Android Authority

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• PSA: Galaxy S4 launching in the USA this week – here’s what you need to know
• Unlocked HTC One, including Developer Edition, available for order from HTC
• Facebook Home hits 500,000 downloads on the Play Store
• Stealth Black HTC One spotted on AT&T and Sprint, not available for sale yet
• Eric Schmidt’s secret interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
• Telekinesis, ‘The Next Big Thing’ in mobile for Samsung?
• Galaxy Mega 6.3 with AT&T HSPA+ bands spotted at the FCC
• Samsung Galaxy S4 review!

PSA: Galaxy S4 launching in the USA this week – here’s what you need to know Posted: 22 Apr 2013 03:25 AM PDT The Galaxy S4 is launching in the USA this week, with a variety of mobile operators and electronic retailers included in this first wave. While the handset has already been available for pre-order with various carriers and other third-party retailers, we're going to tell you all there is to know right now about the U.S. Galaxy S4 launch, as plenty of potential buyers will certainly want to purchase the handset only after getting to play with one in an actual brick-and-mortar store. Before we dive in to specific details for each carrier and retailer that will stock the Galaxy S4, we'll remind you that the U.S. will get the GT-I9505 Galaxy S4 version (Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU inside). Moreover, most stores will have the 16GB models in stores, and only two color flavors will be available at launch, Black Mist and White Frost. The Carriers Samsung has already confirmed that it will launch its 2013 flagship handset with no less than seven U.S. carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular (all of which will have the handset in stores in late April) but also Verizon, C Spire and Cricket (launching the device later on.) AT&T AT&T is the only U.S. carrier that also mentioned pricing details for the 32GB Galaxy S4 model when announcing pre-order details, $249.99 with new two-year contracts, although the operator doesn't have the handset available for pre-order at this time. The 16GB model sells for $199.99 on contract and will ship starting with April 30 (although AT&T did list for a limited time an April 23 ship time on its website). Useful links: AT&T Galaxy S4 pre-order. Sprint Sprint will launch the Galaxy S4 on April 27 with the 16GB version priced at $249.99 with new two-year contracts. In case you're switching to Sprint from a different operator, you'll receive a $100 instant credit with your purchase, which means you'll get the Galaxy S4 for just $149.99, with the same two-year contract. The carrier is also going to let you get “truly unlimited” data with your Galaxy S4, a feature it heavily advertises with every new handset launch. Useful links: Sprint Galaxy S4 pre-order. T-Mobile The Galaxy S4 will be available online with T-Mobile starting with April 24. This Galaxy S4 version costs $149.99 but the price doesn't come with the mandatory two-year contract. Instead, the carrier will let you pay for the handset in 24 monthly installments, each worth $20 after that initial $149.99 upfront payment. You'll still need to get a Simple Choice Plan to go with your Galaxy S4 purchase, but you won't be required to keep it for two years. In-store availability should follow online sales, although we don't have a date for you at this time. Useful links: T-Mobile Galaxy S4 pre-order. U.S. Cellular U.S. Cellular will also start selling the Galaxy S4 in late April, although it didn't offer actual launch dates for the handset in its Galaxy S4 press release. However, the carrier will sell the handset for $199.99 with new two-year contracts, and it will throw in a free S View flip cover (worth $59.99) to buyers that pre-order the handset online. Useful links: U.S. Cellular Galaxy S4 pre-order. The Other Carriers Verizon Late to the party as usual with high-end Galaxy devices, Verizon announced that it will launch the Galaxy S4 in May. Some rumors claimed the carrier will release the handset on May 30, a date that's yet to be confirmed. At the same time, Verizon did schedule a May 22 special media