For months industry analysts and consumers have salivated over the impending release date of the Samsung Galaxy S4. In South Korea consumers got the first chance to purchase the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone on Friday. Considered to be the new flagship device for the Samsung line, the S4 should bring stiff competition to the longtime industry standard iPhone. Due to a strong amount of pre-order demand, when the device is launched in the United States it will begin with a soft implementation.

The South Korean launch comes 24 hours ahead of schedule, as Samsung wished to reward its home market. Markets in the United States and Australia are expected to begin selling the phone on Saturday. This may be a pipe dream for consumers, as many believe that the inventory demand will not be able to be met on time. Online sales for the Galaxy S4 via Sprint will begin Friday.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung profits rose over 40 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the first quarter in 2012. Samsung is no doubt hoping those numbers will continue to rise, as users choose to embrace what they refer to as a "life companion." The "life companion" tagline reportedly appears on the top of the phone's screen once a user turns the device on. 

Samsung's continued newfound dominance of the smartphone market could put pressure on Apple to unveil its iPhone 5S and/or iPhone 6 sooner rather than later. The longer Apple remains dormant, the greater chance Samsung has at success, regardless of any possible shipping delays that may come about.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 operates on the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean system. The Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean utilizes the TouchWiz nature 2.0 interface.  The smartphone will also come with many pre-loaded Samsung apps such as S Health and Eraser Shot.