galaxy s4

Galaxy S4: Cool features, awful launch

CNET Update didn't expect Samsung to be sexist:

Samsung finally unveiled its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4. But this was no ordinary press conference. The Galaxy S4 presentation was a campy Broadway-styled spectacle that was painful to watch with sexist caricatures of women.

Despite the distasteful event, the Galaxy S4 will surely be a big seller and top rival to the iPhone. Today's video offers a quick explanation of the smartphone's new features, such as being able to navigate by waving a hand over the screen. (Many of these features will also come to Galaxy S3 users.) … Read more

Speck and others prep Samsung Galaxy S4 cases

Now that Samsung's Galaxy phones have achieved iPhone-like popularity, accessory makers are quick to get in on the action as soon as a new model is unveiled.

Several case makers, including Speck, Cygnett, and Otterbox, have announced that they'll have new cases available for the Galaxy S4 around the time it hits stores next month.

Not surprisingly, since the S4's overall design isn't so different from the S3's, those new cases look very similar to existing cases. Speck's offerings will include the CandyShell, CandyShell Grip, SmartFlex Card, SmartFlex View (not pictured). All of them … Read more

Friday Poll: Is Galaxy S4 all you hoped it would be?

The Samsung Galaxy S3 was a certified Android hit, so it's only natural the rumor and hype engines were chugging overtime leading up to the Galaxy S4 reveal.

The wraps finally came off yesterday, putting the rumors to rest and leaving us to decide whether the build-up to the event paid off or left us feeling like something was lacking.

So what's different this time? The S4 gets some pretty good hardware upgrades across the board, the most noticeable of which is a 5-inch screen. That spacious screen is giving a few fans some pause. CNET reader SophicSage … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S4 display looking good, expert says

If you're the type of person who cares about these things, you'll be happy to know that a screen expert gives the Samsung Galaxy S4 kudos so far.

In particular, Ray Soneira, president of display analysis and software calibration company DisplayMate, takes it as a good sign that Samsung includes something called a CIE Chromaticity Diagram and grayscale for the GS4's adaptive screen settings.

The bottom line? If the Galaxy S4 has extensive color, white point, and display calibration adjustments, it means that Samsung's phones can back away from the oversaturated, candied colors they often get … Read more

Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone: Morning-after analyst take

Samsung made its latest play in the smartphone battle versus Apple with yesterday's launch of the Galaxy S4, and analysts are weighing in.

Samsung unveiled its newest device during an event in New York's Radio City Music Hall. The phone looks very similar to the Galaxy S3 but sports an improved screen, camera, and components, as well as oodles of quirky software features like language translation. As CNET noted yesterday, Samsung is making Apple's iPhone look like yesterday's hot smartphone.

Many Apple analysts today, though, remain confident that Apple will be able to maintain its strong … Read more

Samsung's S Voice Drive app might not suck (hands-on)

During Samsung's questionable launch of its marquee Galaxy S4 smartphone, the handset-maker introduced S Voice Drive, a breakout version of its S Voice assistant designed specifically for use when on the road.

After the show, I got my hands on an untethered version of the Galaxy S4 and tested it out. Or at least, tested the driving app as much as I could while sitting in a plush, fold-down chair so deep inside a massive theater that I could barely register a GPS signal.

The interface looks smooth, a constellation of circular icons that represent all you can do … Read more

Samsung to release high-end Tizen smartphone in August

Samsung plans to release a smartphone running its upstart Tizen operating system by August or September, according to Bloomberg.

The Tizen phone will be one of three flagship products for Samsung, the others being the newly unveiled Galaxy S4 and another version of the Galaxy Note, Bloomberg reported, citing an interview with Y.H. Lee, executive vice president of marketing for Samsung's mobile business.

The timing is just a bit behind the July-to-August timeline that Samsung had told CNET while at Mobile World Congress last month.

The high-end comment also fits in with comments made by executives from Japan's NTT Docomo and France's Orange, … Read more

Is Samsung scared of being too cool?

The little blond boy from the latest, oddly bland commercials tap-danced.

There was a mother-in-law joke.

There were actors being forced to spout lines of the same quality as reality show producers foist on overly-lipsticked, neophyte administrative associates.

Somewhere, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd were weeping into a banana daiquiri.

Samsung's live event to launch its Galaxy S4 was bathed in all the taste of budget-free vaudeville.

As my colleague Molly Wood fulminated, the depiction of women as Stepfordian drunks was quite spectacularly myopic, ancient, and slightly tawdry.

The general level of humor had a sell-by date of September … Read more

Heads up Apple, here comes Samsung's 8-core chip

Think Apple's A6 chip packs a punch? It appears to have some stiff competition from Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa, slated for commercial production in the second quarter, the company announced today.

Featured in Samsung's Galaxy S4, Octa means it integrates a whopping eight CPU cores. Apple's A6 has two, by comparison.

While a raw core count comparison may be too simplistic, Samsung's chip, on paper, should make Apple worry -- especially since Samsung is simultaneously manufacturing the Exynos chip and Apple's A6.

The Exynos 5 Octa uses technology from chip designer ARM called big.LITTLE. … Read more