Did Samsung Just Pull An Apple On Us?

By Rob Boggan

The anticipation around the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S4 had reached a fever pitch. Most people were expecting yet another monstrous overhaul of Samsung’s wildly popular flagship device. There were rumors of eyeball scrolling, phantom gestures, and the occasional laser keyboard mock up on YouTube. Above all else, Samsung scheduled the grand revealing of the Galaxy S4 on quite possibly the most recognizable stage in the world, Radio City Music Hall. Once the event began, spectators waited and watched, in anticipation of the newest entry into the Galaxy family. Would the design receive an amazing overhaul like the Galaxy S3? Would it contain enough updates to finally push Samsung to the front of the smartphone crowd? The answer to those questions would be answered with a resounding yes, but not to the volume by which we were expecting. In fact, it felt more like we were watching a grand unveiling of the Galaxy S3 S, instead of a brand new Galaxy S4.

That would be the easy way to look at things, and honestly, watching the Samsung Unpacked event did remind me of an iPhone announcement, but that was more related to the presentation than the device. Everyone who touched the stage, made sure to talk about how amazing this next Samsung device is. I actually sat back and waited for someone to refer to the Galaxy S4 as a “magical device” much like Tim Cook and gang would do.

From start to finish, the official unveiling of the Galaxy S4 went about as smoothly as a launch could, minus the horrible broadway like presentation. Onlookers ate up everything that Samsung threw at them, with each new feature being announced garned a bigger reaction than the last. There lies the huge difference between the Galaxy devices and an iPhone. Most of the features we get from an iPhone are usually something along the line of an incremental update, whereas with the Galaxy S4, not only did we get a redesign on the body of the device, but also a slew of new features that Samsung has promised to bring to the Note II and the Galaxy S III. Now, most of you would say “well isn’t that the same thing Apple does? That would be a resounding no. Apple essentially insures that in the long run you HAVE to move to a newer iOS device, Samsung just made sure that their two most popular devices from last year will have the same features. That’s a pretty ballsy move, but in the same breath it’s ingenious. Now, not only will Samsung have one of the hottest devices this year, they’ll also maintain the momentum set by their previous flagship and it’s phablet counterpart.