Motivasi 4

‎"Sebesar2 dosa adlh dosa yg dilakukan ketika kita rasa brdosa melakukannya" -Imam Ghazali-

KEMEMPUAN MELUPAKAN HAL HAL YANG TIDAK DISENANGI ADALAH SUATU NIKMAT,
MENGINGATI NIKMAT - NIKMAT ADALAH KEBAIKAN, DAN TIDAK MEMIKIRKAN KEKURANGAN ORANG LAIN ADALAH SUATU KEUTAMAAN - aL - qARNI

“Pemuda, dari dahulu hingga sekarang, tetap merupakan tiang pasak bagi kebangkitan sesuatu umat. Mereka merupakan rahsia kekuatan mana-mana kebangkitan, malahan angkatan pemudalah yang menjadi barisan penjulang panji-panji bagi perjuangan Islam.”

"..Lebih berwaspada dgn maksiat sebenarnya lebih baik daripada berhati-hati dengan musuh, ...Dosa adalah lebih aku takuti daripada musuh..."

-Umar al Khattab-

"..Aku tahu rezekiku tak dimakan orang,kerananya hatiku tenang..aku tahu amalan2ku tdk mungkin dilakukan oleh orang lain,maka aku sibukkan diriku utk beramal..aku tahu Allah selalu melihatku,kerana itu aku malu bila Allah mendapatiku melakukan maksiat...aku tahu kematian menantiku,maka aku persiapkan bekal utk bertemu Rabbku.."

-Hassan al Basri-

“Tidaklah kami pernah melihat ataupun mendengar hal ajaib seperti ini. Muhammad al-Fateh sudah menukar darat menjadi lautan, melayarkan kapalnya di puncak gunung dan bukannya di ombak lautan. Sesungguhnya Muhammad al-Fateh dengan usahanya ini telah mengatasi Alexander The Great!”

- Ahli Sejarah Byzantine-

"Andai Islam seperti sebuah bangunan usang yang hampir roboh, maka akanku berjalan ke seluruh dunia mencari jiwa-jiwa muda. Aku tidak ingin mengutip dengan ramai bilangan mereka, tapi aku inginkan hati-hati yang ikhlas untuk membantuku dan bersama membina kembali bangunan usang itu menjadi sebuah bangunan yang tersergam indah."

-As Syahid Imam Hassan Al Banna-

Kemarahan orang yang berakal dilihat pada tindak tanduknya dan kemarahan yang ada pada orang jahil itu dapat dilihat melalui perkataannya.

- Saidina Ali bin Abi Thalib-

Motivasi 3

kompilasi kata-kata Sayyidina Umar al-Khattab:-

1. Aku ini pedang Rasulullah saw. Sekiranya Rasulullah inginkan, baginda akan menggunakannya... Sekiranya Baginda tidak mahu menggunakannya, baginda sarongkannya...

2. Aku keras dan kasar kerana Rasulullah dan Abu bakar sangat lunak, jadi aku tidak boleh melihat orang2 Quraisy menindas baginda dan memperlekehkannya!

3. Apabila Sayyidina Umar menjadi khalifah, beliau berkata: "Ketahuilah, aku adalah orang yang paling lunak dalam kalangan kamu..."

-Khalifah 'Umar al Khattab-

KATA-KATA TOKOH~

Apabila kamu merasa letih berbuat kebaikan maka sesungguhnya keletihan itu akan hilang dan kebaikan yang dilakukan akan terus kekal. dan sekiranya kamu berseronok dengan dosa maka keseronokan itu akan hilang dan dosa yang dilakukan akan terus kekal~Saidina Ali R.A

“ Biar sejuta ilmu kita dalami, yakinlah bahawa itu hanya setitis air dari seluas lautan, hadirkanlah dalam hati rasa keinsafan, moga ilmu itu jadi wadah mendekati Tuhan...” ~ moga dpt mmartabatkan ISLAM di muka bumi ALLAH ~

"Mereka yang memasang cita-cita yang tinggi (untuk melihat kemenangan Islam) tanpa membuat apa-apa persedian adalah merupakan mereka yang berjiwa kecil dan tidak mahu serta tidak mungkin sampai ke kemuncak perjuangan dan tidak akan berjaya menuju ke matlamatnya." _Dr. Abdullah Azzam

"Jika kamu ingin melihat kekuatan sesebuah negara, lihatlah kepada remajanya sekarang." -Saidina Umar al-Khattab-

"..Setiap orang yang takut akan lari, setiap orang yang cinta akan mencari, dan setiap orang yang mencintai Allah akan merasa asing dengan sesama makhluk..."

