Google Announces GS4 with Stock Android at Google I/O

By Jane McEntegart
published

It's a Nexus in Galaxy S4 clothing!

Google's got a lot going on at I/O today, including a three hour keynote to break down the company's plans for the next year. Among the announcements was the unveiling of a Galaxy S4 running stock Android. That's right -- you'll soon be able to snag a GS4 without Samsung's Touch Wiz user interface sitting on top of the Android installation.

 

Google says the GS4 running stock Android will be sold unlocked via the Google Play Store for $649 come June. It's the GSM LTE model, which means it's only AT&T and T-Mobile friendly so Verizon users will have to consider switching if they want to get their hands on this phone. It'll be running Android 4.2 and, similar to Google's Nexus line, updates will come directly from Google. It will also have a fully unlocked bootloader.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 launched less than a month ago and boasts a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED PenTile display, either an octa-core Exynos 5 or quad-core Snapdragon CPU (depending on the region in which you're buying the device), 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, a 2-megapixel camera up front, 16GB or 32GB of storage, and a 2,600mAh battery.

Check out our other Google I/O coverage:

Live Blog: Tune in for Live Coverage of Google I/O 2013

Google Announces GS4 with Stock Android at Google I/O

Google Launches All Access Music Streaming Service

Google Intros Google Play Game Services at Google I/O

Google Maps Gets a Revamp You'll Actually Notice

Jane McEntegart
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Niva
    Wow! Finally! Still sticking with my galaxy nexus but if my phone dies this will work as a replacement. Never buy anything that's not a Nexus phone!
    Reply
  • olaf
    F ... YES about damn time to get ridd of that crap....
    Reply
  • joebob2000
    Have fun not being able to schedule email sync, or any of the other productivity features that TouchWiz has added on top of Android. TouchWiz is hated by throngs of google acolytes but loved by those that understand the phone is there to serve its master, and not to look pretty or maintain some sort of pure heart.
    Google makes great software, but so do a lot of other multibillion-dollar companies.
    Reply
  • vmem
    10812649 said:
    Have fun not being able to schedule email sync, or any of the other productivity features that TouchWiz has added on top of Android. TouchWiz is hated by throngs of google acolytes but loved by those that understand the phone is there to serve its master, and not to look pretty or maintain some sort of pure heart.
    Google makes great software, but so do a lot of other multibillion-dollar companies.

    true, I like scheduled email sync etc etc, but I'll get MY OWN apps to do that the way I WANT THEM DONE, not have someone dictate those for me on what is otherwise a great device... it should be a choice for EVERY andoid phone whether or not you want all the added software from the OEM, or just get stock google android software.
    Reply
  • unknown9122
    Now I am interesting.
    Reply
  • Avus
    It is like finally a big brand PC maker will sell you a computer just with updated OS and drivers only. Not like Acer or HP stuff that comes with tons of useless pre-loaded and trial apps...
    Reply
  • olaf
    10812649 said:
    Have fun not being able to schedule email sync, or any of the other productivity features that TouchWiz has added on top of Android. TouchWiz is hated by throngs of google acolytes but loved by those that understand the phone is there to serve its master, and not to look pretty or maintain some sort of pure heart.
    Google makes great software, but so do a lot of other multibillion-dollar companies.

    Yes but an AOSP build , one with proper drivers and kernel can serve as the basis for a lot of builds : Pacman , MiUi , Cyanogen and so on ... some of witch are awesome and with a proper springboard u are cutting back on months and months grind to get something working because the damned manufacturer can't be bothered to give a kernel that compiles or complete drivers (looking at you Samsung and HTC ) But i belive the same as the person above who stated that you should be able to opt out of all the crap they saddle you with if you want. Yes i personally detest Touchwizz... i hate the damned notification drawer, hate the damned end of call screen , i hate the bloody dialer, homescreen concept they use, hate the lockscreen and the fact that i can no longer put my music players controls on it , i hate the 90's style camera software that Samsung employs... those being the few of them.


    Ps : i hope the AOSP version will be interflashable with the Original....
    Reply
  • darkchazz
    They read my mind :O
    My Note II is perfectly fine atm though. Guess I'll wait for the next Nexus phone. Hopefully it'll be built by HTC.
    Reply
  • mobrocket
    after using cyanogen for so long, it would be hard to go to anything else including stock
    Reply
  • house70
    10812914 said:
    after using cyanogen for so long, it would be hard to go to anything else including stock
    I sense a system dump coming very soon...

    Trouble with CM is that there are always bugs, coming from not having access to proprietary bits of software (kernels, hardware-specific drivers).
    Reply