8:37 PM EDT #
“It’s the Star Wars Christmas Special of events,” — Roberto Baldwin, Wired Staff Writer on the Samsung Galaxy S IV product unveiling play monstrosity.
8:08 PM EDT #
And that’s all folks. The feature set is mixed with some potentially useful tools and some additions that look like they’ll be a pain to use. S Translator looks cool, as does ChatOn’s improvements, Samsung Knox, Drama Shot, S Health and Group Play.
If S Voice Drive works as poorly as S Voice on the S III, then it will be a major let down. Adapt Display looks like it could be a mess with an ever evolving display image. Dual Shot doesn’t look terribly useful to me. Story Album is a bit boring, but it could be cool in use — we’ll see. Hardware wise, the S 4 is simple evolution — pretty much the same looks as the S III. That’s a bit boring to me, but a lot of folks loved the looks of the S III, which sold more than 30 million units worldwide. So, it makes a lot of sense that Samsung isn’t changing much up here.
This might go down as one of the worst product presentations in history. Please, every tech company on earth, do not turn your product launch into a play. That was painful to watch. But this atrocious play likely won’t keep Samsung from selling millions of phones. The fact is that most consumers don’t watch these events. And Samsung has turned into a marketing powerhouse — so expect seeing the S4 on TV, in magazines, bus stops, billboards and online banner ads all over the place. This is one of the most anticipated phones of the year, and it’s an evolutionary step forward from the S III. It should be a fine, if not outstanding piece of hardware. But please, God, no more plays.
This is worse than Qualcomm’s CES debacle.
7:59 PM EDT #
7:58 PM EDT #
Well, the show is ending. Chase brought the actors out on stage and they’re taking a bow. The Broadway Orchestra performed all the music tonight.
7:57 PM EDT #
S Health gathers info on sleep patterns, heart rate, your exercise patterns, blood sugar and blood pressure levels, which are all complied in the phone using a new line of accessories, such as an S Band that you can wear on your body in some fashion. Samsung didn’t go into much detail on the accessories, but it looks like Samsung is getting into wearables such as the Nike+ FuelBand and FitBit products.
7:55 PM EDT #
Now we’re getting into Smart School and Smart Pause, which tracks your eyes to control what’s going on with your phone. If you’re watching a video, just look away and the phone pauses what you’re viewing. Take a look back at your phone, and it starts up again. LG is will be introducing similar features in the Optimus G soon.
7:54 PM EDT #
7:53 PM EDT #
7:53 PM EDT #
7:53 PM EDT #
ChatOn, Samsung’s instant messaging app and iMessage rival for iOS and Android, has been updated on the S 4 to included video calling. Samsung is tailoring ChatOn as a rival to both Face Time and iMessage.
7:51 PM EDT #
Now the event’s emcee, Will Chase, is on stage with five women breaking down Group Play — a feature that shares music across as many as eight Galaxy devices with each device working a speaker in a surround sound set up. Chase is now wearing an apron and serving the women drinks as they break into a dance routine. Chase is saying things like “oh work it out” and “dance it out girls.” Wow. The feature enables users to adjust the volume phone by phone and it supports multiplayer games (not sure how that works).
7:51 PM EDT #
7:49 PM EDT #
Samsung Knox — here we go. Samsung showed it off at Mobile World Congress back in Barcelona. It’s a security feature that locks the data on your phone, and separates your data (photos, files, emails, apps, messages) into both a work space and a personal space. This looks and sounds a lot like what we saw on BlackBerry 10. This idea might end up catching on, so don’t be surprised if we see other phone makers introducing similar features later on down the road.
7:47 PM EDT #
Rather than parade executives out to talk about the S IV, Samsung is rolling out cheese ball actor, after cheese ball actor. This is almost painful to watch. Every actor is more annoying than the next. I miss JK Shin.
7:45 PM EDT #
S Voice Drive will place calls, look up the weather, read you a message and then transcribe a response for you, and speak out turn-by-turn directions.
7:45 PM EDT #
7:44 PM EDT #
S Voice Drive allows you to operate your phone, while driving, using your voice — as long as your car has Bluetooth built in. The text displayed on screen shows up larger in S Voice Drive mode, so as to make your phone less distracting to you when you’re driving. S Voice on the S III was one of the worst voice assistant apps I’ve ever used. Lets hope it’s radically improved on the S 4.
7:42 PM EDT #
Sharing. Samsung loves it. HomeSync, a home server that works only with Samsung devices, can automatically send photos taken on the S 4, back home to your friends, families or roommates. Samsung is offering 1TB of storage, and up to 8 users on the device. HomeSync connects to the S 4 using NFC. And the set-top box can display images on your HDTV.
7:42 PM EDT #
7:40 PM EDT #
Now we’re seeing Story Album — a feature where the phone sorts photos into albums baseed on location, with info on the location, people and weather in each photo. You can pick a cover and make it a digital photo album and, in partnership with a company called Blub, you can get your albums printed out on…PAPER! Digital to analog.
