Samsung Galaxy S4 India launch on Friday

Samsung has launched its much-anticipated smartphone Galaxy S4 in India priced at Rs. 41,500 for the 16GB variant. Where to buy and other India launch details available here.

Samsung Galaxy S4 India launch and hands on

Samsung had unveiled the Galaxy S4 smartphone on 14 March. The phone sports a 5-inch full-HD screen with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels, and pixel density of 441ppi. It is powered by 1.6GHz Exynos octa-core processor and comes with 2GB of RAM.

Samsung has no plans to launch the 32GB and 64GB variants of the S4 in India as it believe the microSD card slot for expanding the storage will suffice. The Galaxy S4 sports a 13-megapixels rear shooter and a 2-megapixel one on the front. The Galaxy S4 also offers more camera features including dual-shot, employing the use of both front and back camera, an eraser shot mode to remove people from photos, and a Cinemagram like feature called Cinema Photo, among several other tricks.

However, the phone has a noticeable omission in the form of missing FM radio.

Worldwide demand for the phone is strong and the phone is expected to be in short supply initially.

"Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks," the company said in a statement.

"Demand is far stronger than we had expected and as a result we are having difficulties in fully meeting initial supply requests," Lee Don-joo, head of sales and marketing at Samsung's mobile business, told reporters in Seoul.

Samsung on Friday reported its sixth straight quarter of profit growth ahead of Galaxy S4's debut, the South Korean giant's biggest assault on rival Apple yet. Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to be available on 327 mobile carriers across 155 countries.

Samsung Galaxy S4 key specifications

• 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) Super AMOLED display (441 ppi)
• 1.6GHz octa-core processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB Storage (expandable by 64GB via microSD slot)
• 13-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/ GLONASS, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, IR LED, MHL 2.0
• Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• 2,600 mAh battery
• 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm
• 130 grams