"..Everyone who fear will flee, each person who love will search, and everyone who loves God will be unfamiliar with other fellow creatures.."

"Jangan engkau percaya melihat kegagahan seorang lelaki. Tetapi jika mereka teguh memegang amanah dan menahan tangannya daripada menganiaya sesamanya, itulah lelaki yang sebenarnya"... 

-Khalifah Umar al-Khattab-

*"Orang yang banyak ketawa itu kurang wibawanya, org yang suka menghina orang lain, dia juga akan dihina, orang yang menyintai akhirat, dunia pasti menyertainya. Barangsiapa menjaga kehormatan 0rang lain, pasti keh0rmatan dirinya akan terjaga."

– Umar Al Khattab -

Motivasi 2

.-Sesungguhnya seseorang itu berharta bila dia zuhud di dunia, dan sesungguhnya seseorang itu adalah fakir bila dia gemar pada dunia..

-SUFFIAN ATTHAURI-

Ibrah:
Duhai srikandi islami, jangan kau risaukan zahiriahmu. Kau tetap menjadi pilihan Perindu Ilahi, selagimana kau menjaga agamamu. Kupinta kepadamu, genggamlah cinta hakikimu seeratnya. Nescaya akan dilimpahiNYA dikau dengan insan assoleh.

Duhai pahlawan deeni, kahwini bidadari yang solehah. Angkatlah mereka sebagai pemilik cinta, selepas Dia dan pesuruhNYA. Jangan kau terpedaya dengan rupa, kerana hanya agama yang boleh membuatmu bahagia.

Duhai kalian berdua, sungguh bahagianya percintaan yang dibina. Namun jangan alpa, DIAlah selayaknya dicintai menjulang tinggi. PesuruNYAlah juga wajar lebih dicintai, berbanding pasangan kalian. Bercintalah kalian di bawah lembayung kasih dan rahmatNYA.

Alhamdulillah Cinta!

KATA-KATA SAIDINA UMAR

*Kebajikan yang ringan adalah menunjukkan muka berseri-seri dan menuturkan kata-kata lemah lembut.

*Barangsiapa menempatkan dirinya di tempat yang menimbulkan prasangka maka janganlah menyesal kalau orang menyangka buruk padanya.

*Tidak ada ertinya Islam tanpa jemaah dan tidak ada ertinya jemaah tanpa pemimpin dan tidak ada ertinya pemimpin tanpa ketaatan.

*Aku tidak pedulikan keadaan susah atau senangku kerana aku tidak tahu manakah di antara keduanya yang lebih baik dariku.

*Apabila kita bermewah-mewah di dunia akan kurang ganjarannya di akhirat.

*Apabila engkau melihat orang yang berilmu mencintai dunia, maka curigailah ia mengenai agamanya, kerana orang yang mencintai sesuatu ia akan menyibukkan diri dengan apa yang dicintainya...

*"Orang yang banyak ketawa itu kurang wibawanya, org yang suka menghina orang lain, dia juga akan dihina, orang yang menyintai akhirat, dunia pasti menyertainya. Barangsiapa menjaga kehormatan 0rang lain, pasti keh0rmatan dirinya akan terjaga."

– Umar Al Khattab -

Berani menyatakan pendirian adalah sifat perwira,tetapi berani mengaku salah adalah
lebih perwira.
– Hamka -

Mutiara Kata 1

Diriwayatkan dairpada Zaid Bin Thabit R.A:

Allah menyerikan orang yang mendengar suatu hadis daripada kami lalu ia menghafalnya sehingga ia menyampaikan kepada orang lain. Kemungkinan seseorang itu membawa suatu kefahaman kepada orang yang lebih memahami. Berkemungkinan juga orang yang membawa suatu kefahaman sebenarnya ia tidak memahaminya.

