Samsung Galaxy S4 Rumors: New Device With Model Number GT-i9500X Spotted In Company’s Global Download Center

By Kukil Bora | January 08 2013 6:53 AM

Although the rumors surrounding Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone -- presumably called the Galaxy S4 -- have been around for quite a few months now, there has not been any official word from the company relating to the device. But the silence has apparently been broken as a section of Samsung’s own website has showed a new smartphone with the model number GT-i9500X, with many reports suggesting that it could be the highly anticipated Galaxy S4.

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At a time when rumors are rife that Samsung will release the Galaxy S4 on March 14, a new report hit the Web Thursday suggesting that the highly anticipated device might be delayed due to issues with the eight-core Exynos Octa processor.

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SamMobile reported that the South Korean tech giant has begun to list the next-generation Galaxy S smartphone on its Global Download Center page under the model number GT-i9500X. It also added that although nothing could be downloaded at this point of time, “Samsung [just] gave us all a free hint about a new upcoming high-end device.”

In addition, the report listed out some key features and specifications of the Galaxy S4 smartphone, based on ongoing rumors:

- Exynos 5450 Quad-Core CPU clocked at 2.0GHz

- Mali-T658 GPU

- 2GB of RAM

- 4.99” SuperAMOLED FULL HD resolution (1080×1920) Display

- 13 Megapixel Rear Facing Camera

- 2 Megapixel Front Facing Camera

- Android 4.2.1 (Out-of-the-box)

According to a Christian Post report, the “X” in the device’s code name indicated that there could be more than one version of Galaxy S4. It also suggested that the device could be “a high-end Samsung handset that belongs to the 'Galaxy S' family.”

The leaked model number GT-i9500X also corresponds to last month’s reports claiming that Samsung was busy with efforts to introduce a new high-end smartphone with the model numbers of the device already confirmed. Two model numbers - GT-I9500 and GT-I9505 – were reportedly leaked, with the latter version supposedly pertaining to the 4G LTE-capable model.

Based on the leaked model numbers, Android Authority reported that considering the existing Galaxy S3’s model number is I9300 and number four being considered unlucky in Korea, Samsung could skip I9400 in favor of I9500 and I9505 for its next flagship smartphone.

However, there is some confusion about the operating system of the Galaxy S4. While many reports have said that the handset will run either Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or the rumored Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, some other reports have also suggested that Samsung could also go with TIZEN, an open source, standards-based software platform.

Bloomberg reported last week that Samsung would start selling handsets running TIZEN OS this year, in an effort “to reduce its reliance on Google (GOOG) Inc.’s Android operating system after the Internet search company acquired handset maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12.5 billion in May” last year.

As noted by the Christian Post, TIZEN “will basically allow Samsung to have its own ecosystem. With Tizen, the company will now have full control over updates, features and hardware specifications of all of its products.”

When it comes to the release date of Samsung Galaxy S4, many earlier reports suggested that the device could arrive in April. However, according to a recent leak from Samsung Lebanon’s Facebook page, the device "won't be released before May 2013."

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