Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, recently unveiled the new Galaxy S4 and its distinguished features in the form of a storytelling play of daily life at its own “Samsung Unpacked Event” at Radio City Music Hall, New York City.


The event showcased how users would benefit from the S4 new features and overshadowed the concurring electronics shows.

J. K. Shin, president and head of IT and mobile communications division at Samsung, said: “Galaxy S4 is smaller in size and more performing than its predecessors, and it will truly become a life companion for a richer, simpler and fuller life.”

Indeed, Samsung outstandingly held the part of its teasing campaign, mapping out a remarkable addition to the Galaxy S franchise with the new S4, he said.

New York’s Time Square and the world witnessed between six to nine (evening local time) the “unpacking” through live streaming as Samsung unveiled its next smart phone flagship.

During the event, each and every one of the envied insider lived the “hands-on Galaxy Studio” experience, Shin said and outlined the exclusive features of the new smartphone

The Galaxy S 4 is now thinner and lighter than S3 as it comes with a 4.99” Full HD Super AMOLED screen (441 ppi) with 1080X1920HP clarity weighing only 130 g.

It also boasts a ‘Dual Camera’ function.
At the same time, this function enables one to make and receive a video call while showing what they are looking at during the call.

Its 13 mega pixel rear camera and 2 mega pixel front camera have exceeded expectations too. Now one can send videos, while taking a picture and recording a voice/sound that goes with it.

In fact both cameras can be used simultaneously, for example it’s possible for one to take their picture and their family’s using both the front and back camera at the same time.

Users can select 8 different ways to combine the two photos taken by the front camera and the rear camera.

The camera functionality extends beyond Dual Camera, as the device is also equipped with 12 outstanding shooting modes, including ‘Drama Shot’, which allows you to see all the action in one continuous time-lapse, and ‘Sound & Shot,’which uniquely stores sound and voice together as the picture is taken so those special moments are captured in the truest form imaginable, exactly as they happened.

In addition, the ‘Adapt Display’ adjusts the screen’s content colors to the user’s comfort to provide an optimal viewing experience, customized for each type of application, even to those users who live in cold countries, so they can keep their gloves on while scrolling.

All under the new Jelly Bean 4.2 version, the new S4 comes with an internal memory of at least 16GB, and a 2GB RAM, with the possibility of increasing it with an external Micro SD.

The expanded storage can take up to 64GBs. The battery will have the capacity of 2600 MAH.
‘Air Gesture’ enables the user to use his smart phone simply by utilizing air gestures, but unlike the gestures seen on the note devices using the S-pen, now the user needs only to use their finger.

With Air Gesture, the user can change the music track, scroll up and down a web page, or accept a call with the wave of a hand. So now one can answer their phone, or do other commands by just waving their hand above the device without touching it.

Also, the S4 ‘ChatOn’ application comes with enhancements such as the video chat and can share both views of front and back cameras at the same time. Among its new applications such as Chat On and its own e-mail comes the S Translator, which can translate words and sentences between 9 languages — one can write the word or simply say it

and the phone will translate it.
The new ‘Group Play’ function is a service that allows up to 8 Galaxy S4 users to connect and play a game together, or it can be used to get a surround sound effect on a favorite song by assigning each phone to work as a channel of a surround sound system.

With its Group Play function, users can enjoy music, photos, documents and games with those around them without even requiring a Wi-Fi AP or cellular signal.

This innovative feature enables users to connect directly with others to share, play and co-create content and entertainment instantly.

‘Smart Pause’ is the upgraded ‘Smart Stay’ feature, which detects the user’s movement and if, for instance, while watching a movie the user takes their eyes off the screen or look elsewhere, the phone “smartly” pauses. And as it smartly pauses, it will also restart smartly. ‘Smart Scrolling’ also makes it possible for this phone to understand that you want to scroll down by reading your eyes movement.

Samsung’s S Health is a new built-in application that can connect to new accessories, which provide you with information that keeps you fit on top of monitoring your health frequently in a day by registering temperature and humidity data through its two new sensors and it even advices the user what healthy diet to follow based on his calories intake.

The S4 will be available in 155 countries by the end of April.

Samsung announce plans to launch high-end devices using the Tizen open-source platform by the end of summer.

Following the success of Samsung’s Android-powered handsets such as the Galaxy S2 and S3, the Tizen phone will be one of three premium handsets released by the company this year.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 was unveiled yesterday and the Galaxy Note 8.0 will also hit the market to compete with its biggest rivals, Apple.

Bloomberg interviewed executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, Lee Young Hee, who states, “The device will be the best product equpped with the best specifications.”

No other Tizen devices are on sale yet but Chase Perrin from Tizen Association says users should expected ‘thousands’ of applications. The device will run on an open-source software platform.

Samsung is under pressure to hold its place as the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones following Google’s acquisition of Motorola’s Mobility Holdings Inc. last year.

Tizen is one of many operating systems reported to be released in the future along with Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS & Sailfish. Samsung is among 12 companies developing Tizen inclunding, Intel and Sprint Nextel.

Young Hee says the phone will be available “in August or September, and this will be in the high-end category.”

Source: Bloomberg

(Reuters) – Too little is known about Libya’s rebels and they remain too fragmented for the United States to get seriously involved in organizing or training them, let alone arming them, U.S. and European officials say.

