The alleged Samsung Galaxy S4, the successor to the best-selling Galaxy S3, has been keeping the rumor mill busy with speculations trickling in frequently. Now, per reports, a Samsung executive, Kit Lam, has spilled the beans on the next-gen device's name.

According to the ITProPortal report, Samsung's Chief Innovation Officer Kit Lam let slip the Galaxy S4 name at an event 'Invest in Photonics' in Bordeaux, France.

"So when Kit Lam, who is the Chief Innovation Officer at SERI [Samsung Electronics Research Institute], comes on stage to run through his presentation and lets slip the words "Galaxy S4" during the speech, it's certainly worth taking note of; given that hitherto no one from Samsung had uttered anything about the follow-up to the S3. This is the first semi-official confirmation of the existence of the Samsung Galaxy S4 that has reached us. The name could well be a guess from Lam but given his position within SERI, it's debatable," reported ITProPortal.

Lam, however, did not disclose or let slip any other details for the Galaxy S4. However, not too much should be read into Lam's proverbial Freudian slip as it's no rocket science that the next-gen Galaxy S3 will be called the Galaxy S4 given the naming trend for successors. Moreover, it is unlikely Samsung would want to compromise on the strong brand recall value.

Prior to the Galaxy S3's release in 2012, speculation was rife that the device would be rebranded and given a different moniker despite the earlier iteration being called Galaxy S2. It was only post the Galaxy S3's launch that rumors were laid to rest.

Rumors indicate that the Galaxy S4 will feature a flexible 5-inch Full HD 1080p Super AMOLED display, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a quad-core Cortex-A15 processor.

The next-gen iteration of Samsung's best-selling Galaxy S3 smartphone is expected to make an appearance at either CES 2013 in Las Vegas (early January) or MWC 2013 in Barcelona (February end).