Samsung Galaxy S4 Is More About The Software Than The Hardware

During tonight's hour long "Un-Packed" Galaxy S4 announcement event one trend was quite clear, Samsung's goal was to highlight the software much more than the hardware. In fact most of the show was wrapped around the many new software features while largely ignoring the hardware side of things.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is now official, and it certainly looks quite impressive. The new smartphone features a full HD 5-inch AMOLED display with 441ppi, a 1.9GHz Quad core Qualcomm S4 Pro or 1.6GHz Octo-core Exynos 5 processor, 2GB of RAM, either 16, 32 or 64GB of storage and a 13MP rear and 2MP front cam. Topping things off are Wi-Fi in the forms of a/b/g/n and yes the new ac standard, 3 and 4g with LTE, NFC, microSD, a removable 2600 mAh battery and possibly one of the coolest features and IR blaster for use as a remote controle. On the software side you'll see Andriod 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box – obviously it will still be rocking the TouchWiz UI on-top, but that looks slightly updated. (full specs here)

Impressive features to say the least, yet hardly noticeable amongst Samsung announcement. The details of the hardware improvements could easily have been overlooked and were, at least in my eyes, largely overshadowed by Samsung's array of software features that will be found on the new S4.

Features such as a new S-Translator, which provides instant translation, using text or voice translation on applications including email, text message and ChatON. This instant translation is possible both from speech to text and text to speech. Two new features that grabbed attention were the Samsung Smart Pause and Samsung Smart Scroll. Smart Pause enables you to control the screen by where you look. When you are watching a video, the video pauses when you look away then it starts right up again when you are back. Smart Scroll allows you to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen. It recognizes your face looking at the screen and movement of your wrist and then scroll the pages up or down accordingly.

One of the highly speculated features that made its debut was ‘Air View’, which much the the S-Pen on the Note II 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. You can even see a magnified view on the internet browser, or a phone number saved in the speed dial on the keypad. With the new ‘Air Gesture’, you can use the wave of a hand change the music track, scroll up and down a web page, or accept a call.

Some of the more impressive features will make use of the phones new larger cameras. A new ‘Dual Camera’ function will allow simultaneous use of both front and rear cameras. When capturing pictures or videos, users can choose from a variety of frame effects which blend the two pictures. Users can select 8 different ways to combine the two photos taken by the front camera and the rear camera. At the same time, the ‘Dual Video Call’ function enables you to make and receive a video call with friends and family while using the rear camera to show what you are looking at during the call.

Is there more? Of course there is! We can't pack all the hour long announcement into one post, if you want to watch that you can do so one SamsungMobile's YouTube page or you can read about the rest of the new features as well as Samsung's new service it will be offering with the Galaxy S4 here:

• Samsung Introduces the GALAXY S 4 - A Life Companion for a richer, simpler and fuller life
• Samsung Previews Samsung Hub and New Content Services on GALAXY S 4 at Unpacked