14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has been long rumored to plan the launch of a successor for its Galaxy S III flagship handset this year, yet no hard evidence of the phone’s existence has emerged so far.
However, a photo that made it online over at SamMobile supposedly shows what the upcoming device might look like, though we’ll take it with a big grain of salt for the moment.
Although the phone in the photo has a slim bezel, just as what Galaxy S IV was said to sport, it does not have a home button (which might actually point at the use of on-screen buttons), although this has been iconic for the company’s Galaxy phones.
The notification led at the top is not visible in the photo (it is present on other devices in the Galaxy series), which would further suggest that it is only a fake.
The phone has the same design as the Galaxy S III, except for a few modifications, which could suggest that it is authentic, yet it would not make sense for Samsung to use the same speaker grill and sensor layout for two flagship handsets in a row.
The photo is said to have been taken from a computer screen, which would explain the reflection of the flash. Even so, we’ll still put this in the rumor side for now.
The source of the photo says that it is real, yet nothing can be confirmed on the matter for the time being, and we’ll have to wait for an official announcement on the matter to see whether it does show the real device or not.
Galaxy S IV is expected to hit shelves with a 2.0GHz Exynos 5450 quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch Super AMOLED FULL HD touchscreen display, and with Google’s Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean loaded on it from the start.
Furthermore, it might sport a 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with support for full HD video recording, as well as a 2MP front camera for making video calls.
Samsung is expected to make the new device official before the end of the first quarter of 2013, though it won’t bring it to CES 2013 in Las Vegas next week. Stay tuned for more on this.