event, although we have no idea what the carrier plans to announce on that date. For what it’s worht, Verizon did put up a Galaxy S4 registration page on its website, where interested users can sign up for more information on the handset's arrival. Useful links: Verizon Galaxy S4 registration page. C Spire C Spire is yet to provide Galaxy S4 pricing and release dates but the carrier did say that the Galaxy S4 is coming this summer. Useful links: C-Spire Galaxy S4 page. Cricket Similarly, Cricket has not announced any Galaxy S4 availability details at this time. The Other Retailers Samsung mentioned several electronics retailers in its U.S. Galaxy S4 launch press release including Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile, Costco, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, Staples, Target and Walmart, However, not all of them have started taking Galaxy S4 pre-orders yet, and many of them have not provided launch details for the handset. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile Best Buy is currently taking pre-orders for both the AT&T and Sprint Galaxy S4 versions. The retailer lists the same subsidized prices the carriers have announced, $199.99 and $249.99, respectively, and the device is available in both black and white with either operator. The AT&T models do not have a release date mentioned on their Best Buy page, while the Sprint-branded units will be shipped on April 27. The Galaxy S4 can be pre-order both online and in Best Buy stores, and, interestingly, Best Buy says on its forum that it's also taking Verizon Galaxy S4 pre-orders in stores. Useful links: Best Buy Galaxy S4 forums, Best Buy AT&T Galaxy S4 pre-order, Best Buy Sprint Galaxy S4 pre-order. Radio Shack Radio Shack is not taking Galaxy S4 pre-orders at this time, but it does mention on its website that the Galaxy S4 "is coming soon" and that it will be priced at $199.99 with new two-year agreements or $699.99 "unactivated." The retailer mentions only the AT&T Galaxy S4 version at this time. Shipping dates are not provided either for Radio Shack’s Galaxy S4 offers. In case you were not aware of it, Radio Shack offers up to $300 in savings when trading-in your older handset for a new device, something to consider in case you plan to purchase your Galaxy S4 from this particular retailer. Useful links: Radio Shack Galaxy S4 page. Target You'll certainly be puzzled to see Target list the Galaxy S4 for $1,149.99, but also to notice that the model number for the device is "I9500," short for GT-I9500, which happens to be the Exynos 4 Octa model. The model number could be a mistake, considering that the retailer doesn't actually provides processor details in the specs listed on the site for the handset. Furthermore, the phone is not offered for pre-order at this time, and it's not available either online or in stores. Useful links: Target Galaxy S4 page. Walmart Walmart is currently taking Galaxy S4 pre-orders only for the AT&T version. The handset is priced at $198 with new two-year contracts and "ships when available." A few days ago, we showed you an even better Walmart Galaxy S4 deal, with the AT&T version of the handset retailing for just $168 (with new contracts). Useful links: Walmart Galaxy S4 page. Costco, Sam's Club and Staples Costco, Sam's Club and Staples don't list the Galaxy S4 for pre-order at this time, so we'll just have to wait for more Galaxy S4 details from these three retailers. Amazon While not mentioned by Samsung in its Galaxy S4 U.S. launch press release, Amazon is also one retailer where you’ll find the Galaxy S4 listed on. Those of you shopping for that Exynos 5 Octa version should be happy to hear that the GT-I9500 is available for pre-order with the retailer, although you’ll have to pay a whooping $899.99 to get it. We’re looking at an unlocked 16GB version here, and unfortunately clear shipping dates aren’t provided at this time. Useful links: Amazon Galaxy S4 pre-order. Galaxy S4 Review Before making your next high-end smartphone purchase, you may want to check out our thorough Galaxy S4 review, and the accompanying video review below: Where are you buying your Galaxy S4 from?

Unlocked HTC One, including Developer Edition, available for order from HTC Posted: 22 Apr 2013 02:53 AM PDT The HTC One unlocked models – the 32 GB model and 64 GB Developer Edition – are now available to buy from HTC’s online store, giving us hope that HTC has solved the availability issues it was facing. Just a few days ago, the company had sent an e-mail to users that blamed “shipping issues” for a delay in the delivery of the HTC One unlocked editions bought from its website. The company’s website now lists both the 32 GB and Developer Edition as “now available to order”, as you can see in the image below. As far as prices go, the 32 GB HTC One unlocked will set you back $574.99, while the 64 GB Developer Edition costs $649.99. It may not be as cheap as what you can get it for from the carriers that launched it in the U.S., but you’re getting the smartphone without a contract and SIM unlocked, free to use however you please. Despite the earlier availability issues, the ordering process seems to be working just fine; order simulations we ran offered standard, 2-day, and overnight shipping options, so you’ll probably get your hands on the device pretty quickly. Do you plan on purchasing an HTC One? Will you get it from a carrier or unlocked?

Facebook Home hits 500,000 downloads on the Play Store Posted: 22 Apr 2013 02:30 AM PDT A week after launch, Facebook Home has hit 500,000 downloads on the Google Play Store. The app has hardly hit any new heights, with the Facebook app garnering over 100 million downloads. Facebook's other application on Android, Instagram, also has over 100 million installations and gained a million downloads in 24 hours, when it was brought to Android last year. For those who don't know, Facebook Home is a replacement launcher for your home screen which puts your News Feed front and centre, allowing you to absorb “a constant stream of friends' posts and photos”, as Facebook puts it. To read the full Android Authority review, click here. Facebook Home has been received skeptically by both reporters and users, and at the time of publishing, it has received 5,728 one star reviews. That is a little over half of the 11,123 reviews and it has a current average rating of just 2.2. Facebook Home may not have reached the heights Zuckerberg and Co. may have hoped for, but it's worth noting that there are a limited number of compatible phones. There's also the little problem of active users, with all the one star ratings we begin to question how many people are still actually using the application. Is Facebook Home a failure? Have you downloaded the app yet? Would you try it out, if it were compatible with your phone? Let us know in the comments.

Stealth Black HTC One spotted on AT&T and Sprint, not available for sale yet Posted: 22 Apr 2013 12:32 AM PDT The Stealth Black HTC One has been already spotted online on AT&T's and Sprint's websites, but neither carrier is selling the model at this time. AT&T's page says that "the device you've selected is not available in your area," while the Sprint product page says the handset is out of stock, but that it's "coming soon." Both carriers are selling the Glacial White HTC One model, with AT&T stocking 32GB and 64GB model (exclusive for AT&T) and Sprint only offering customers the 32GB version. T-Mobile is the third carrier in the region to take HTC One orders, but the mobile operator only has the Glacial Silver model on offer. Stealth Black and Glacial White are the only colors the HTC One will be available in, at least initially, but no matter what version you end up buying, you're surely going to enjoy the device, one of the best Android smartphones of the year. In fact, in case you're waiting for the Stealth Black HTC One to be available to order, you may want to check out our thorough HTC One hands-on review (video available above).

Eric Schmidt’s secret interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Posted: 21 Apr 2013 05:23 AM PDT What happens when two of the biggest names in world of privacy come together to break bread and discuss just what exactly makes the world go round? You'd like to be a fly on the wall in that room, wouldn't you? Luckily the beans have been spilled on the extraordinary meeting between Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange and Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt. Schmidt met with Assange in 2011, while Assange was under house arrest no less, to discuss a number of issues for his book 'The New Digital Age,' which is being released on Tuesday.  Co-writer Jared Cohen was also in attendance in the five hour long interview  which was copious in detail of exactly how Wikileaks has grown into the largest whistleblower organizations in the world. Schmidt was clearly very interested in exactly how Wikileaks operates and more specifically how it manages to keep data transfers and whistleblowers' information and identities secure. Assange also referenced his keen interest in creating a distributed publishing network just as Bitcoin is a distributed currency. Assange is a clear believer that if anyone is going to change what he believes to be a 'crippled network' of information, it would be the younger generation. He also asserted his belief that censorship is valuable. Assange claimed "It is always an opportunity, because it reveals fear of reform. It means that the power position is so weak that you have got to care about what people think." Assange, perhaps looking for a reward for giving Schmidt an interview, went fishing for leaks from Google which Schmidt politely declined. Schmidt – also not one for lack of trying – asked Assange on his take on Wikileaks being a threat to national security which Assange shrugged off as merely being a balance of risks. With all the ruckus being made about privacy and where your data is headed, Schmidt is clearly interested in maintaining a balance between privacy, security and monetization. To see the full transcript of the meeting between Schmidt and Assange, click here. Do you think we should be worried about where our data is headed? Let us know in the comments.

