Samsung rolls out new Galaxy S 4 to fanfare

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Samsung Electronics is ratcheting up its rivalry with Apple with its new Galaxy S 4 smartphone, which has a larger, sharper screen than its predecessor, the best-selling S III.

Samsung trumpeted the much-anticipated phone’s arrival Thursday at an event accompanied by a live orchestra while an audience of thousands watched the theatrics unfold on a four-level stage. Summoning up a touch of Broadway, Samsung employed 17 actors to demonstrate the new phone’s features in a series of scripted vignettes.

The Galaxy S 4, which crams a 5-inch screen into body slightly smaller than the S III’s, will go sale in the U.S. sometime between the end of April and the end of June.

In the U.S., it will be sold by all four national carriers — Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA — as well as by smaller ones US Cellular and Cricket. All told, Samsung plans to offer the Galaxy 4 S through 327 carriers in 155 countries, giving it a wider reach than Apple’s iPhone 5.

Samsung didn’t say what the phone will cost, but it can be expected to start at $200 with a two-year contract in the U.S. That’s comparable to the iPhone 5.