Samsung has taken the smartphone war to Apple’s doorstep with the Galaxy S4, unveiled in New York City on Thursday night.
The feature-rich S4 is the Korean giant’s latest attempt to topple the current king, Apple, from its throne.
“Once you spend time with the Galaxy S4, I’m very confident that you’ll find how its innovations make your life simpler and fuller,” J.K. Shin, president of Samsung Mobile Communications, told a packed New York audience.
Mr. Shin’s statement marks a sharp difference from the previous attributes Samsung has marketed its line-up with, namely strong hardware and soft price points, and instead looks to break into the late Steve Jobs’ domain – software, features and the ‘smartphone experience’.
The shiny new ‘smart scroll and smart pause’ feature, for instance, monitors the user’s eye movements and behaves accordingly. Tilting the S4, while staring at it, will scroll the web pages up or down accordingly. On the other hand, the ‘moving beyond touch’ option allows scrolling through web pages or photographs with a simple wave of the hand.
While India will be one of the earlier countries to receive the phone, according to a company spokesperson, Samsung is looking at shedding its copycat label — something it has often be criticised of in India and the U.S.
The high-profile song and dance launch in Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall proved one thing, however. The stakes in this war have never been higher.
