New photos purporting to be the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini have leaked.
PunkPanda, a user on the Chinese blogging site Weibo with a history of generally accurate leaks, posted the pics.
The photos show what looks like a smaller version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 from multiple angles. The new device is positioned next to its full-size sibling; side-by-side the difference doesn't seem too dramatic, but with a careful viewing the smaller screen size on the Mini is apparent.
The Mini is posed next to a cigarette for size comparison, and a photo of the back cover shows the distinctive speckled pattern also used on the back cover of the Galaxy S4.
With the battery removed, the inside surface of the Mini is a pale blue.
At this point, the latest rumors say the Mini is due out in mid-July, likely the week of Jul. 15-21. Initially, the Mini was due to hit the U.S. market in June, but Samsung pushed back the release date. The company didn't cite any particular reason, but it's likely it had something to do with concerns over component shortages.
The Galaxy S4 debut was delayed for about a week in many markets due to Ram shortages, and the Galaxy S4 Mini uses many of the same parts. Samsung probably also wanted to allocate manufacturing and distribution resources to getting out its flagship phone as close to on-time as possible, so the Mini fell by the wayside in the meantime.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will likely come in several versions featuring either a quad-core or dual-core processor, single or dual SIMs, a 4.3-inch 960x540 qHD display, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's TouchWiz UX interface.
Check back for the latest information on the Galaxy S4 Mini as it becomes available.