Telekinesis, ‘The Next Big Thing’ in mobile for Samsung? Posted: 21 Apr 2013 04:52 AM PDT Nobody in mobile technology seems to want you to touch your mobile device anymore. Apple would rather you speak to your phone, Samsung wants you to use your eyes, as well as hovering your fingers above the screen and, as for Google, it doesn't even want the mobile phone to be in your hands because that's “too emasculating” (says the guy with a screen in front of his eyeball). But a quick look at the majority of sci-fi movies brings us to the conclusion that the feature that some people would really want to use for input is telekinesis or mind control. The very thought of it (pun intended), sends shivers down my spine. The possibilities are endless. Checking and replying to emails without ever touching your phone, maybe even without pulling the device out of your pocket, becomes possible. Gaming could be taken to another level, because lets face it, sometimes those controllers just don't respond fast enough. More importantly, people with disabilities could use mobile devices much more effectively and that's where Samsung steps in. Samsung has decided that the plethora of ways to interact with mobile devices is simply not enough. For those who aren't keeping count, there are four ways of interacting with Samsung's latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S4. There are touch, eye, gestures and voice control all crammed into the slim 5-inch frame of the Galaxy S4. So what other avenue of device interaction can Samsung explore? Well, telekinesis seemed like a good place to start. Now before you think somebody at Samsung has read one too many X-Men comics, they are actually a lot closer than you'd think. In fact Samsung, with the help of assistant professor of electrical engineering Roozbeh Jafari at the University of Texas, has actually got a crude method working with a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (to find out exactly how Samsung is utilizing the technology, check out the video at the Source link at the end of this article): To use EEG-detected brain signals to control a smartphone, the Samsung and UT Dallas researchers monitored well-known brain activity patterns that occur when people are shown repetitive visual patterns. In their demonstration, the researchers found that people could launch an application and make selections within it by concentrating on an icon that was blinking at a distinctive frequency. We here at Android Authority don't like to be party poopers, but for the sake of saving you some money (in buying a Charles Xavier costume in anticipation, who by the way did not possess the power of telekinesis), we'd like to inform you that the current method is cumbersome and requires the use of bulky headgear (which ironically resembles the headgear Professor X uses in Cerebro). Samsung isn’t using any new technology for this project, as it relies on EEG monitoring electrodes to get the job done. However, it is its interest in creating more ways for you to interact with your device that is of paramount importance here. While the clear emphasis is on people with disabilities, the ultimate goal of Samsung's Emerging Technology Lab is to broaden the ways in which all people can interact with their smart devices. Currently, the technology has a success rate of 80 to 95 percent, which many would claim is a better success rate than voice control, and allows users to make selections every five seconds. Samsung is hoping to make the headgear less obtrusive so that people can wear it throughout the day. Even with all the promising development, we can't say that telekinesis will be “The Next Big Thing” on the Galaxy S5 or any other future mobile device from Samsung. Is telekinesis top of your features list for phones? Is this just another arrow in Samsung's featuritis bow? Would you like to see the input method in any other devices (Google Glass)?

