Phone shoppers in the States will be jilted out of an eight-core-powered Samsung Galaxy S4, if fresh rumours concerning the new mobile are to be believed.
The version of the phone headed to the US will rely on a quad-core Qualcomm processor, while other markets will receive a smart phone powered by Samsung's "octacore" chip, Bloomberg reports, citing "two people familiar with the product".
It's not unusual for smart phones to feature slightly different hardware in various parts of the world, but a different processor entirely would be quite a significant variation -- especially if one chip proved to be much more powerful than the other.
Readers in the US needn't panic necessarily, as current quad-core phones are still more than capable of handling new versions of Android, and demanding apps. The US version of the Galaxy S3 also had a dual-core chip, rather than the quad-core processor seen elsewhere. If there really is a chip difference, we'll likely find out about it tomorrow night, when Samsung takes the wrappers off its newest mobile.
Update: Samsung has confirmed the UK will not receive the eight-core S4. "In the UK," Samsung says, "the Galaxy S4 will be available as a 4G device with a 1.9GHz Quad Core Processor." Read the full story here.
Purported cases?
Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S4 could have a curved back like the Galaxy S3, if images claiming to show cases for Samsung's new smart phone are to be believed.
The pictures, shown below, were sent to CNET UK by online retailer Mobile Fun, which claims the pictures came from one of its suppliers, although it's "not allowed to say which".
We have absolutely no way of knowing whether these cases are real, or give any indication as to the true design of the Galaxy S4, so take them with a pinch of salt.
What Samsung's teaser image (at the top of this story) has revealed is a mobile that's shaped much like the Galaxy S3, so a similarly curved back plate is certainly not out of the question.
What do you want to see from the Galaxy S4? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 18
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anonymous 13 March, 2013 13:55
If it's £500 not worth it. If it's around £200 I might consider it.
anonymous 13 March, 2013 13:58
anonymous 13 March, 2013 13:55:
So true. That thing looks vile. Why did Samsung even bother keeping it a secret when they have not come out with a truly new design. HTC One is the ONE to go for. You don't need eight cores to make phone calls.
anonymous 13 March, 2013 14:42
My balls are sweating at the mere prospect of not one, not two, not ten and not nine, but eight cores. What an incredible time to be living
anonymous 13 March, 2013 15:19
@anonymous 13 March, 2013 13:58 Lol - you don't even need two cores to make phone calls. Why are you considering an HTC One? If all you care about is phone calls you are an idiot for spending more than £20.
leoevs44 13 March, 2013 16:08
You're an idot if you think these devices are just phones, these days their basically mobile pc's for the pocket with the addition of a phone built in, i use my S2 more for media and work, there are some amazing apps just to help and make my day just that bit easier in work, i stream the internet, movies and music to the tv or sound system in the house, dont know how i used to manage before, like the above comment says if you just want to make phone calls then a smartphone is not for you....
anonymous 13 March, 2013 16:11
@anonymous 13:55 lmfao! Are you mental?
amit005 13 March, 2013 17:59
That means those chinese media showing odd looking mobile is samsung s4 what a joke . Not like a flagship this time, HTC one and XPERIA Z are the 2 contenders for the phone of the year .
amit005 13 March, 2013 18:09
MAY BE IPHONE 5S , XPERIA Z AND HTC ONE ARE GOING TO HALL OF FAME THIS YEAR.....
anonymous 13 March, 2013 18:15
anonymous 13 March, 2013 16:11
No... Although I would definitely consider getting myself sectioned if I paid £500 for this phone.
anonymous 13 March, 2013 18:17
I know I'm just gonna come on here just to slate a phone that is not even out yet and claim two early released phones are going to be the best.........
anonymous 13 March, 2013 18:19
Why would the iPhone 5s go to hall of fame when it will look identical to the iPhone 5? Apparently samsung have copied a previous design and you have a problem? What's the difference?
anonymous 13 March, 2013 18:37
@anonymous 18:19 thank you for a decent comment, it's getting boring having goons coming s4 threads just to bang on about crap....
anonymous 13 March, 2013 19:00
why on earth is everyone having a go at this phone in the comments.
This will be the most powerful phone to have been developed. I want to see this thing playing ps2 games. I'm gonna install motherf**king ansys and run engineering simulations on it.
"you don't need eight cores to make phone calls" f**k off and buy a £10 phone then and stop commenting on products you clearly don't know how to use.
I salute you samsung. Truly you are the only company out there right now that doesn't make me fume. Because you innovate. Because you seem to make a genuine effort to advance the technological standards of the world. I would never have dreamed of an 8 core behemoth like this to come out this year, and I cannot wait.
anonymous 13 March, 2013 20:00
500 pounds is a steal, go look up how much an s3 is on payg from carphone warehouse. I do think 8 cores is unnecessary, I'm still considering an s2 for my next phone, probably go s3 though. It's going to devour batteries and get hot.
wayee1 13 March, 2013 20:20
thanks God i life in panamá jejeje! suckit USA :D
anonymous 13 March, 2013 20:46
@anonymous 16:11 why on earth would this phone be priced at £200? It looks like you're either getting sectioned or not having an s4.
anonymous 13 March, 2013 20:50
remember last year? dual-core snapdragon was srtonger than quad core tegra 3 and exynos. and the same thing this year.
god bless america
anonymous 13 March, 2013 22:43
Can't believe that someone is making a comment about phones being for phone calls on an article about a smart phone, MORON!!
And how can you complain about the design on the S4 not being different from the S3 and then say that the iphone 5s will be phone of the year, when we all know the 5s will look the same as the iphone 5. Bloody iSheep. At least Samsung will be moving mobile technology forward this year.