~Abu Daud dan Al-Tirmizi

Yang sangat berguna adalah seorang lelaki yang mengetahui darjat dirinya sendiri, tahu batas akalnya,kemudian dia bekerja menurut darjat dan ...batasnya.
- Imam Syafie-

Carilah seribu sahabat dalam pergaulan, kerana seribu sahabat belumlah banyak. Jauhilah seorang musuh, kerana musuh yang seorang itu sudah lebih daripada ramai.
– Lukman Hakim -

Tidak dihitung kaya yang banyak harta, tetapi kaya sebenarnya adalah kaya jiwa.
– Bukhari dan Muslim –

Tidak ada satu yang lebih mahal daripada kemerdekaan dan tidak ada kebahagiaan yang lebih besar daripada menunaikan kewajipan.
– Umar Al Khattab -

Berani menyatakan pendirian adalah sifat perwira,tetapi berani mengaku salah adalah lebih perwira.
– Hamka -

8 Steps for Strong Time Management for College Students

Learning How to Manage Your Time in College Can Be Critical for Your Success

Time management can be one of the best skills you learn while in college.

© 2008 Kelci Lynn licensed to About.com, Inc.

Within the first few days of starting college, many students quickly learn that managing their time is one of the most challenging -- and difficult -- aspects of being in school. With so much to do and keep track of, strong time management skills can make all the difference.

1. Get -- and use -- a calendar. It can be a paper calendar. It can be your cell phone. It can be a PDA. No matter what kind it is, though, make sure you have one.

2. Write down everything. Write down everything in one place. (Having multiple calendars just gives you more to do amidst an already tight schedule.) Schedule when you plan to sleep, when you are going to do your laundry, when you're going to call your parents. The crazier your schedule gets, the more important this becomes.

3. Schedule time to relax. Don't forget to schedule in time to relax and breathe. Just because your calendar goes from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. doesn't mean you can.

4. Keep trying new systems. If your cell phone calendar isn't big enough, buy a paper one. If your paper one keeps getting torn, try a PDA. If you have too many things written down each day, try color-coding to help simplify. Very few college students make it through their programs without some kind of calendaring system; keep trying until you find one that works for you.

5. Allow for flexibility. Things inevitably come up that you weren't expecting. You may not have known that your roommate's birthday is this week, and you certainly don't want to miss the celebrations! Leave room in your calendar so that you can move things around a little when needed.

6. Plan ahead. Do you have a large research paper due the last week of the semester? Work backward in your calendar and figure out how much time you need to write it, how much time you'll need to research it, and how much time you'll need to pick your topic. If you think you'll need six weeks for the entire project, work backward from the due date and schedule the time into your calendar before it's too late.

7. Plan for the unexpected. Sure, you just might be able to pull off two papers and a presentation during midterms week. But what happens if you catch the flu the night you're supposed to be pulling the all-nighter? Expect the unexpected so you don't have to spend more unplanned time trying to fix your mistakes.

8. Schedule rewards in. Your midterms week is a nightmare, but it will all be over Friday by 2:30. Schedule a fun afternoon and a nice dinner out with some friends; your brain will need it, and you can relax knowing that you're not supposed to be doing anything else.

ref : http://collegelife.about.com/od/academiclife/a/timemanagement.htm

Role play in early years settings

by DEBORAH J. STEWART, M.ED. on JUNE 12, 2011

in DRAMATIC PLAY, GUEST POST

13

I know you will enjoy this guest post written by Julie Meighan, author of Drama Start!

Role Play in Early Years Settings

By Julie Meighan

Role play is a very important part of a child’s education. The imagination is a powerful tool which as we know is innate in some children but needs encouraging in others. It is important that preschools provide children with the opportunity to develop their imagination. In order to accomplish this they have to equip the children with spaces, scenarios, props and the support they need to explore their real life or imaginary worlds. Imaginative play not only aids intellectual development but also improves children’s social skills and their creativity. In addition it gives children a chance to play out events that they have observed or experienced in real life.

Role play and everyday scenarios

Using the home as a setting for role play works extremely well with children as the home plays an important role in each young child’s life.

Setting up the role-play corner as a house may sound simple enough but unfortunately in lots of preschool certain things are over looked. You need to include all the tools needed for the role play to take place. If you wish to focus on hygiene you need to include the following props – a cloth, washing up bottle, tea towel, bin and sink or if you want them to focus on health and safety you need to get them to use oven gloves, trays, timers, hot pads, and towels.

