Samsung is preparing to unveil its latest flagship device – the Galaxy S IV – at a press event in New York City on Thursday. While the only confirmed change with regard to the earlier Galaxy S III is the move from Roman to Arabic number systems, the successor is expected to have a bigger screen featuring better resolutions, improved processor performance and feature a technology known as Eye Scroll. But with a far greater hype in the market surrounding the Galaxy S IV, Samsung will have to showcase a lot more than just software improvements if it wants to avoid a similar situation which Apple ended up it when it presented mere incremental upgrades in the iPhone 5.
Speculation surrounding the specifications of the Galaxy S4 includes a 5-inch full-HD display resulting in pixel resolutions of nearly 440 PPI, a more powerful processor featuring four or eight cores running somewhere between 1.7 to 1.9GHz, improved front and rear cameras and the inclusion of the faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. Yet another major speculation is regarding the Eye Scroll feature, for which Samsung has applied for trademarks in both the United States as well as Europe.
The feature will supposedly track the user’s eye and scroll the page further as the user reaches the end of a page. This will be a major feature that makes good use of the vastly underutilized front-facing camera. The Galaxy S IV may not feature an aluminum body, as Samsung admitted to favoring plastic over aluminum owing to the ease of manufacture, better shock withstanding capabilities as well as the ability to bend, which makes it easier to remove the rear cover. However, a plastic body stands the risk of being perceived as cheap in comparison to its price.
So far, Samsung has succeeded in establishing the flagship Galaxy S-range of devices as strong competitors to iPhones from Apple. The Galaxy S IV will have to compete with the next range of iPhones expected to be launched later this year, but it remains to be seen if the improvements incorporated by Samsung will be relevant enough. For instance, a display resolution above 340 PPI may not make a difference as this is the maximum that the eye can distinguish. Similarly, a larger number of processor cores may seem attractive in the spec sheet, but users will be influenced only by actual performance improvements. The Galaxy S IV will have to feature solid performance improvements if it wants to impress a large potential user base.
