Photos: Samsung launches Galaxy S4 that you can control WITHOUT touching and will translate NINE languages using audio speakers

Samsung last night delivered its most threatening answer to the iPhone yet with its latest smart phone complete with a gallery of never-before-seen technology.

In a much-hyped public event, the technology giant introduced the Galaxy S4 with an array of new features, including a few triggered with simply a wave of the hand.

The event at New York's Radio City Music Hall - which featured a live orchestra, bubbly master of ceremonies and even a tap dance number - was streamed on Samsung's YouTube channel.

Swiping technology: Many of the new phone's features react to your finger, whether it's touching the screen or not

Display: People interact with the Samsung Galaxy S4, during the unveiling event at New York's Radio City Music Hall

Versatility: Samsung prides the Galaxy S4 on being a 'life companion' that will 'improve the way most people live every day'

The Galaxy S4, which crams a 5-inch 1080p screen into body slightly smaller than the S III's, will go sale globally in the April to June period.

Skinny but durable, the S4 is 69mm wide, and 7.9mm thick. It weighs just 130 grams, and is encased in polycarbonate.

THE GUIDE TO THE GALAXY... S4

Slightly thinner than its predecessor, the Galaxy S4 will go on sale next month.

The skinny but durable handset includes such special features as voice-recognition text messaging, translator software that can recognize 9 languages and an incredible touchscreen technology that toggles some features just by waving your finger.

It uses apps like Samsung's WatchOn to bring on-demand video straight to the phone.

The cameras on each side of the S4 can be used in sync with each other, planting the photographer inside the photo he or she is taking. It also has an erase feature.

The phone also utilizes HomeSync, a way to store data on a cloud - and beam a photo across the world to be viewed on the home TV. Speaking of television, the smart phone can double as the remote.

The newest features involve different options for navigation. If the phone senses someone is looking at the screen, the user can tilt it forward or backwards to scroll up and down a Web page.

That feature falls slightly short of what some consumers may have expected after the New York Times reported that the phone would be able to scroll automatically by tracking readers' eyes.

But what it can do is sense when it has someone's attention. When a video is playing the stream will automatically pause if the person looks away from the device and it will restart when the eyes come back to the screen.

Texting while driving will be a thing of the past, as the smart phone's voice recognition feature has the capability to dictate, reply, forward and save messages using only verbal commands.

The same voice recognition can be seen in the translator feature, which can understand nine languages.

Samsung has also made efforts to combat the issue of messy fingerprints, with a screen that now senses fingers hovering just above the screen, and applications that react. 

The Mail application shows the first few lines of an email when a finger hovers above it in the list, and the Gallery application shows an expanded thumbnail.

Users can control some other applications by making gestures in the air above the phone. 

In the browser, you can command the screen to scroll up by swiping from top to bottom a few inches from the phone.

Pride: JK Shin, Samsung's president and head of IT and mobile communications, shows off the Galaxy S4 in each of its two colors

A new way to browse: The Galaxy S4 has different options for navigation. If the phone senses someone is looking at the screen, the user can tilt it forward or backwards to scroll up and down a Web page

Touchless: Samsung has also made efforts to combat the issue of messy fingerprints, with a screen that now senses fingers hovering just above the screen, and applications that react

Giving it a whirl: Guests at Radio City Music hall try out the new Samsung Galaxy S4 after the live unveiling event

Unveiling: Shin presents the new Samsung Galaxy S4

Pricing mystery: Samsung did not say what the phone will cost, but it can be expected to start at $200 with a two-year contract in the U.S.

The Camera application can now use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, and can insert a picture of the photographer even as he or she is capturing the scene in front of them.

It also has an erase feature, which allows the phone to take several pictures of a subject, then create a composite of the images to remove an unwanted photobomber.

In the U.S., the S4 will be sold by all four national carriers - Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA - as well as by smaller ones US Cellular and Cricket.

Samsung did not say what the phone will cost, but it can be expected to start at $200 with a two-year contract in the U.S.

JK Shin, the executive in charge of Samsung's mobile communications division, promised the money would be well spent for a 'life companion' that will 'improve the way most people live every day.'

