Samsung Hypes Galaxy S IV To The MaxSamsung Hypes Galaxy S IV To The Max

Samsung Galaxy S IV: What To Expect

Samsung is doing everything in its power to make sure all eyes will be focused on Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday, where it will unveil the Galaxy S IV smartphone. The S IV will be Samsung's flagship device for the year, and probably its most important smartphone ever.

Samsung's official U.S. Twitter account today published an image of the Galaxy S IV. Not the whole thing, mind you, just a small portion of it, obscured in shadow. Based on the shape of the silhouette, it doesn't look like the design of the Galaxy S IV will be much different from the Galaxy S III.

The picture is accompanied by the tagline "The countdown for #TheNextBigThing has begun. Who's ready for the Global Unpacked Event on March 14?" Samsung used the "NextBigThing" phrase in many of its Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II commercials and advertisements. The word "big" not only refers to the importance of the device, but of the device's size when compared to the Apple iPhone. Samsung likes to point out how small the iPhone is.

[ HTC's One is another promising Android phone to watch. Read For HTC, The One Can't Come Soon Enough. ]

In addition to the shape-revealing tweet, Samsung is ramping up marketing around the NYC launch for non-press types. The company is hoping to gather its fans in New York's Times Square, where it will stream the launch. Fans who show up in Times Square on March 14 will be able to watch the event on one of the many screens in the famous tourist spot.

Why is Samsung going to such lengths to launch the Galaxy S IV? Because it has to.

Samsung is locked in a bitter battle for market share with foe Apple. In the U.S., Apple's iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S both outsold the Galaxy S III in significant numbers during the fourth quarter of 2012. Samsung needs U.S. consumers to buy its smartphones in greater numbers. Outside the U.S., Samsung's share of the market is stronger, but it still competes toe-to-toe with Apple.

What's on deck for the Galaxy S IV? Spec leaks have given us a pretty decent picture.

The GS IV will use Samsung's Exynos 5410 processor. This eight-core chip is clocked at 1.8 GHz per core, arranged in two four-core banks. The processor will be paired with 2 GB of RAM, and the GS IV looks like it will be available with 16 GB and 32 GB storage options. The GS IV's screen will measure 4.99 inches diagonally and have a full 1920 x 1080p HD resolution. It will include a 13-megapixel main camera that can shoot 1080p HD video and a 2.1-megapixel user-facing camera for video chats.

The device will run Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean at launch, which is almost, but not quite, the newest version of Android available, complete with numerous software innovations from Samsung.

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