartphone may actually be a hard item to find. In a note to CNET, the company warned that initial supply would be limited, blaming "overwhelming global demand."

"We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks," a Samsung representative said.

The issues have already affected two U.S. carriers. Sprint Nextel will still offer the phone via its Web site and telesales on April 27, but gave no word on when it would actually have … Read more

Sprint, T-Mobile feel Samsung Galaxy S4 delay woes

Sprint and T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 will not go as initially planned.

Citing "inventory challenges" from Samsung, Sprint's Galaxy S4 will still be offered through Sprint's Web site and Telesales on April 27; however, it remains unclear when it will be available in retail stores and other channels.

Sprint said this in a statement regarding the delay:

Sprint is excited to launch the new Samsung Galaxy 4. We had planned to launch this next generation of the award-winning Samsung Galaxy line-up on Saturday, April 27. Unfortunately, due to … Read more

GS4 quad-core or 8-core? Samsung chief says it doesn't matter

U.S. customers won't be getting their hands on a Galaxy S4 powered by an eight-core processor, but the head of Samsung Electronics says it shouldn't matter to buyers.

Some models of Samsung's flagship smartphone, available globally in the coming weeks, will feature a quad-core processor from Qualcomm while others will feature Samsung's Exynos 5 chip with eight cores. The U.S. version will use the 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 series chip.

Some in the tech press have criticized the lack of an eight-core chip in the U.S., but J.K. Shin, co-CEO of … Read more