Galaxy Mega 6.3 with AT&T HSPA+ bands spotted at the FCC Posted: 21 Apr 2013 03:43 AM PDT The recently unveiled Galaxy Mega 6.3 has been already spotted at the FCC, featuring AT&T HSPA+ bands (850MHz and 1900MHz). However, model GT-I9200 is only the HSPA+ version of the handset, which means it won't have any LTE powers like its GT-I9205 brother. While being a handset announced only a few weeks ago, the Galaxy Mega 6.3 is not a new flagship Samsung smartphone, but more of a mid-ranger. With a 6.3-inch display, the handset can be a great device for those people looking to replace their tablet and smartphone with a single device capable of offering a bigger display but also regular phone features. In addition to that 6.3-inch screen with 1280 x 720 resolution, the Galaxy Mega 6.3 offers a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8/16GB of storage, microSD support, 8-megapixel camera, 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, HSPA+, LTE, GPS, IR, NFC and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's TouchWiz on top (various Samsung apps are also included). Availability details for the handset have not been announced yet for the U.S., with Samsung only mentioning Europe in its Galaxy Mega 6.3 announcement press release. While this GT-I9200 model has hit the FCC and is compatible with AT&T, it's too early to tell whether the carrier will stock this oversized smartphone at any time in the future, especially considering that it doesn't come with LTE support. In addition to the Galaxy Mega 6.3 (hands-on here), Samsung has also unveiled a smaller-but-still-bigger smartphone, the Galaxy Mega 5.8 (hands-on here).

Samsung Galaxy S4 review! Posted: 21 Apr 2013 03:36 AM PDT When J.K. Shin, Samsung's mobile boss, took the stage in the Radio City Music Hall last month, the tech world paused in a second of anticipation. Would the largest smartphone maker in the world deliver again? Would the Galaxy S4 continue the legacy of a series of phones that fundamentally changed the mobile landscape? What we got instead of an answer was a sensory assault that left us enthralled, but also a bit bewildered. Samsung packed so many new features in the Galaxy S4 that it's a little difficult to keep track of everything. However, the Korean company took a risky bet when it opted to keep the design of its new flagship in line with last year's Galaxy S3. And yes, the Galaxy S4 is still made of plastic, at a time when competitors opt for more luxurious materials, like aluminum and glass. It's safe to say that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is an evolutionary leap, rather than a radical break with the past, as its predecessors were. But does it live up to the hype? Will consumers be swayed by the richness of software features on the Galaxy S4 or will they long for a new mobile experience, embodied in a more premium design? Join us for a detailed review of the hardware and software features of the Galaxy S4 or jump to the end of this post for our hands-on video review. Design: derivative, but also impressive There's no getting around it. The Galaxy S4 closely resembles last year's S3, enough to fool the untrained eye into confusing one device for the other. Samsung's designers slightly tweaked the contour of the Galaxy S4, making it a bit more rectangular, and added a chromed band on the side, which gives the handset a classier look, although it isn't actually metal. To accommodate the 5-inch display without increasing the bulk of the device, Samsung shrunk the width of the bezels. As a result, the device has a superior screen-to-body ratio when compared to the S3, with an added esthetic benefit granted by the central placement of the home button, which is now similar in shape to that of the Galaxy Note 2. On the back, we have the removable plastic cover that has sparked so many debates in the past. Its detractors say it's flimsy and that it fails to evoke the premium feeling that one would expect from a cutting-edge flagship. However, the cover allows for a removable battery and microSD card slot, two features that customers consistently look for when buying a device. Samsung has given up on the glazed finish it used throughout 2012, opting for an elegant mesh pattern instead. We found it intriguing, though it does bear reminiscence to what LG has been using on its recent high-end phones. The Galaxy S4 is actually lighter and more compact that the S3, an impressive achievement on its own. Moreover, it feels better in the hand, thanks to the flatter sides and its excellent balance. We'd go out on a limb to say that the Galaxy S4 has the best handling of all the 5-inch smartphones we've reviewed. Bottom line, if you enjoyed the design and build of