By Binu Paul email: b.paul@mobilenapps.com | Feb 28, 2013 12:24 PM EST
A lot has been speculated about the processor in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4 but nothing has been officially confirmed so far. However, the latest rumor has it that Galaxy S4 may feature two processor types - possibly Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 in the U.S. and Samsung Exynos 5 Octa in Europe and other regions of the world where LTE is not that widespread. It is slated to be released on March 14.
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This may come as a surprise for Galaxy smartphone fans but the news offers relief to many who were shocked by a previous rumor that the South Korean electronics giant planned to ditch the Exynos processor.
Samsung is likely to strike a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) for the Snapdragon 600, JPMorgan Securities said. According to Taipei Times, the brokerage firm said the semiconductor company is likely to benefit from orders for processors to be used in Samsung's next flagship smartphone. "For the U.S. version of the S4, Samsung will probably use Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, which is manufactured using TSMC's 28-nanometer (nm) process technology," JPMorgan said.
Just as in the case of Galaxy S3, Samsung is likely to explore multiple solutions for application processors and baseband chips on its much-awaited Galaxy S4 and TSMC is expected to benefit from the deal. According to the Taipei-based JPMorgan analyst, Rick Hsu, TSMC's first-quarter revenue is expected to be stronger than seasonally expected.
Earlier the trustworthy Samsung-rumor source, Sam Mobile, had confirmed that the company will use the Snapdragon 600 in its Galaxy S4, clocked at 1.9 Ghz, which is 0.2 Ghz higher than the HTC One. In addition, it was also reported that Samsung will ditch the AMOLED display, but would use a full HD SoLux Display on the smartphone.
Nonetheless, the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event scheduled to take place on March 14 in New York will clear the air surrounding the features and specifications of the smartphone.
Take a look at the rumored specification list of Galaxy S4:
- 4,99-inch Full-HD SoLux Display.
- Snapdragon 600 1.9 Ghz / Exynos 5 Octa
- 2 GB RAM.
- 16, 32 and 64 GB storage variants.
- 13 Megapixel camera.
- 140.1 x 71.8 x 7.7mm dimension.
- 138 gram.
- Home button with touch buttons.
- Plastic back with aluminium sides.
- Removable battery.
- Two colors - Black/White.
Here is a sneak peek into this year's invitation card for Samsung Unpacked event:
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