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After hearing about the Galaxy Xcover 2 for quite sometime now, the smartphone has finally been announced by Samsung. The pricing and availability details are yet to be made official by the company. But a previous roadmap leak suggested that the XCover 2 will be available in February 2013.

Lets run you by the specs once again. Measuring 130.5x67.7x12 mm and weighing 148.5 grams, the Xcover 2 runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean sporting a 4-inch WVGA TFT LCD display with the companys TouchWiz UI atop. The device comes with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera as well.

The rugged smartphone is dust and sand proof and even water resistant to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes (IP67 Certified). Users can take under water pictures with the help of a dedicated camera button. Theres a strap holder as well that helps you avoid dropping the phone along with a battery cover lock as well.

Underneath its shell, the smartphone packs in a 1GHz dual-core processor with 1GB RAM and comes with 4GB of on-board storage with external expansion support up to 32GB. The smartphone has a standard Li-ion 1,700mAh battery.

Connectivity wise, the Xcover 2 boasts WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, A-GPS and Glonass. The device also features the intuitive Motion UI that enables users to shake and update or turn over the device to mute.

The Korean manufacturer claims that the Galaxy Xcover 2 is "the ideal smartphone for active explorers who are enjoying outdoor lifestyles and seeking a durable mobile device with essential smartphone capabilities."

The smartphone also comes pre-installed with various proprietary apps like ChatON messenger, S-Cloud, S Voice, Best Shot, Smart Stay and apps from the Samsung Hub like Readers Hub, Video Hub, Game Hub and Music Hub.

The company has also added the Cardio Trainer Pro workout app to help users achieve their fitness goals by creating a personalised training program, checking their progress and recording their track and speed.

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 key specifications

• 4-inch WVGA TFT LCD display
• 1GHz dual-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB of on-board storage expandable upto 32GB
• 5-megapixel rear camera
• VGA front camera
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, A-GPS, Glonass
• Li-ion 1,700mAh battery
• Android 4.1
• 130.5x67.7x12 mm
• Weighs 148.5 grams

So after literally months on months of leaked pictures, alleged specs and video the Samsung Galaxy S4 has officially been unveiled at an extravagant New York -based event this evening, and we have some information about the official S4 specs.
Set to take on the iPhone 5, and the impressive list of top notch Android smartphones, we reveal the features that are likely to persuade you to make the upgrade from the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Want to know what we made of the new Galaxy? Read T3s Samsung Galaxy S4 hands-on review

Build and design

Bigger screen aside, the Galaxy S4 which will be available in white and black, at 130g is slightly lighter than the S3 (133g) and has the same height and width dimensions. At 7.9mm thick it’s significantly slimmer than the Galaxy S3 but not quite as thin as the iPhone 5.

Screen

Jumping from a 4.8-inch display to an almost Note-like 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, the S4 promises 441 ppi which should mean a massive jump in terms of clarity for what is already one of the brightest and most vibrant smartphone displays on the market. The new Adapt sound and Adapt display tech will also change the screen and sound settings to suit whether you are watching a video or reading an article on the web.

Camera

Sporting a new 13-Megapixel rear-facing camera with full HD 1080p video recording capabilities, there’s also a jump back up to 2-megapixel front-facing camera to take care of all your video chatting.
Adopting some of the features introduced with the Samsung Galaxy camera including the interface, there is now a dual shot mode which essentially takes two separate photos which can then be merged.
Other notable new camera features include Eraser Shot which can delete those people who try to ruin pictures by moving in the background, Drama Shot that lets you turn Burst photos into one picture and Sound Shot to record nine seconds of audio and combine with a photo.
On the filming front there’s dual recording to shoot two video simultaneously a new Cinema Photo mode which lets you select which video shots to stay dynamic and still which you can then turn into your very own ready-made GIF.

Operating System

Out of the box the S4 will be running on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean which is the latest version of the mobile OS which arrived on some handsets last month and brings some minor updates but users will be most interested in the key features announced in Android 4.2 which include Photo Sphere and Daydream.

Processor

With speculation last month that the S4 could run on a 1.9 quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor the architecture aimed at mid to high end smartphones will feature in the handset but for UK owners a 1.6GHz EXYNOS 5 Octo-Core processor officially announced by Samsung last month will be powering the performance with 2GB of RAM to help take care of multitasking.

Battery and storage

The good news for is that the capacity has jumped from 2,100 to 2,600mAh) but is some way behind the Galaxy Note 2 (3,1000mAh). On the storage front, like the S3 there will be 16, 32 and 64GB versions available with microSD support for up to 64GB.

 

New Smart features

Samsung has revealed a trio of intriguing new features that we are sure are going to get a mixed response as to how useful they will actually be. First up is SmartPause which essentially halts any video you are watching when you look away from the screen and Smart Scroll which lets you browse through content by tilting the device.

Share 

Sharing is big theme for the S4 integrating S Translator to email Chat-On and messaging making it easier to communicate with your international buddies by converting speech to text. On top of that you can now do dual and 3-way video calls, share content on your screen Note-style and annotation that you’ve made to documents.
In the multimedia realms you can pair up to eight Samsung Galaxy S4 devices via NFC to play the same song and for gamers you can also indulge in some multiplayer action with games like Asphalt 7 and Gun Bros 2 over Samsung’s own Wi-Fi technology.

Enhanced Air features

Building on some of the Air features introduced on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 you can now access Air View using your finger by hovering it roughly 2cm off the screen to preview videos or details inside applications like email and calendars without launching them. There is also Air Gesture to scroll up and down while browsing  or wave your hand to navigate through your phone or accept a call.

S Health

Having announced its S Health application for the S3 which aims to help you maintain a healthier lifestyle this will also be part of S4 proceedings with a built in pedometer to track your steps and a food tracker to keep an eye on how much calories you are consuming. Additional accessories including an S Band bracelet, body scale and heart rate monitor will be compatible with the S4 and will can then be synced by Bluetooth to give you a much greater overview of your progress.

Samsung Optical Reader 

One for serious networking folk and travellers, this new feature uses the camera tech to translate text on menus and books or read QR codes and can actually view a business card and know exactly what information it needs to pick out and keep.

Samsung Galaxy S4 UK release date

So, when can you get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy S4? Well, the next Galaxy smartphone will be available from April  24th and while EE has already confirmed that the S4 will be getting the LTE 4G treatment we are still waiting to hear which network operators will be offering the handset.