the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy S4 will come off as familiar, but clearly refined. The trade-offs of plastic are hard to notice and the phone feels high-end, without becoming hard to use with just one hand. AMOLED gorgeousness If there's one thing the phones in the Galaxy S line are known for, it's the deep blacks and vibrant colors of their displays. AMOLED technology has come a long way since the early days, and its incarnation in the screen of the Galaxy S4 compares favorably to almost any other display out there. The full HD panel of 441 ppi density is as crisp as they get, and the visibility, regardless of the conditions and viewing angles, is top-notch. The trademark strengths of the AMOLED panel are highlighted by the saturated, cheerful color scheme of the TouchWiz user interface. Really, the Galaxy S4 sports one of the best displays on any smartphone, hands down. Hardware Samsung has always excelled at hardware, ever since the days it was one-upping its bigger competitors by packing the very best components into its products. While the new Galaxy S4 isn't head and shoulders over its competitors (unless you consider the elusive Exynos 5 Octa processor a breakthrough), you won't find better hardware on the market right now. We reviewed the Snapdragon 600 version (coming to the US and most of the other big markets), and, as you'd expect, we found little to nitpick about it. It sails through the benchmarks, hovering around an impressive 25,000 in AnTuTu. Epic Citadel surrenders just as swiftly when faced with the graphics prowess of the Adreno 320 GPU. It is worth mentioning that the speaker of the Galaxy S4 is pretty much how you would expect. It gets adequately loud and gets the job done, though it would have been even better to have it on the front like HTC’s BoomSound. Can’t win them all, it seems. Still, it is not overly tinny and should satisfy most people looking to share music or YouTube videos. Sense all the things Where the Galaxy S4 does shine when compared to the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z, or the Apple iPhone 5 is the wealth of sensors that Samsung packed inside that 7.9 millimeter thin body. Besides the usual connectivity options we've come to expect from any decent Android phone these days, the S4 comes with a barometer, a temperature gauge, an RGB light sensor that calibrates the display according to the environment, an IR blaster (the HTC One and the Optimus G Pro have that too), an infrared sensor for air gestures, a magnetic sensor for detecting smart covers, and a digital compass. All this laundry list of sensors is nothing without the software to make sense of all the data, but, for now, let's just say that the Galaxy S4 is well equipped in this area. More in the software section. Battery life The Galaxy S4 draws its power from a 2600 mAh removable battery, which is 500 mAh more than the Galaxy S3. But the S4 has a bigger display and a beefier processor, so the difference in battery life is not that substantial in the end. We've tested the Galaxy S4's endurance in a movie streaming test (Netflix on Wi-Fi) that drew the last drop of energy from it in a little under four hours. In a less punishing test (browsing, watching local videos, sync enabled), the Galaxy S4 went through eight hours of continuous operation. Although not as impressive as the Note 2, for instance, we found the battery life of the Galaxy S4 to be satisfying. Plus, the replaceable battery can act as a safety net. Not another smartphone camera If, hardware-wise, the two cameras of the Galaxy S4 are not something to write home about, Samsung attempted to make the S4 shine through the software. A host of features gives users some new and potentially compelling ways to use their smartphone cameras. The Samsung Galaxy S4 camera app Besides the common options, like HDR and panorama, Samsung packed a Best Face mode that lets you pick the best face from a bunch of burst shots, Animated Photo (useful for making GIFs or cinemagraphs on the fly), and Sound and Shot, which lets you attach a sound clip to your photos. Similarly intriguing are the Eraser mode and Drama Shot. Eraser mode looks at the background and the subject and tries to erase moving objects that happen to intrude in the picture, to the spite of habitual photobombers. Someone got into the picture. Eraser mode to the rescue Final image. Click to enlarge Drama Shot works the other way, sort of. It lets you combine several instances of a moving object in one image. For instance, you could use this feature to photograph the arc of a football your buddies throw. Drama shot in action Drama shot, end result. Click to enlarge. Some of these features might be gimmicky, but those who take the time to check them out could easily