AT&T has begun shipping the Samsung Galaxy S4 pre-orders. Most customers should receive their phone by Apr. 25, but some lucky owners already have them in hand, thanks to speedy delivery.
The Galaxy S4 will be available in AT&T retail stores Apr. 27.
The Galaxy S4 release schedule clouds the issue of which carrier has it first. Last year's Galaxy S3 release was much more straightforward: Sprint and T-Mobile offered it on the same day, AT&T followed a week after, and Verizon a week after that.
There seems to be little use in bragging rights, for as soon as competitors carry the phone as well, there's no point in claiming to have had it earlier. So the struggle to be first is a struggle for those initial sales, the dollars of the excited public hoping to be the first among their peers to own something new. That's where bragging rights really matter.
And customers seem willing to sign on with whatever carrier can offer them the earliest release date, hence the convoluted calendar. AT&T says Apr. 23, but the fine print says Apr. 25, or even Apr. 27. That puts it behind T-Mobile's Apr. 24, and perhaps on par with Sprint's Apr. 27. So who is first, and who is worst? In this contest, sales tell the tale, and we'll need to wait until second quarter figures before we find out. By then, everyone who wants a Galaxy S4 can have one, so will it matter?
The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 1.6GHz eight-core Exynos 5 Octa processor or a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor (depending on country), 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1920x1080 Full HD AMOLED display at 441 ppi, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, internal storage between 16 and 64GB, an SD card slot that can accommodate an additional 64GB, a polycarbonate body, Smart Pause and floating touch tech and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Check back for the latest info on the Galaxy S4 as it becomes available.