The choicest cuts of gossip about Samsung's newest smartphone.
Image Credit: GSM Israel
With the Samsung Unpacked event
ready to (hopefully) blow our minds next week, the buzz surrounding the
forthcoming Galaxy S IV, which might see an April release, is reaching a
fever pitch. The internet rumor mill has been working overdrive pumping
out plausible and equally implausible tidbits about the Samsung's
latest addition to its line of Galaxy smartphones, and while we
understand that gossip is a fickle mistress and few details will be
confirmed before next week's event in New York City, we rounded up some
of the most pervasive rumors about Samsung's upcoming superphone.
Here's Looking at You, Kid [or Eye Scroll]
When you look at your Samsung Galaxy S IV, you just might find your
Samsung Galaxy S IV looking back at you. An anonymous source who has
allegedly used the device told the New York Times that the Galaxy S IV will come with an new "eye scrolling" feature
that utilizes eye tracking technology to intuitively scroll down pages
as you're reading them without you having to lift a finger. Eye Scroll -
the name which Samsung trademarked in January - will use the phone's
front-facing camera to determine if your eyeballs are still pointed at
the screen before it turns itself off.
Additionally, Samsung's "smart screen" technology will come with a
pause feature that will halt video content if you look away from the
screen. Samsung's current flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, comes
with Smart Stay, a similar feature that tracks eye movement to determine
if a user is still looking at it before automatically dimming, but if
Eye Scroll is all it's cracked up to be, we can look forward to inching
one step closer out phones achieving sentience. Probably not, but with
features like Eye Scroll and Smart Pause, smartphones are most assuredly
getting smarter.
Megapixels: Quality over Quantity?
There have been conflicting rumors about the camera that the Galaxy S
IV will be packing, with some sites reporting an improved 8 megapixel
camera and others hedging their bets on a 13 megapixel option. Though
it's likely that we'll see marginal improvements on the Galaxy S III's 8
megapixel camera, the thought of more megapixels has caused a fair
amount of salivating when the rumor first made the rounds. It's
important to note that the number of megapixels is not the only, or even
the most significant, factor in creating good-looking photos. Indeed, a
stellar 8 megapixel camera is capable of taking crisper, clearer, and
more vibrant pictures than a 16 megapixel one under the right
conditions.
The size of the sensor and the power of the device's GPU are equally,
is not more, important than the number of megapixels the device can
boast. Most people seem to be hedging their bets on getting an 8
megapixel variant on the Galaxy S III's current camera, with a few
upgrades, including a better GPU, to improve picture quality. The
phone's front-facing camera is expected to come in at 2 megapixels.
Improved Battery Life
As far as the actual handset itself it concerned, it's likely that
Samsung will follow the current trend of trying to fit everything into
the sleekest, slimmest package possible, which some are worried might
have less than stellar implications for the Galaxy S IV's battery life.
Word on the street might allay some of those concerns, as talk of a 2600
mAh battery is being bandied about, an improvement on its predecessor's
2100 mAh battery. Balancing battery life with a sleek aesthetic is a
tricky business so we'll have to wait until Samsung Unpacked to see
which side of the divide the Galaxy S IV falls on.
A Cleaner, Greener Display
Citing concerns about ease and efficiency of manufacturing, Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S IV will have a plastic body,
though there have been rumors about aluminum edges to increase
durability. Nestled within all that plastic will most likely be a
4.99-inch PHOLED display, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The rumors
of the phone's display - initially reported to be a Super AMOLED one -
caused a bit of a stir when it was announced, as the 440 ppi display
would make it the best Samsung has ever produced, even if it isn't the
first phone in the world to boast that amount of pixels per inch (Sony's
Xperia Z and HTC's Droid DNA beat Samsung to the punch).
If the Galaxy S IV comes equipped with a PHOLED display, as rumored,
which uses more energy efficient phosphorescence rather than
fluorescent light to create a brighter display, it would mean that
Samsung is actively taking a step towards, greener, more eco-friendly
pastures as PHOLED displays are reported to perform 25% better in terms
of power. In addition, Samsung is expected to equip the screen with
floating touch technology, which allows users to hover their finger over
the screen to perform simple tasks like checking e-mail and opening
apps without having to bespoil their devices with their finger grease.
A Powerful Processor
Much of the hullabaloo surrounding the Galaxy S IV is speculation
about what sort of processor it would be packing under the hood. There
have been whispers on the wind of
the Galaxy S IV becoming the first mobile phone to come equipped with
an eight core processor and while it might be an unlikely scenario, it's
too tantalizing not to consider. It's true that the larger Samsung
Galaxy Note III is a more likely candidate for the Exynos 5 Octa eight core processor,
it's possible that we might see it in action sooner with the Galaxy S
IV. If the rumors are too good to be true, then one can expect the
device to come armed with an Exynos 5410 dual quad-core chip at 1.8GHz,
an improvement upon the S III's 1.4Ghz.
Gold? This Knox Is Full of Jelly Beans
Despite earlier rumors about Android 5 - codenamed Key Lime Pie -
launching with the Galaxy S IV, it's faded into pipe dream territory as
the new device almost certainly coming equipped with the Android 4.2
Jelly Bean. Samsung also recently told CNET that
they were considering embedding its secure software Knox into the
handset, which would allow users to seamlessly switch between personal
and work interfaces with relative ease. Visa's PayWave, a mobile payment
app, might also be pre-installed on Galaxy S IV phones, as Samsung and
Visa have previously announced a partnership on future devices, albeit
without making any specific references to the Galaxy S IV.
To Micro SD or Not to Micro SD? That is the Question.
It's almost certain that the Galaxy S IV will come with 2GB of RAM,
less certain is the existence of a micro SD card slot. Though it's
likely that the Galaxy S IV will come equipped with one considering its
predecessor does, rumors persist
that Samsung might be planning on rolling out 16, 32, or 64 GB options
to boost sales in much the same way Apple has with its mobile devices.
While nixing the micro SD card slot might be a more lucrative option for
the company, it would a decidedly less consumer-friendly strategy
should the rumors hold any weight.
Don't Forget Your Grain of Salt
It's important to remember that most of this information is based in
pure speculation and will either be confirmed or disproven on March 14th
at Samsung Unpacked. IGN Tech will have boots on the ground in New York
City to bring you the latest news about the Galaxy S IV and whatever
other goodies Samsung might have in store for us then.
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If the Galaxy S IV comes equipped with a PHOLED display, as rumored,
which uses more energy efficient phosphorescence rather than
fluorescent light to create a brighter display, it would mean that
Samsung is actively taking a step towards, greener, more eco-friendly
pastures as PHOLED displays are reported to perform 25% better in terms
of power. In addition, Samsung is expected to equip the screen with
floating touch technology, which allows users to hover their finger over
the screen to perform simple tasks like checking e-mail and opening
apps without having to bespoil their devices with their finger grease.