U.S. and allied intelligence agencies believe NATO’s no-fly zone and air strikes will be effective in stopping Muammar Gaddafi’s forces from killing civilians and dislodging rebels from strongholds like Benghazi, the officials say.

But the more the intelligence agencies learn about rebel forces, the more they appear to be hopelessly disorganized and incapable of coalescing in the foreseeable future.

U.S. government experts believe the state of the opposition is so grave that it could take years to organize, arm and train them into a fighting force strong enough to drive Gaddafi from power and set up a working government.

The realistic outlook, U.S. and European officials said, is for an indefinite stalemate between the rebels — supported by NATO air power — and Gaddafi’s forces.

“At this point neither side is able to defeat the other and neither appears willing to compromise,” said one U.S. official who follows the Libyan conflict closely.

“The opposition needs time to do what they need to do — forming a government, bringing together key opposition figures, getting on the same page and building a new generation of leaders,” the official said.

There is no sign the CIA or any other U.S. agency is organizing arms supplies for the rebels. But U.S. officials say privately that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are willing to provide weapons and other support to Gaddafi’s foes.

There are “indications” that Qatar has begun to supply some easy-to-use weapons, including shoulder-fired anti-tank rockets, to the opposition, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday.

PROLONGED STALEMATE

Pentagon officials say NATO air strikes, combined with enforcement of an arms embargo, will degrade Gaddafi’s fighting ability. The hope is this may create cracks in his regime and open the way for a political solution to the crisis.

One Western official compared the no-fly zone to a greenhouse that hopefully will allow for the gradual growth of a national opposition movement in Libya that draws together the disparate rebel factions.

Several weeks ago, President Barack Obama signed a secret order — a “covert action finding” — authorizing the CIA to consider a range of operations to support Gaddafi’s opponents.

But the order requires the CIA to seek extra “permissions” from the White House before specific measures such as providing training, money or weapons.

CIA operatives on the ground are aggressively collecting information on the rebels, their structure, leadership and military capabilities, U.S. officials said.

he United States will reconsider its controversial policy of deploying drones against militants taking refuge in Pakistan, according to its ambassador in Islamabad.

Cameron Munter revealed that America intends to review using unmanned aerial vehicles in the wake of an angry public and political backlash over high civilian casualties suffered in attacks.

“That is something on our agenda,” Munter told a gathering of top Pakistani military brass, analysts and academics Monday at an event that was billed by the local U.S. Embassy as a major policy announcement.

The U.S. military and the State Department rarely comment on drones.

Munter’s comment did not come from his prepared speech, but during a question-and-answer session in response to a question from a member of the audience demanding to know when drone strikes would cease permanently. Fearing a hostile reception that would embarrass the State Department and stoke further local anti-U.S. sentiment, television cameras were ordered to leave the room for the question-and-answer session.

“We have habits and tendencies that don’t work for us and get in the way [of its relationship with Pakistan],” Munter said, a reference to drones and undercover C.I.A. operations on Pakistani soil that have enraged Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.
The ambassador gave no timeline on when a review of drone policy would be conducted, but Washington will likely want to make it a priority as it attempts to rebuild frayed relations with Pakistan, its most important ally in the war on terror.
Dealings between the U.S. and Islamabad hit rock bottom after Pakistan lost patience with relentless pressure from America to eradicate militants who use Pakistan’s tribal border regions as sanctuaries and training bases from which to launch attacks on NATO troops.
January’s killing of two Pakistanis by a C.I.A. contractor in Lahore invoked the wrath of all sections of Pakistani society, including the I.S.I., politicians, the religious establishment and an increasingly anti-American public.
Just when things could not appear to get any worse, in March a drone attack in Pakistan’s militant-infested northwest killed a gathering of 31 tribal elders and others, in an apparent confusion over the intended target. The death toll added to an already high civilian body count.
An estimated 600 civilian lives have been claimed by drone attacks in the past 24 months compared to more than 1,000 militants’ killed in four years.
But Pakistan cannot solely blame America for its losses.
While the drones are launched from NATO bases in Afghanistan and, it is suspected, some from Pakistan soil, ground target intelligence is provided almost exclusively by the Pakistan military to the C.I.A.. To cloud the issue further, the Pakistani military and the government regularly condemn the drone attacks in pubic as a violation of sovereignty, but privately acknowledge they would not be able to kill as many militants without the U.A.V.s.
Pakistan has repeatedly requested to be given its own attack drone technology by the U.S., but Washington has been reluctant to hand it over in fear that Islamabad may use it against its neighbor and arch rival India, also a key strategic partner for America in Asia.
The U.S. is now at pains to patch up a relationship that has been worn threadbare by deep institutional distrust and public scapegoating of each other by their leadership.
A fresh example came Monday when Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly blamed his country’s destabilization as the result of America’s invasion of Afghanistan.
He told the U.K.’s The Guardian newspaper that the war there was seriously undermining efforts to restore its democratic institutions and economic prosperity after a decade of military dictatorship. The interview demonstrates the uphill struggle the U.S. faces in once more winning over Pakistan, with whom it has had on-and-off relations for 40 years.
Munter described the “renewal” of America’s commitment to Pakistan, and stressed long-term commitment to strengthening Pakistan through investments in education, energy and security programs.
“We are not trying to buy people. We will be here for generations,” he said. But the ambassador indicated that countering militancy and extremism would remain the top priority for the U.S..