(The following is a guest post from our friends over at International Business Times.)
A slew of interesting Galaxy S4 rumors hit the Web on Tuesday , and now what's believed to be a photo of the fourth-generation Galaxy S smartphone has been found online. What’s more, the so-called leaked press image is stamped with an April 22 date of release.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a reportedly leaked rendering of Samsung’s next Galaxy S handset, but the recently discovered image does bear similarity to the previously discovered photo. The image comes courtesy of Italian Android news source Tutto Android , who also views the picture with a hint of skepticism . Just like the image that surfaced earlier in January, this purported image features a more squared-off design than the Galaxy S3. In fact, it looks more like Samsung’s Galaxy Note line than any previous Galaxy S smartphone.
There’s no guarantee that the photo is actually the Galaxy S4, but it does seem to align with some rumors that have been circulating in recent weeks. When looking at the image it’s evident that the alleged Galaxy S4 has a screen that’s just a tad bit larger than the Galaxy S3’s display. Some reports have indicated that the forthcoming Galaxy S smartphone will have a 4.99-inch screen, which seems to match up to the photo. Of course, it’s important to remember that this image has no affiliation with Samsung and could come from any clever graphic designer that has Google searched the term “Galaxy S4 rumors” over the past month.
Whether the image turns out to be legitimate or fake, it does serve as a visual manifestation of the constantly churning Galaxy S4 rumor mill. It could be a leaked photo or just a piece of concept art, but we’re seeing some iteration of how the Galaxy S4 could differ from the current generation Galaxy S3 . In addition to the larger screen and slightly altered body, viewers get a glimpse of where widgets would be placed on the home screen.
Icons for the camera app, stored files, Facebook, Google Chrome and others are situated just below the clock. There’s also a gray transparent bar with a Google label and a microphone icon for performing voice searches. From the looks of it, the same S-Pen paint app that comes with the Galaxy Note is also visible at the home screen, catering to rumors that have suggested the S4 would come with a stylus.
The buttons at the bottom of the Galaxy S4 have been slightly altered to accommodate the larger home button, but in a previously leaked rendering from a few weeks ago, the device had no visible physical buttons on its body.
There’s clearly a discrepancy in the Galaxy S4 reports heard around the Internet, but we’ll be interested to see which of these rumors turn out to be true. Rumors indicate that the phone could launch in April, with the two most cited dates being the April 15 or 22. However, it’s hard to argue that there’s any truth behind these estimates since Samsung Lebanon’s Facebook page posted last month that the Galaxy S4 won’t be released before May 2013 .
The Korea-based manufacturer is reportedly holding one of its Mobile Unpacked events on March 22, but we’ll have to wait a few more months to learn more about the next Galaxy S smartphone.
Lisa Eadicicco is a reporter for International Business Times, where this piece original appeared.