Samsung Galaxy S4: 15 WOW Features!

Track your fitness factors

S4 sensors combined with S Health software enable handsets to be used to track exercise, eating, heart rate and other fitness factors. The handsets were also designed to measure temperature and humidity to help people "understand what is going on around them."

Several S 4s can link up to play same music

The S4 can record sound to run alongside snapped still pictures. When several S 4s are in close proximity, they can link up to play the same music, simultaneously - perfect for headphone dance parties.

Controls entertainment center as a universal remote

The S 4 comes with a built-in infra-red diode, so it can control an entertainment center as a universal remote. This is a feature that has showed up in Android tablets before.

Copy of details from a photograph into phone's contact

Another feature includes the option to automatically put a copy of details from a photograph of a business card into the phone's contacts database or call a number in the business card.

Instant translation between 10 different languages

Samsung is also promising an instant translation between 10 different languages for certain applications, as well as a separate translation application on the device.

Camera - Use both front & rear simultaneously

The device also has a 13-megapixel camera, compared with the S3's 8-megapixel camera.

The Camera application can now use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, inserting a small picture of the user even as he's capturing the scene in front of him.

Scroll through songs without touching phone

The latest phone also has a sensor that lets users move their hands to the left or right to scroll between different websites they have opened or through songs or photos in an album without having to touch the phone.

The idea is to make it easier to change the song playing without having to pick up the phone while driving or to avoid putting sticky fingers on the touch-screen display while scrolling through a Web page at mealtimes.

Tilt phone to scroll up and down

The newest features involve different options for navigation. For example, if the phone senses someone is looking at the screen, the user can tilt it forward or backwards to scroll up and down a Web page.

That feature falls slightly short of what some consumers may have expected after the New York Times reported that the phone would be able to scroll automatically by tracking readers' eyes.

Video playing sensitive to eye movements

The S4 can stop and start videos depending on whether someone is looking at the screen. When a video is playing, for instance, the stream will automatically pause if the person glances away and it will restart when the eyes refocus on the screen.

This is an update on an existing Galaxy feature, which powers down the display if it senses no one's looking at it, conserving battery power.

Divide your personal & professional life

The Galaxy S4 also has a tool that enables users to create a dividing line so part of the phone is devoted exclusively to work while the other part is filled with personal information and photos.

The feature is similar to a function on the latest BlackBerry - an indication that Samsung is going after other smartphone makers besides Apple with its latest model.

Screen senses fingers hovering

The S 4 comes with several new technologies intended to help users interact with the phone. For instance, the screen now senses fingers hovering just above the screen, and some applications react.

The Mail application shows the first few lines of an email when a finger hovers above it in the list, and the Gallery application shows an expanded thumbnail.

Eight-core processor

Galaxy S IV is powered by Exynos 5410 processor. It has eight cores with four of them being the high-performance cores based on A15 architecture from ARM, a British company. These cores run at 1.8GHz.

The other four cores, which are slower - 1.2GHz - but more power efficient, are based on A7 architecture.

Bigger screen

The Galaxy S 4, crams a 5-inch (127-millimeter) 1080 pixel screen into a body slightly smaller than the S III's. But because the new display will cover more of the phone's surface area, the device itself will be the same length and slightly narrower.

Larger battery

Samsung believes the S 4 will set the new standard. Apart from the larger screen and upgraded processor, the S 4 has a battery that's 20 percent larger than that of the S III.

Samsung didn't say if that translates into a longer battery life - the added capacity might be gobbled up by the bigger screen or other internal changes.

Thinner

The phone is thinner and lighter than the previous generation. The S4 weighs just 130 grams despite having a bigger screen and battery.