The Samsung Galaxy S4 has dethroned the LG Optimus G to become Consumer Reports’ new top-rated smartphone.
It “delivered top-notch performance in the most critical areas of our tests, including the camera,” the report reads, before praising the handset’s display, and its “gesture- and sensor-based tools.”
Samsung Wallet, the new Passbook-like virtual wallet service that was unveiled at Mobile World Congress back in February, has begun appearing on select Samsung devices in Korea and the United States. It’s currently compatible with the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy S II HD LTE.
On Friday evening, Samsung announced the availability of its second generation TecTiles NFC tags. TecTiles are tiny writable NFC tags, that can be programmed to trigger various actions on a smartphone, and now they’re compatible with the Galaxy S4.
Back in April, we heard Samsung was planning a “ruggedized” version of its new Galaxy S4 that would be both dust and water resistant, and considerably stronger than the original. Now that device, called the Galaxy S4 Active, has been leaked ahead of its official release.
Samsung has a problem. It controled 33.1% of the global smartphone marketshare last quarter — Apple was only 17.9% — yet that’s almost entirely in the low-end of the market.
What’s keeping Samsung from conquering the high-end of the market, where all the profit is and which Apple continues to dominate? Software: there is a wide-spread impression amongst consumers that Samsung’s apps just aren’t as good as Apple’s.
That’s a problem Samsung is eager to solve. That’s why they are ponying up $800,000 to developers willing to make great, Galaxy-specific apps.