find some creative and interesting ways to use them. From a technical point of view, the quality of the images snapped with the 13MP camera of the Galaxy S4 is excellent. Color saturation and details are well balanced, and overall, we feel that shutterbugs looking for a good camera phone won't regret buying the Samsung Galaxy S4. Check out a few Galaxy S4 camera samples (click to enlarge): Software: features galore The Samsung Galaxy S4 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with the TouchWiz user interface on top. TouchWiz is much vilified in some circles, with critics calling it bloated and gaudy, an assertion that is obviously a matter of personal taste. However, even if you're not fond of the eye candy-rich interface, you might want to give the Galaxy S4 a spin anyway. That's because the beautiful 1080p AMOLED display really makes TouchWiz pop in a very eye-pleasing way. Where other UIs struggle to adapt to the high resolutions and pixel densities of modern smartphone screens, TouchWiz feels at home, offering users a pleasant, smooth experience. The app drawer and settings dropdown. We could spend the next thousand words describing all the features and featurettes that Samsung baked into TouchWiz in its attempt to make the Galaxy S4 the perfect "life companion". We'll restrain ourselves though, and tell you about the most important ones, such as the new air gestures, which take advantage of the phone's motion sensors. Quickly explained, the phone "feels" your fingers as they hover above the screen. It's an ability we've seen before, but Samsung took it to the next level by enabling it in many areas of the interface. Hover your finger over a folder, and you will see a preview of its contents; hover over a gallery, and the first pics will be shown in thumbnails; you can quickly see your last received text without even touching the screen. In short, Samsung transplanted the Air View functionality of the S Pen-equipped Note range to the Galaxy S4. Hovering your finger over an album shows its contents The air gestures can be just as interesting – you can jump to the next music track by flicking your hand over the phone or change the image that you're viewing. With a wave of the hand, you can invoke the quick info screen that shows your notifications and phone status information. We see many potential use cases for these features, from quickly answering the phone when your hand is wet or dirty to skipping to the next track while jogging. Navigating through a gallery with a flick of your hand The much touted Smart Pause and Smart Scroll features do exactly what their names suggest. While their usefulness is less clear, some users will surely find them attractive. Other interesting additions are S Translator (though Google Translate does the same thing) and Group Play, which lets users share a track to up to five other phones. While we couldn't test this last feature for obvious reasons, it does sound like something that some groups of users (okay, teenagers) would appreciate. S Health deserves a separate mention. Samsung wants to make S Health the hub of all your diet, sports, and lifestyle activities. For instance, the app lets you calculate calorie intakes or log your weight. With the help of the slew of sensors, S Health becomes a great sports app – it can check the humidity and temperature to tell you about the weather, or count your steps to turn the phone into a pedometer. Speaking of which, the Galaxy S4 is said to be compatible with accessories like heart rate monitors, wrist pedometers, and digital scales. Check out other elements of the Samsung Galaxy S4′s user interface: Hands-on video Wrap up and final thoughts The Samsung Galaxy S4 is coming over the next weeks to all major US carriers, at prices ranging between $150 and $249 on contract, and is expected to be widely available across the world. It's likely that, if you will be shopping for a new smartphone in the next 18 months, the Galaxy S4 will come up as an option. So, what's the verdict? From our time with the Samsung Galaxy S4, we can say that it's one of the best smartphones of all time, which, while not revolutionary, brings more than enough new stuff to the table to be worth an upgrade. It's almost better in every way than its predecessor, has top-notch specs, and beats competitors when it comes to software and hardware features. Samsung worked hard to perfect its product design (hardware and software) and it succeeded in most part. The caveats are the plastic build and the somehow over-the-top TouchWiz user interface, but if you are okay with that, the Galaxy S4 is a smartphone that we can fully recommend. Bogdan Petrovan contributed to this review.

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