paper and online March 14 invitations released, livestream promised

While not actually present in an official capacity at MWC 2013, the next Samsung flagship is casting a long shadow over the mobile event, as it appears in more and more news reports at a time when the world is looking at Samsung competitors.

We’re not surprised to see the March 14 New York City event confirmed today, and we’re not surprised to get the electronic invitation for it via email. But Samsung’s marketing department went one step further and actually handed out printed invites for the show (see image below via Engadget).

The online Galaxy S4 invitation

As you cane see from the official online invitation, the Galaxy S4 event will be the first episode of Samsung Unpacked 2013 – not that we’re surprised, after all we expect similar shows for the Galaxy Note 3 and every other flagship device the company launches.

The Galaxy S4 isn’t exactly mentioned, but just taking a look at the invite makes it abundantly clear that we’re going to see the fourth-generation Galaxy S model in New York City. The tag line reads:

READY 4 THE SHOW
COME AND MEET THE NEXT GALAXY

The printed Galaxy S4 invitation

In addition to the emailed invitation, MWC visitors from the media could also receive printed invites for the same event, right from Samsung’s booth. The package contains much of the same elements present on the online image, but also a Media card that will be used by media representatives to get inside.

Galaxy S4 event livestream

You’d think Samsung would only stop today at confirming the Galaxy S4 launch event that takes place exactly two weeks after MWC 2013 closes its doors, but the company went ahead to also confirm that the New York event will be streamed via its YouTube channel. All you’ll have to do is go to youtube.com/SamsungMobile to access the livestream.

Whether you have time to watch the whole thing live or now, better remember that Android Authority will be present on location to deliver all the Galaxy S4 details you expect, including live updates, hands-on previews and plenty of video.

Galaxy S4 and the U.S.

The Galaxy S4 will be the company’s most important handset this year, a device that’s expected to sell in over 100 million units according to some reports. Interestingly, the Galaxy S4 announcement returns to the USA (the Galaxy S was unveiled at CTIA 2010 in the U.S., the Galaxy S2 was announced at MWC 2011 and the Galaxy S3 was introduced to the world at a special London-based Unpacked event in 2012,) most likely the most important market for the South Korean Android device maker.

Some reports have speculated that Samsung is taking the fight to Apple, by unveiling a device on Apple’s home turf, while Samsung’s JK Shin went or record to say that the company is simply indulging local carriers by announcing the device in the USA. No matter what the reason behind Samsung’s decision to go to New York to announce the Galaxy S4, the device will certainly become one of the most popular handsets of the year and it shouldn’t matter that much where the company unveils it.

But since the handset is going to be announced in the U.S., we definitely expect more details about the U.S. Galaxy S4 launch, and we can’t but wonder whether local carriers will get the handset around the same time European mobile operators will unveil it, or only release it later down the road. On that note, some reports say that the Galaxy S4 will be launched in late March / early April in some markets, with the U.S. scheduled to get it only in May / June.

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