(gigaom.com) -- Not waiting for its big launch event in June, Samsung has revealed the details of its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S 4 mini. As my colleague Kevin Tofel suggested on Wednesday, the name is a bit deceiving. The mini isn’t a tiny powerhouse – rather it’s a mid-tier phone designed to attract customers unwilling to pay for Samsung’s full-featured flagship device.
The mini is smaller than the standard S 4 — the display of which measured a full 5 inches – but at 4.3 inches the device is by no means miniscule. The specs, however, are much more representative of a current-generation mid-range device. It sports a 1.7 GHz dual-core processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal memory, an 8 megapixel main camera and a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera.
The mini lacks some of the full-fledged S 4’s fancier environmental sensors and pedometer, though it contains the usual complement of motion, bearing and light sensors. The 16:9 display uses Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology, but it uses a lower quarter-HD resolution. The smartphone will ship with Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) installed. The gadget will also contain many of the new software features released with the original S 4.
The market variations of the mini are all based on connectivity. In its blog, Samsung said it would make LTE, HSPA+ and 3G dual-SIM versions of the device. It mentioned nothing of CDMA, though it would have to create an LTE-CDMA variant if it hopes to sell the device on Verizon Wireless and Sprint’s networks.
The mini lacks the high-powered 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity of the full-fledged S4, but it will include Bluetooth Low Energy, infrared and, in the case of the LTE models, near field communications (NFC) connectivity.
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