A tale of two smart phones

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4

Height: 136.6 mm (5.38 inches)

Width: 69 mm (2.72 inches)

Depth: 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)

Weight: 130 grams (4.59 ounces)

Touchscreen: 5in

Pixel density: 441 per inch

Display: 1920-by-1080 pixels

Network speeds: 3G and 4G LTE Lite

Camera: 13 megapixel in back-facing camera, 2 megapixel in front-facing

Voice recognition: Can translate nine languages and utilizes voice-activated tools that can dictate, reply, forward or save text messages 

Built-in apps: Video chat; internet browser; Gmail; Google Talk, Google Play Store; infrared LED; Google Maps; YouTube

Processor: 1.9GHz quad-core processor or 1.6GHz octa-core processor

Internal memory: 16GB; 32GB; or 64GB

Other memory: Data stored in Samsung's HomeSync - a household cloud service

Battery: 2,600 mAh

Operating system: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

APPLE IPHONE 5

Height: 123.8 mm (4.87 inches)

Width: 58.6 mm (2.31 inches)

Depth: 7.6 mm (0.3 inches)

Weight: 112 grams (3.95 ounces)

Touchscreen: 4in

Pixel density: 326 per inch

Display: 1136x640 pixels

Network speeds: 3G and mobile 4G

Camera: 8 megapixel in back-facing camera 1.2 in front-facing

Voice recognition: Siri upgraded to allow spoken recommendations for films or restaurants. Possible to update Facebook status by voice command

Built-in apps: FaceTime; video editing; Safari internet browser; email; Apple maps; no YouTube as standard

Processor: A6 chip said to be twice as quick as A5.

Internal memory: 16GB; 32GB; or 64GB

Other memory: Purchases stored in Apple’s iCloud servers

Battery: 1,400 mAh

Operating system: Apple iOS 6

Smart: The screen reacts to movement, and a video will automatically pause if you're not looking at the phone

Advancement: Presenting the phone on Thursday, Mr Shin said the device will serve as a life companion to help its owner lead 'a richer and simpler life'

That bold promise set the tone for the kind of flashy presentation associated with the showmanship of Apple, the company that Samsung has been trying to upstage. 

Apple contends Samsung has been trying to do it by stealing its ideas - an allegation has triggered bitter courtroom battles around the world.

In the last two years, Samsung has emerged as Apple's main competitor in the high-end smartphone market.

At the same time, it has sold enough inexpensive low-end phones to edge out Nokia Corp. as the world's largest maker of phones.

The Galaxy line has been Samsung's chief weapon in the smartphone fight, and it has succeeded in making it a recognizable brand while competitors like Taiwan's HTC Corp. and Korean rival LG have stumbled.

Samsung has sold 100 million Galaxy S phones since they first came out in 2010.

That's still well below the 268 million iPhones Apple has sold in the same period, but Samsung's sales rate is catching up.

Superiority? The new Galaxy S4 offers a touchless interface and various security and visual upgrades

Research firm Strategy Analytics said the Galaxy SIII overtook Apple's iPhone 4S as the world's best-selling smartphone for the first time in the third quarter of last year, as Apple fans were holding off for the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 took back the crown in the fourth quarter.

One way Samsung and other makers of Android phone have been one-upping Apple is by increasing the screen size. 

Every successive generation of the Galaxy line has been bigger than the one before.

The SIII sported a screen that measures 4.8 inches on the diagonal, already substantially larger than the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen. The S4's screen is 56 per cent larger than the iPhone's.

In a Wednesday interview, Apple Phil Schiller declined to discuss whether Apple is considering enlarging the screen on the next model of the iPhone, which is expected to be released later this year. 

He said Apple remains confident that the iPhone 5 is the most useful and elegant smartphone available, hailing it as 'the most beautiful consumer electronics device ever created.'

Samsung believes the S4 will set the new standard. 

Apart from the larger screen and upgraded processor, the S4 has a battery that's 20 per cent larger than that of the SIII. 

Samsung didn't say if that translates into a longer battery life - the added capacity might be gobbled up by the bigger screen or other internal changes.

The S4 comes with a built-in infra-red diode, so it can control an entertainment center as a universal remote. This is a feature that has showed up in Android tablets before.

When several S4s are in close proximity, they can link up to play the same music, simultaneously - perfect for headphone dance parties.