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Samsung Galaxy S4: case leaks give rough idea of phone’s shape, TouchWiz camera getting Photo Sphere-esque feature

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It’s been tough to get an early look at Samsung’s Galaxy S4 ahead of its official unveiling, but we might have some new information courtesy of accessory retailer MobileFun. According to a “trusted” Chinese accessory maker, the images you see below are cut-out to fit Samsung’s as-yet announced flagship device. There aren’t a whole lot of surprises here — it’s rectangular and has cut-outs for speakers, cameras, ports, and other odds and ends.

It’s hard to judge the shape of the nonexistent phone without actually seeing it, but these cases tell us to expect a device that’s a bit bigger than the Galaxy S3, with edges that are just a bit more sharp and pointed. Of course, the bigger size would come from the 5-inch 1080p display that is rumored to be going inside the thing. These cases would also seem to confirm recent rumors that the Galaxy S4 won’t be getting an S Pen, though that isn’t too surprising.

Going a bit further than that,  the cutouts for the rear camera seem a tad bit larger than we’re normally used to. We’re not sure if this means we can expect a bigger camera sensor or just a bigger area surrounding it, but the cutout is rather consistent across the two different designs seen above and below. The cutout to the left of that is likely the flash as the cutout on the right of one of the cases is separated by a plastic bar, a design which indicates the presence of a speaker grill there.

There’s not much else to take from these photos so enjoy them however you can. In related news, Samsung is rumored to be bringing a feature to its TouchWiz camera called Orb. This feature can be likened to the Photo Sphere feature that was introduced with Android 4.2, which gives you the ability to take 360-degree photos of your surroundings using a quick, easy and intuitive process.

Even more frustrating than not having an early look at the device is that we don’t even have a clear idea of when Samsung is looking to unveil this thing. The latest rumors peg March 14th in New York City, while an earlier, independent rumor said we would see it March 15th in the same city.

Since those two dates are in close proximity to each other we have a pretty light circle surrounding that stretch of time on our calendars. Let’s get through Mobile World Congress first, and then we’ll see if Samsung starts hyping up the next Next Big Thing soon after.

[via MobileFun, AndroidGeeks]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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44 Comments

  1. Looks like the S2…

    1. exactly what I was thinking! not sure if i believe this…I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from all of those leaked “rumors” about the GS3

  2. these pictures are not very encouraging in terms of design, it almost look like the gs2 shape and if Samsung wants to keep up they better do better than this, especially now that HTC one is going to be right in the mix of things.

    1. “if Samsung wants to keep up they better do better than this, especially now that HTC one is going to be right in the mix of things.” LOL! You get all that from a snapshot of a case?

      1. Not only that, but… “keep up”? With who?

        1. with their success.

      2. well if you look close enough you will see that this particular case looks like it would fit a gs2, now this picture could very well be wrong, but i used to own a tmobile gs2 and the back looks very similar to this cover case, all though this seem to be a bit more square around the corners than the gs2

        1. … look at the camera cut outs…

    2. Yeah I agree… I guess Samsung wants to keep it safe in terms of their design… Nonetheless, I’m sure it’ll still be a popular device

  3. The rounded corners make the S3 very comfortable in the hand. Hope the S4 doesn’t go backward in that regard.

  4. What? It’s just a case! Wake up!

    1. The case tells you the overall shape and features such as the camera/speakers holes… just like this leak, that is, if this is a leak of a S4 case

      1. You know it’s like a pregnant women. No body wants to hear about the labor pains, they want to see the baby.

  5. It’s a shame it has a rear speaker instead of a front facing speaker like the HTC one.

    1. no one had a problem with the rear speakers before and now since the HTC One has front speakers that no on here even heard, Samsung gets knocked? that absolutely makes no sense.

      1. Samsung supporters or advocates envy that hTC ONE has stereo built-in speakers, that’s all.

        1. For all we know, this could be fake and probably is. Samsung was so secretive with the S3, i cant see this being real. Remember ppl from vietnam that claimed they had the S3 a few weeks before it leaked? Turns out it was fake.

      2. The front-facing stereo speakers of the HTC One is about the ONLY thing I really liked about the design, both because it hides all of the sensors behind the grills ‘cept the camera, and because it means you no longer have to cup your hands around back to reflect the audio back at you (when not using headphones).