Role plays and imagined worlds
These role plays take place in places where the children are very unlikely to visit such as the moon or under the sea and they can meet characters that they are very unlikely to meet such as a dragon or a talking bear.

An example of a role playing story that I find works well with young child is the Hungry tree. This is an excellent introduction to improvisation as the children are free to explore their imaginations. It also helps with their co-ordination skills.

Instructions to the Hungry Tree

The teacher tells the children the following story and the children have to improvise the movements in the story. The teacher gets the children to imagine that they are an adventurer who wants to go on an adventure. They have to pack up their bags. The teacher asks what they need in the bags. Children’s answers are usually for example water, sandwiches, sun cream, and sunglasses and so on. The children mime putting all these essentials into their bag and then mime all the actions in the adventure below…

The teacher says  ”Imagine you are walking quickly because you are so happy to be on your adventure. You see a mountain and decide you should climb it. The sun is getting hotter and hotter and you are getting tired. You get very, very tired. You wipe your brow to show how tired you are. You begin to climb slower and slower. You are very thirsty. You take out your water and take a drink. You put it back in your bag and climb the rest of the way up the mountain. Eventually you get to the top. You are exhausted, very hot and very hungry. You decide it is time for your picnic. You see a lovely tree and you go and sit under its shade. You eat your picnic and go for a nap. Then suddenly you wake up and see the treemoving towards you. The tree grabs you and you realise it is a very hungry tree and wants to eat you. You scream. You struggle. You fight the branches but you are getting weaker and weaker. Then suddenly the tree stops fighting for a moment. You get your chance to escape. You quickly grab your bag, and run back down the mountain. You get to the end and you don’t stop in case the hungry tree is running after you. You run all the way home, lock all the doors and hide under the table.”

In settings where both of these types of role play are offered, the play which develops is deeper, more complex and more intense, giving the children richer experiences. Allowing children to lose themselves
in role play engages them in play that is purposeful and produces such outcomes as sharing, turn taking, co-operation, improving hand eye skills and develops their vocabulary.

ref : http://www.teachpreschool.org/2011/06/role-play-in-early-years/#ixzz2NrTs1PqS

Importance of Play in Early Childhood

A child learns important lessons in life, like sharing, fair play, interpersonal communication, respect, and getting along when he plays with children of his own age group. This article gives a brief insight into the importance of play in early childhood.

A child is born with an innate talent and urge to learn new things through exploration and imitation. For instance, when a toddler attains the walking age, he does not like to be carried around. He insists on standing up and walking on his own tiny feet. As the little one grows, the parents should instill new skills and also teach him new things through play, as it becomes important for your child's intellectual, emotional, and social development.

Through play, kids learn about themselves and the world around. They grow into active and mature adults, who behave better and are aware of other people's feelings. They develop negotiation, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.

You could rightly say that play is an integral part of learning. In fact, it is a unique way of providing knowledge and values to our children and is an excellent mode for learning with fun and curiosity.

From the age of 18 months to three years, engaging your child in playful activities will help nurture his social, creative, linguistic communication skills and eventually, prepare him for school. When a child engages himself in hands-on playful activities at home, it helps to refine his listening and reasoning skills.

The Role of Play in Child Development
► Beats Obesity: Today, obesity is one of the most common problems among children. They are so glued to the television, or engaged in computer games that they hardly venture out. Also, kids are very addicted to eating junk food. Hence, it becomes really important that they invest some time playing outdoors every day. By engaging your child in outdoor games and playful exercises, he remains active and fit, thus curbing chances of childhood obesity.

► Better Brains: Introducing your child to mobile, video, or computer games at an early stage will not help in developing his physical and motor skills; instead running, or jumping would give you those results. For the brain to develop, he must be involved in outdoor and physical activities; only then will he learn about bonding, negotiating, sharing, and contributing in a group. This will not only promote moral values in your child, but will also help him to develop physically and psychologically.

► Good Sensory and Motor Skills: Indulging in outdoor games helps develop and coordinate the sensory and motor skills of a child. Your child can indulge in many multisensory activities that teach a child to understand and learn through touch, sight, and sound.

► Language Skills Improve: Singing along with your child, or engaging in activities involving rhyming words enhances his linguistic and vocabulary development. Experts opine that it is necessary to nurture verbal language skills in the early years of childhood rather than teaching word recognition and phonetics. By talking, singing songs, reciting poems, and storytelling, you enhance language skills in your child.

