Galaxy S4 preorders to start Friday

Prospective buyers of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S4 smartphone can preorder starting Friday, a week before its official debut in Korea, according to three mobile carriers yesterday.

Samsung is scheduled to hold a Media Unpacked event for the Android phone for reporters on April 25 at its Seocho headquarters in southern Seoul.

The one-week gap between the preorder date and unveiling is unprecedented for hugely popular flagship smartphone series.

When it comes to the S4’s predecessor Galaxy S3 - which had models for 3G and much faster long-term evolution (LTE) connectivity - the period was almost a month.

The 5-inch S4, with the smarter and more energy effecient octa-core processor that is nearly double the capacity of its quad-core predecessor, comes only in an LTE version through all of the three local carriers - SK Telecom, KT and LG U+.

The retail price of the S4, according to Samsung, will be in the 900,000 won ($803) range, although the company has not specified a number.

Overseas, the S4 will hit the United Kingdom and some European countries tomorrow, where preorders began late last month.

On Friday, the Galaxy Note 8.0, an 8-inch tablet PC that is expected to challenge Apple’s 7.9-inch iPad mini, will also be unleashed in Korea, following its release in the U.K. and United States.

Samsung initially unveiled the mini tablet PC at the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona in February.

The 16-gigabyte model is expected to go for about 500,000 won here, whereas it carries a price tag of $399.99 in the United States.

By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr]