Last night saw the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 - according to media sources, it was a lavish affair in New York and this morning's coverage of the launch has been extensive, with some great write ups from TechRadar, PC Pro (check out their 'as it happened' summary), The Telegraph and Sky News.  Reviews seem to be mixed (if mainly around the showbiz nature of it), with some big fans and very vocal critics taking to social media to voice their opinions on this latest entrant to the smartphone battle.

Whether you love it or hate it, the launch is the talk of the tech community…and as a recent convert from BlackBerry, and one of the 40 million Galaxy S3 customers worldwide, I was interested to see what all the hype was about.

What was immediately noticeable was the buzz around the Samsung S4 launch - it felt akin to an Apple launch, with media and social platforms abuzz with rumours and predictions about the technology, the look and feel and the launch event itself.  As the launch went live, Samsung and the S4 were trending worldwide…and social media was alive once more with all the latest views, opinions and photos from those who were lucky enough to be invited to the launch.

Historically, this type of excitement has only really been seen for Apple launches.  Perhaps the recent BlackBerry 10 launch whipped us all into a smartphone frenzy, but Samsung certainly seems to have moved from being perceived as a challenger to Apple, to a major contender, giving Apple a run for its money in terms of its brand, technology and media coverage.

So what's so special about the S4? Well for starters, you can use it without actually having to touch it!  Yes, that's right…it's the ultimate hands-free phone, operated by using 'Smart Pause', the user can pause a video by looking away from the screen.  And it's 'Smart Scroll' software analyses the user's eyes and wrist to scroll through emails and other content.  Pretty cool eh?!

According to a BBC interview with Ernest Doku from uSwitch.com, "The debut of nifty eye motion-sensitive controls to allow users to pause video and scroll through pages using eye movements alone is smart…For commuters crammed in trains - or just those who love a bit of futuristic tech that makes their lives easier - this novel feature will really help the Galaxy S4 to stand out."

It also seems to have some very cool functionality, including: an in-built translator, which can translate text or voice into any language; sensors that monitor your health throughout the day, adjusting the display and volume to ensure the optimal experience; and a dual camera function that can take two pictures at once - in fact, you can take photos or videos using the front and rear cameras, and merge them into one picture, meaning the photographer never misses out from being in the shot!  It's also stronger, lighter and thinner than the last version (how thin can these things get?!).

The S4 goes on sale in the UK on 26 April, with Samsung expecting to sell 10 million of the new handsets each month…whether it will hit this aggressive target remains to be seen, and as for who will be crowned victor of the smartphone war, it's all to play for, but Samsung certainly seems to have become a credible alternative for the iPhone brigade.  What do you think?  Would you switch to the S4?  Let us know your thoughts…

@LauraSlade