► Brings a Balance: An old English proverb goes like this -- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Hence, parents should find time to balance playful activities in their child's life. Recall how you felt when you enjoyed climbing monkey bars, playing hopscotch, flying kites, building blocks, skipping, playing dressing up games or basketball, painting, or hide and seek. Playing should be all about having fun; introduce and incorporate these games in your child's schedule.

► Teaching Others: Have you ever noticed how little children teach other kids and get them involved in a particular game? Children, especially those around the age of three and above, begin to socialize with others of their own age group. This activity helps them grow, get involved, and teaches them to have a good time together.

► Math Genius: Play also helps to hone their numerical and mathematical skills. Children are able to grasp the concepts of math easily if started at an early stage. As a parent, it is your responsibility to develop this skill by engaging them in activities, such as counting the number of objects in a stack, teaching them relationships -- like short and long, big and small, more and less, etc.

► Overall Development: By playing, children are actually learning and preparing themselves for the challenges of adulthood. Your child would be emotionally fulfilled, relaxed, energized, and self-confident when he enjoys playing. His attention and concentration levels would also improve drastically. He would be eager to learn, explore, experiment, and imagine more. So, let your children play as it is essential for their optimal, emotional, intellectual, and creative development.

Parents and preschool educators have an important responsibility to shape the minds of our future generation by using play as a mode to impart moral values and other fundamentals to our children, right from kindergarten. Through play, children not only learn many new skills, but also develop self-esteem. One thing worth mentioning here is, parents must learn to respect the interests of their children and let them take the lead while playing. Play helps in developing a healthy and long-lasting relationship between a child and his parents. It also helps the parents gain an insight into the thought process of their kid.

ref : http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-play-in-early-childhood.html

Set Induction & Examples

Set Induction

Set is a mental state of readiness

Induction brings it on

Set Induction gets learners thinking and ready for the lesson

Anticipatory Set is another name used

Set induction should:

Contain a statement of the learning

Relate the objective

Involve the learner in the learning

State of Learning

Provides a reference point between what the student knows and the new material, thus creating a link from one lesson or class to the next.

Relate the Objective

Relating the objective to some experience past, present and future helps in retention and transfer at a later time.

Techniques for Involvement of the Learner in the Learning

Covert                         

Overt

Questions

Activity

Pictures

Objects

Cartoons

Stories

Anecdotes

Outlines

Transparencies

Summarizing

Facilitating Sets

Used to summarize information presented in previous lessons

Used to summarize information that will occur

Emphasizes the cognitive aspects of a new lesson by reviewing or summarizing

Motivating Sets

Catch the students attention

Arouses curiosity

Poses interesting questions

Uses dramatic appeal

Creates a need or interest

Induces an affective or emotional response

Summary

It is best to provide both motivating and facilitating sets

Monitor behavior by involving students in overt behavior.

ref : http://www.ualr.edu/crgrable/id99.htm

The 7 Rules Of Handling Difficult Students

If you’re like most teachers, two or three students take up most of your time.

On the days when they’re absent, or pulled from your class, everything goes smoothly. Teaching is more fun. You’re more relaxed. And you can cruise through your lessons without interruption.

Hooray!

But when they’re sitting in class, which seems like all the time, they can make you want to pull your hair out.

Unfortunately, the frustrations you feel dealing with difficult students can cause you to make mistakes.

The following is a list of 7 rules–all don’ts–that will help you avoid the most common pitfalls, and turn your most difficult students into valued members of your classroom.

Rule #1: Don’t question.

It’s normal for teachers to force explanations from difficult students as a form of accountability. Butasking why and demanding a response from them almost always ends in resentment. And angry students who dislike their teacher never improve their classroom behavior.

Rule #2: Don’t argue.

When you argue with difficult students, it puts them on equal footing with you, creating a “your word against theirs” situation. This negates the effects of accountability. It also opens the floodgates: everybody will be arguing with you.

Rule #3: Don’t lecture, scold, or yell.

Lecturing, scolding, and yelling will cause all students to dislike you, but when you direct your diatribe toward one particular student, it can be especially damaging. Creating friction between you and your most challenging students virtually guarantees that their behavior will worsen.

Rule #4: Don’t give false praise.