        I would LOVE it if the Note3 “copied” this, and got rid of the buttons on the bottom bezel at the same. Fat chance of that happening though.

      3. It’s alway been an issue with me since I owned a vibrant.. It’s just HTC is the first one to realize this is an actually problem and addressed it.

      4. I’ve been saying front speakers should happen since I bought a Galaxy Tab 2 when it came out. I loved the speakers being on the front rather than the bottom like the Tab 1.

        I know I’m talking about tablets, but it would be wonderful to hear what my phone is playing more than the person in front of me. haha

      5. On my E4GT, when holding the phone in landscape my fingers cover the speakers. Sometimes they don’t. Only because I kinda try and shift them. It’s usually dependent on the game I’m playing. As you can see though, rear speakers can be a problem. Though this is the only phone to ever do this to me. So I just prefer my finger to not cover the speakers.

    2. with a front speaker, and ur phone in the poket u cant hear if ur getting a call, and due to the ergonomic shape of the phones its unconfortable to put it with the back loking at your leg

  6. looks like a GS2 XXL to me

  7. k.i.r.f

  8. I highly doubt this is for the S4. I believe these are for a Galaxy phone, just not the S4.

  9. Ugly in my opinion.

    1. Show me a phone case which looks absolutely sleek and awesome without the actual phone being inside

  10. I like this new look. I hope they keep the home button, that is one feature I have come to appreciate allot. I have just about every top of the line phone that Samsung has made, one of the main reasons is dev support and just the ease in rooting the phone and the open bootloaders. Samsung is the only company that has truly listened to it’s customers. They are the only company that gives us plenty of int memory, sd card support, removable battery, open bootloaders which means great dev support. The SGS4 should be one bad ass device, Thank You Samsung. This year please give the US market the 64gb int memory versions. You kept that to the Korean market last year, show the US market some love, we sure have showed Samsung lots of love.

    1. Yes! I agree, 64GB version, I want a smartphone I can keep for a long, long time,and I agree, that is one major difference between Samsung & HTC, Samsung listens to what their customers WANT! REMOVABLE/Expandable battery & memory card.That’s why I prefer Samsung, they listen!

  11. zomg rectangle!

  12. hmm that case looks like it could possibly fit this :

  13. The sharper corners could be an indicator of much smaller bezels (due to the smaller turn radius), though I doubt it.

  14. A retarded squirrel could have made one of these.

  15. Please don’t go back to a square. I was just comparing my girlfriend’s old S2 to my S3 last night and due to the fact that I don’t have large hands, the rounded corners of the S3 help me navigate more than I thought. Even with he bigger screen.

  16. I hate teasing

  17. It’s so fake. Why would Samsung, after justifying the ‘Natural Human Like design’ go back to the square design, they’ll probably get sued again. It sounds like this case website was desperate for attention.

  18. Yes!!!

    1. Love that actually

  19. oh no, it looks like the leaked device :(, i was hoping that this fugly design was a fake but this just proves it :(

  20. looks a little stocky. obviously samsung isnt going to break away from previous designs. i hope they will get rid of the physical home button, and have an edge to edge display, but its samsung, so im bound to be disappointed.

  21. Either way, those are ugly looking cases.

  22. MORE LEAKS
    http://www.galaxys4.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/s4.jpg
    http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-specs-lcd-snapdragon-160088/

    Samsung galaxy s4 leak
    This morning, noted rumor purveyor Sam Mobile dropped a bomb on Samsung Galaxy S fans, with a report that allegedly contains the official specifications of the upcoming Galaxy S4. The shocker is that Samsung will supposedly not be using an Exynos processors nor an AMOLED display on their 2013 flagship.
    Before we go any further, note that Sam Mobile claims that, while the information comes from a “trusted insider”, it’s not official. It wouldn’t be the first time tech sites are served fake info, so don’t take everything in this post at face value.
    The leak
    These are the alleged full specs of the Galaxy S4, that Sam Mobile claims it has received from their insider:

    4.9-inch Full-HD SoLux Display
    Snapdragon 600 1.9 Ghz
    2 GB RAM
    16, 32 or 64 GB
    13MP camera
    140,1 x 71,8 x 7.7mm
    138 gram
    Home button with touch buttons
    Plastic back with aluminum sides
    Removable battery
    Black / White

  23. May be this is just the another samsung device like Galaxy Grand which is mid budget phone.

  24. My god its rectangular! Who’d have guessed it?!

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