Samsung's long-awaited Galaxy S4 went up for UK pre-order last month and is set to launch next week. Now, U.S. wireless carriers are catching up with their counterparts across the pond. Samsung has finally offered release information for major carriers in the United States. The phone, due to be released next week, will be available AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless as well as U.S. Cellular, Cricket and C Spire starting during April. Shoppers will also be able to pick up the phone at Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile, Costco, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Staples, Target and Wal-Mart.
Obviously, pricing and precise release dates will vary by carrier. Boy Genius Report says T-Mobile will be selling it the S4 on April 24 (starting at $149.99 up front plus 24 monthly payments of $20), while Sprint is launching a few days later, on April 27. Sprint's starting price for the phone is $249.99 for current customers and $149.99 for new customers (both prices come with a contract). The dates more or less match the UK release, which is April 26.
The Galaxy S4 is the follow on to Samsung's hugely successful Galaxy S3 and is the next in its Galaxy line of flagship smartphones. The S4 will pack a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED PenTile display, either a 1.9GHz quad-core processor or a 1.6GHz octa-core processor (depending on region), 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera, a 2-megapixel camera up front, 16GB or 32GB of storage, and a 2,600mAh battery.
Though the S4 has yet to be released, there are already reports doing the rounds of a lower-powered, cheaper Galaxy S4 Mini. Rumors point to a 1.6 GHz dual core processor as well as a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED qHD display with a resolution on 960x540 pixels (256 ppi).
