Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone with 4G LTE-Advanced to launch in June

You know how it goes: the hottest, newest smartphone is released on the market, and talks about an even better model, be it by the same or different manufacturer, begin soon after. Such is the case now with the Samsung Galaxy S4, an upgraded version of which will launch sooner than you might think. 

Samsung's J.K. Shin himself confirmed that a Samsung Galaxy S4 model will be launched before the month of June is out. What makes it better than the current model? Well, the new smartphone will be the first on the market with support for LTE-Advanced connectivity. In other words, this supercharged Galaxy S4 will be capable of reaching about twice the bandwidth allowed by today's best LTE handsets, at least in theory. 

Interestingly, it has been also confirmed that this Samsung Galaxy S4 variant will use chips by Qualcomm. That means this could very well be the Snapdragon 800-powered model, rumors about which have been circulating for a few weeks now. Evidence in support of this theory leaked in the form of alleged Samsung Galaxy S4 benchmarks showing the device packing a Snapdragon 800 chip.

The LTE-Advanced Galaxy S4 model will go on sale in South Korea first where it will be slightly more expensive than the Galaxy S4 that is currently on sale. Samsung is discussing the launch of the new smartphone with overseas carriers as well, although what carriers have expressed interest isn't being mentioned. As a side note, the major carriers in the U.S. have yet to start providing LTE-Advanced services.

source: Reuters