It"s been almost two months since Samsung outed its Galaxy S4, but its been only a couple of weeks since the device finally began its international rollout. While there"s little doubt that the new handset is selling in vast numbers, its launch hasn"t been without its disappointments.
In late March, it emerged that Samsung"s much-touted octa-core Exynos 5 processor would not be offered in key markets, such as the US and UK, where the S4 is sold instead with Qualcomm"s quad-core Snapdragon 600. There was also some disdain at the end of April, when it was revealed that the entry-level 16GB model has just 8.82GB of free space out of the box, with 45% of its total storage consumed by the Android OS and pre-installed software.
Despite these frustrations, the Galaxy S4 will surely be a huge sales success, just as its predecessors were, and Samsung is understandably keen to exploit that phenomenal popularity. SamMobile reports that the company is preparing a series of spin-off devices to grow the S4 family into a broader range, with the first such handset due to launch next month.
The Galaxy S4 Zoom is said to be launching in Europe in the first week of June, featuring a 16MP rear camera. While the camera resolution is getting a bump over the 13MP of the S4, both the screen resolution and size will reportedly be reduced, with the Zoom instead featuring a 4.3" qHD (960x540px) display, instead of the 5" Full HD (1920x1080px) display of the S4. Just 8GB of onboard storage will be offered, although microSD cards of up to 64GB will be supported.
Two further variants are expected in mid-July: the rugged Galaxy S4 Activ (in a rather spicy "metallic orange") and the petite Galaxy S4 Mini. As you might expect, the Activ will offer water-resistance and resilient bodywork. According to BGR, the Mini is believed to feature the same 4.3" qHD Super AMOLED screen as the Zoom, but will offer an 8MP camera rather than the Zoom"s 16MP shooter.
The three new S4 variants are reportedly due to be announced by the end of this month.
Source: SamMobile | Image via Samsung