Author: Dan Graziano

Samsung (005930) unveiled its Galaxy S 4 smartphone during an outlandish press conference at Radio City Music Hall last week. The company announced its flagship smartphone in New York City alongside a laundry list of new features, however it was the handset’s design that caught people’s attention. It was argued that the Galaxy S 4, which looks relatively similar to its predecessor, felt too cheap to be a high-end smartphone despite being equipped with top-notch hardware. While speaking at Engadget’s Expand conference this weekend, Samsung’s design chief Dennis Miloseski defended the design of the smartphone and pointed out that the company is focused on the experiences it can create.

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Interest in Samsung’s (005930) latest flagship smartphone is said to be considerably higher than earlier models. According to U.K. retailer Phones 4U, the Galaxy S 4 has generated 40% more pre-registrations than the Galaxy S III did after it was announced last year. Earlier reports estimated that the highly anticipated smartphone could see sales of more than 10 million units in the first month. Scott Hooton, Phone 4U’s chief commercial officer, believes the Galaxy S 4 has a “strong chance of becoming the biggest selling smartphone of 2013.” The executive added that the handset “exceeded our expectations in terms of technological innovation and form factor.” The Galaxy S 4 is scheduled to launch on select carriers starting in late April. Phone 4U’s press release follows below.

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Owners of older Samsung (005930) smartphones may be feeling envious of the newly announced Galaxy S 4, which is chock-full of new features. They shouldn’t be too worried, however, because the company has promised to bring some of Galaxy S 4’s top features to both the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. Samsung’s vice president of portfolio planning, Nick DiCarlo, revealed in an interview with PCMag that any feature that doesn’t rely on hardware will be brought to “all the flagship devices.” The executive hinted that features such as the new camera interface and new filters may arrive on earlier models later this year. It is also speculated that Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, S Translator and S Health will also be made available.

Samsung’s (005930) new Galaxy S 4 smartphone is an incredible device — on paper. It features a beautiful 5-inch full HD display, a blazing fast processor, an incredible 13-megapixel rear camera and more bells and whistles than you will know what to do with. I wish I could say all this impressive hardware and software came together in a premium package, however this is not the case.

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Samsung (005930) pulled out all the stops at its Galaxy S 4 press conference last night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The company revealed a handful of new features in a Broadway-style presentation, however it failed to announce specific launch dates. Samsung only said that the Galaxy S 4 would launch on 327 carriers, six in the U.S., in 155 countries sometime next month. U.K. carrier Everything Everywhere announced on Friday that it will offer the smartphone beginning April 26th with preorders set to start on March 28th. AT&T (T) and T-Mobile both acknowledged that they will carry the Galaxy S 4 in the U.S. and have created pages that allow customers to sign-up to be notified with additional details. Verizon (VZ), Sprint (S), Cricket and U.S. Cellular also plan to offer the device later this year. Reports suggest that the Galaxy S 4 will cost $199 in the U.S. with a new two-year agreement.

A number of videos allegedly showcasing new features on the Galaxy S IV have leaked just hours before Samsung’s (005930) press conference at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In what could be considered the biggest leak yet, four new videos demonstrate various upcoming features such as SmartPause eye tracking, floating touch control and a new lock screen.

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Verizon (VZ) plans to use the AWS spectrum it acquired from a consortium of cable companies in the second half of 2013. The company’s CTO, Nicola Palmer, revealed in an interview with Fierce Wireless that the carrier will complete its LTE rollout on the 700MHz spectrum by mid-year, and plans to expand its LTE coverage with 5,000 new sites in 2013, with more to follow in 2014. The current generation of Verizon LTE devices won’t be able to utilize the network, however, and Verizon plans to offer AWS-compatible devices before July. The executive also reiterated the company’s plans to launch its VoLTE service by the end of this year or early next year.

A mysterious Motorola smartphone leaked Wednesday morning, however it isn’t the fabled X Phone. According to Vietnamese website Tinhte, which published extensive hands-on images and a video of the unannounced phone, the handset is equipped with a 4-inch 720p display, a Snapdragon S4 Pro (or higher) processor, Adreno 320 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 2,000 mAh battery. The device, which carries the model number XT912A, runs an unskinned version of Android and features a design language never before seen from Motorola like rounded edges and a curved back. In fact, with a quick glance someone could mistake the smartphone for a Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 4. Additional photos and a hands-on video follows below.

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Verizon (VZ) on Wednesday announced the availability of BlackBerry’s (BBRY) Z10 smartphone. Customers will be able to pre-order the handset in black or white beginning on Thursday, March 13th. The BlackBerry Z10 is equipped with a 4.2-inch 720p display, a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The smartphone also features 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, 2GB of RAM, NFC, LTE connectivity and a 1800 mAh battery. The BlackBerry Z10 will be available online and in stores from Verizon on March 28th for $199 with a new two-year agreement.

Verizon (VZ) was suspiciously absent from HTC’s (2498) One press conference last month. The flagship smartphone is scheduled to arrive on AT&T (T), Sprint (S) and T-Mobile at the end of the month, and now the latest rumor suggests Verizon will offer the handset later this year. According to AllThingsD, the HTC One will launch on Verizon “a month or two” after its competitors, though it is unclear if the phone will be the same handset that will be offered by other carriers or a rebranded version, as has been the case with Verizon in the past. A Bluetooth SIG certification recently uncovered a Verizon smartphone with identical specs to the HTC One, and earlier rumors suggested that the carrier was planning to offer a device called the DROID DNA Plus, which many had speculated would be a rebranded version of HTC’s latest smartphone.

With just over one day left until Samsung (005930) unveils the Galaxy S IV, new details have begun to trickle out. Earlier reports claimed the company’s flagship smartphone would include eye-tracking technology, however this may not be the case. According to Bloomberg, the Galaxy S IV will not include the feature at launch, although it may appear in “future versions of the phone.” Samsung will instead use a simpler head-tracking technology that will have the ability to pause videos when a user turns away from the screen.

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