Samsung New Zealand today announced the highly-anticipated Samsung GALAXY S4- smartphone will be available to New Zealand consumers from 10:00am on April 27, 2013.

Due to its geographical location New Zealand consumers will be the first in the world to purchase the device. Other countries throughout the world will also start selling the device from 10am their local time on April 27.

At launch the smartphone will be sold through selected retailers nationwide including Vodafone, Telecom and 2degrees-- and will come in two colours - Black Mist and White Frost.

Samsung New Zealand has also confirmed that only the 4G-capable 1.9 GHz Quad-Core Processor version of the device will be available locally. The device will also feature Navigon - a premium navigation service from GPS technology company Garmin.

Unveiled on March 15 (NZST) at the Samsung Unpacked event in New York, the Samsung GALAXY S4 is set to redefine the smartphone experience. The device features the world’s first Full HD Super AMOLED display and 5-inch large screen for stunning viewing quality and a host of new applications including S-Translator, Smart Scroll and Smart Pause.

The device is also equipped with a 13 megapixel rear camera and Dual Shot for simultaneous use of both front and rear cameras. It includes 12 different shooting modes for capturing the perfect shot.

Samsung New Zealand Sales Director Jon Barrell says the company is expecting the GALAXY S4 to be as popular, if not more so, than its record-breaking predecessor - the GALAXY SIII.

"The GALAXY S4 takes the smartphone experience to the next level. From the 13 megapixel camera to its unmatched processing power and brilliant screen quality - it’s an impressive device and we’re confident Kiwis are going to love it."

Users can look forward to a number of standout features of the GALAXY S4, including:

Navigon powered by Garmin

Get Navigation you can trust with free premium mapping from Navigon - powered by Garmin. The Navigon application is fully installed on the Galaxy S4 ensuring navigation is a low data experience. Features include 3D mapping, lane change information and multi route planning.

Dual Shot

Two cameras, one extraordinary photo. Capture the ‘I was there’ moments of life by simultaneously shooting with the front and rear cameras. Get the perfect shot with more variety of styles to choose from. With Dual Shot, friends and family can experience it all, no matter how far away they may be.

Samsung ChatON Samsung ChatON for GALAXY S4 provides a holistic communication experience by combining fun and creative text messaging with a high quality mVoIP service. Users can enjoy high quality voice chat with up to two friends on a WiFi and mobile network. In addition, translation in ChatON, called ‘S Translator,’ enables users to enjoy chat with friends using different languages. Received messages from buddies can be translated automatically and manually into the user’s language. Translation is also possible when sending messages to friends. The translation function in ChatON is available only in the GALAXY S4.

Group Play Group Play enables users to experience sharing photos, music, documents and games with their friends wherever they are without the need for a network environment. Compatible games will be available from Samsung Apps. Samsung is also opening it’s SDK to the public, encouraging more partner development companies to develop various types of games in the future, further embracing its philosophy of innovation conceived by people in order to inspire them in return.

S Voice TM Drive

For important tasks that require the user’s hands and attention - making calls, answering calls, organising messages, and asking for directions by voice command. - users can now do it all while keeping both hands safely on the steering wheel thanks to S Voice Drive. They simply tell it what to do.

Smart Pause

There are times when users have to look away from the screen while watching a movie. Samsung Smart Pause stops the video automatically by detecting facial movement and resumes it when the user looks back.

Smart Scroll

With the Samsung Smart Scroll feature, users can scroll through emails or webpages up or down. Users just look at the screen and tilt the device back and forth - the device will do all the work so they can enjoy reading continuously without having to scroll down with fingers.