7:40 PM EDT #
7:38 PM EDT #
Now Samsung is explaining Adapt Display, which adjusts saturation, contrast and brightness to the environment that you’re in. This sounds terrible. Your display will always be changing its color temperature and brightness. Supposedly, this is a feature to protect your eyes as you look at the 5-inch display all day.
7:38 PM EDT #
7:36 PM EDT #
S Translator looks like it could be very useful if it works, especially if Samsung expands it to more languages.
7:36 PM EDT #
7:36 PM EDT #
S Translator — a built in translator. Actors are using it to translate from Chinese into English and back and forth. In the demo, it worked. The app understands 9 languages, text to speech and speech to text.
7:35 PM EDT #
7:35 PM EDT #
Eraser — a feature that enables users to erase parts of one image, another shot in the same scene shows up.
7:34 PM EDT #
Drama Shot enables users to take more than 100 photos in 4 seconds, then slaps them all together in the same image. Chase just showed off a photo with about five Jeremy’s dancing so you can see his motion one step at a time. Reminds me of photo spreads I used to see in Thrasher magazine of skateboarders doing tricks. That’s pretty cool too.
7:33 PM EDT #
7:32 PM EDT #
Jeremy is now tap dancing. On stage. Amazing. “Wow, that kid can dance,” Chase said. This kid is bustin’ it.
7:31 PM EDT #
The S 4 has a ton of filters and photos effects. A cool one is Sound & Shot, which records audio while taking a photo. When you see the photo, the audio clip plays. Not going to lie, I dig that.
7:31 PM EDT #
Dual Camera — the S 4 will use the front camera to insert the phone’s user into a photo their taking with the rear camera. And this works with video too.
“Now let’s rejoin our fake family for the demonstration,” Chase said.
7:30 PM EDT #
7:29 PM EDT #
Chase is inviting Broadway performers on stage — performers from “Upper West Side” elementary school. A little girl is dancing and now irritated at her Dad because he doesn’t have a Galaxy S 4 and it’s 13-megapixel camera. What a terrible parent. “I’m sorry honey, I’ll get a Galaxy S 4 after the performance,” actor Dad says.
7:28 PM EDT #
The Galaxy S 4 uses a 2,600 mAh battery — removable.
7:27 PM EDT #
IR LED is built into the S 4, which means you can use it as a TV remote. That’s cool — reminds me of the HTC One. The rear camera is 13 megapixels, the front is 2. RAM comes in at 2GB. Storage comes in at 16, 32 and 64 GB. And there’s a microSD card slot. Nice. Nice.
7:27 PM EDT #
7:26 PM EDT #
7:26 PM EDT #
The S 4user interface honestly looks a lot like the old TouchWiz on the S III. Not a lot of changes announced as of yet. A translucent bar up top replaces the black info bart that lists the time and battery life. Yawn.
7:25 PM EDT #
Looks like you can unlock the homescreen on the S 4 without touching the phone — just by hovering.
7:25 PM EDT #
7:24 PM EDT #
The S 4 will come in two colors, black mist and white frost. Both are made with polycarbonate (plastic) bodies.
7:24 PM EDT #
7:24 PM EDT #
The Galaxy S 4 is mind blowingly thin, and has a 5-inch 441-ppi display. Super AMOLED. Looks like a lot of the rumors were on point.
7:24 PM EDT #
7:23 PM EDT #
The tag line for the S 4 — life companion. The S III was dubbed a “phone built for humans.”
7:22 PM EDT #
Global LTE roaming — for all those LTE networks not yet built all over the world. Yes! “Once you spend time with the Galaxy S 4, I am confident you’ll see how the S 4 will make your life simpler and much fuller,” Shin said before saying “thank you, thank you” and walking off stage.
7:21 PM EDT #
Jeremy Maxwell just opened up his secret box and Shin pulled out two S 4 handsets, one white and one in a dark grey color.
Both look like a larger Galaxy S III. Shin says it’s slimmer, yet stronger than the S III. The S 4 will hit 327 mobile operators in 127 countries, on 3G and 4G LTE, starting in April.
7:20 PM EDT #
It’s officially official — Shin just announced that the new phone is called the Samsung Galaxy S 4 (and not S IV).
7:19 PM EDT #
7:19 PM EDT #
Shin asks the audience to imagine a world where all the phones in a room can connect, without Wi-Fi or wireless service, and share music.
7:18 PM EDT #
“Have you annoyed with taking two phones for work and personal use,” Shin asks, as a Samsung Knox logo pops up behind him — hopefully he’ll tell us what that is later. Maybe a work mode and a personal mode a la BlackBerry 10?
7:18 PM EDT #
7:17 PM EDT #
Shin is asking the audience to imagine touch-less interfaces. And a phone that can automatically translate text for you. “We always have the smartphone with us. Could these powerful devices help take care of our health?”
7:16 PM EDT #
“Wouldn’t it be great if the technology in our hands could place the person taking the picture, in the picture as well,” Shin asked.
7:16 PM EDT #
7:15 PM EDT #
“In the past several weeks, we have heard an amazing combination of rumor and speculation about what I’m going to unveil tonight,” Shin said, adding that Samsung is committed to innovation, and listening to users around the world to deliver what they really want.
7:14 PM EDT #
7:14 PM EDT #
Will Chase, of Samsung, and Jeremy Maxwell are now on stage, elevating from the choir pit. Bad jokes are being told. Chase welcomes everyone to the show, and it looks like a couple hundred (maybe thousand) are watching from Times Square.
“With the new Samsung Galaxy, you’re going to experience life without limitations,” Chase said. Samsung executive JK Shin is now on stage.
7:13 PM EDT #
7:12 PM EDT #
7:12 PM EDT #
Countdown — 4, 3, 2, 1…now we’re watching a montage of Jeremy Maxwell videos. According to the videos, Jeremy wears power ties and can tap dance.
7:10 PM EDT #
“T hese floating boxes are mesmerizing.” — Roberto Baldwin, Wired Staff Writer, on the floating Samsung Unpacked logos projected onto the stage at Radio City Music Hall.
7:08 PM EDT #
Tech product launches, like every concert I’ve ever been to (especially rap concerts), never start on time.
7:05 PM EDT #
“Ladies and gentlemen, the show will begin in a few minutes.” — Samsung voice over guy. The suspense!
7:02 PM EDT #
Can’t wait to see Samsung’s kid-spokesman Jeremy Maxwell on stage. #ChildLabor
7:01 PM EDT #
I believe we’ve identified this tune as Mack the Knife. Good stuff Sammy.
7:00 PM EDT #
6:59 PM EDT #
“Ladies and gentlemen, places for the top of show.” — Samsung voice over guy. Can anyone translate? That means this thing is going to start, right?
6:57 PM EDT #
If anyone makes a playlist of Samsung’s pre-show music, and if it’s ever shared on the Internet anywhere ever, please let me know.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The show will begin in five minutes.” — Samsung voice over guy.
6:54 PM EDT #
Now the pre-show music is feeling a bit like something from a Disney cartoon. Or a musical of some sort. Samsung’s keeping it classy.
6:48 PM EDT #
“Ladies and gentlemen, the show will begin in about 15 minutes.” — Samsung voice over guy.
6:39 PM EDT #
So, we’re still about a half hour away from the “Unpacked” event’s start. And, in both New York City’s Radio Music Hall, and on Samsung’s YouTube stream of the event (which is what I’m watching here in San Francisco), Samsung is playing all sorts of hilarious music. Classical style stuff. Now some big band, frantic, ballroom dancing, sometimes swing music. It feels like something that might have been used in the old Jim Carrey movie, the Mask. It’s cool and corny at the same time.
6:04 PM EDT #
While Samsung is hosting it’s actual Galaxy S IV unveiling event in New York City’s Radio Music Hall, it’s also going to live stream everything to Times Square. And, it looks like Samsung is setting up a huge interactive display of some sort in Times Square as well. The Korean electronics manufacturer posted the above photo to its Facebook page a few minutes ago.
The only official image of the S IV that Samsung’s shared so far is a bit…shady. Image: Samsung
Today’s the day. Samsung’s Galaxy S IV is being unveiled tonight in New York City in an event that’s being streamed to Facebook, YouTube and Times Square and, more importantly, live blogged by us right here on Gadget Lab beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The S IV debut couldn’t come at a better time for the Korean company. Leaked photos, videos, specs and rumors of shared iPhone guts have been generating almost iPhone-levels of hype during the past week. Even Apple has helped stir the pot, with Apple’s marketing boss Phil Schiller talking a bit of smack about Samsung to the Wall Street Journal. Samsung released shadowy images of the S IV, and even claimed in a teaser video that it will be as revolutionary as color TV.
That remains to be seen, but the rumors suggest Samsung’s new flagship phone will have sport a 5-inch display, 13-megapixel camera and an eight-core Samsung-built Exynos CPU for international models. (We get a quad-core Qualcomm processor here in the U.S.) That’s a big upgrade from the S III, which used a quad-core Exynos CPU in Asia and Europe and a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in the U.S.
Why the possible bump to eight cores? Does a modern smartphone even need eight processing cores? No, it doesn’t. The S III didn’t need four-cores, but this isn’t about need. This is pure, good ol’ spec race, baby. Samsung is looking to blow past the competition and, rumors suggest that the company is betting that consumer still believe that more is better.
We’re about to finally find out what’s real, what’s rumor and if the S IV lives up to the hype. Stay tuned…