Teachers often shower difficult students with praise for doing what is minimally expected. But because these students can look around at their fellow classmates and know that it’s a sham, false praise doesn’t work. Instead, give only meaningful, heartfelt praise based on true accomplishment.

Rule #5: Don’t hold a grudge.

“Every day is a new day” should be your mantra with difficult students. They need to know that they have a clean slate to start each day–and so do you. To that end, say hello, smile, and let them know you’re happy to see them first thing every morning.

Rule #6: Don’t lose your cool.

When you let students get under your skin and you lose emotional control, even if it’s just a sigh and an eye roll, you become less effective. Your likeability drops. Classroom tension rises. And when difficult students discover they can push your buttons, they’ll try as often as they can.

Rule #7: Don’t ignore misbehavior.

Given that there is an audience of other students, ignoring misbehavior will not make it go away. It will only make it worse. Instead, follow your classroom management plan as it’s written. If a difficult student breaks a rule, no matter how trivial, enforce it immediately.

It’s About Relationships

What if the two or three (or more) difficult students in your classroom admired you? What if they looked up to you, respected you, trusted you, and liked being in your company?

What if they embraced whatever you had to say to them?

Your success in helping them change their behavior would go through the roof, and you’d have peace in your classroom. The fact is, everything hinges on your ability to build relationships with your students.

Your classroom management plan merely nudges them in the right direction. Done correctly, it gets students to look inward, to self-evaluate, and to feel the weight of their transgressions. But by itself, it can only do so much.

It’s your relationship with your students that makes the greatest difference.

When you build trusting rapport with them, which anyone can do, you then possess a tidal wave of influence that can change their behavior, improve their academic performance, and profoundly impact their lives.

ref : http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2011/04/23/7-rules-of-handling-difficult-students/

Samsung Galaxy S 4 Beats The Best With 5-inch, 1080p Display, 1.9GHz Processor, Gesture Controls And A Q2 2013 Release

As if it could be any other way, the just-announced Samsung Galaxy S 4 is Samsung’s, and perhaps even Android’s, best phone yet. In fact, it very well may be the best smartphone on the market, period.

We’ve been through months of speculation, hype, rumors, and leaks, but the truth is out, and the Galaxy S 4 still has much more up its sleeve than the leaks suggested. More than any other Galaxy before it, the Galaxy S 4 is proof that the company can build a central brand the way Apple has with the iPhone. Both the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S series have been selling in the millions, and the Galaxy S 4 looks like it will hold up that trend.

Even with loads of new software, like an enhanced camera application, hover-style gesture features, and a slew of baked-in apps and services from Samsung, the Galaxy S 4 still brings the heat in the hardware/spec department. Here are the specifics:

The Galaxy S 4 clearly has a small ring of competition in the spec department. The only phones that are on this level are the Xperia Z (1080p 5-inch display, 13mp camera, quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU) and the HTC One (4.7-inch 1080p display, 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 quad-core CPU, and an “Ultrapixel” camera) and LG’s Optimus G Pro (1080p 5.5-inch display, quad-core Snapdragon 600, 13-megapixel camera).

Of course, they each have their own pros and cons, but the Galaxy S 4 seems to be the most compact, lightest, and fastest among them. Samsung hasn’t been clear about the exact brand of the processor for the U.S. version, but it did say that it was a quad-core Snapdragon CPU clocked at 1.9GHz, which we believe may be the Snapdragon 600.

However, “processors vary by region,” says Samsung, and the Asian and European version will sport the long-awaited Samsung Exynos 5 Octa eight-core processor.

The Galaxy S 4 design manages to both fit in with the Galaxy S family and stand on its own as a unique breed. For one, Samsung packed a bigger display (5-inches diagonal) into a package that’s actually smaller than before. The GS4 is the same width, slightly shorter, and .7mm thinner than its predecessor.

As such, the bezels on the Galaxy S 4 are slightly thinner on all four sides, which means it’s all screen, all the time. And what a screen it is. The Galaxy S 4 display is 5 inches of unadulterated Super AMOLED 1080p brilliance. Surrounding it, the Galaxy S 4 takes a hybrid shape, something between the straight lines of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II with the curved tops, bottoms, and corners of the Galaxy S III. The elongated home button is unmistakably GSIII-style.

The Galaxy S 4 also sticks with familiar materials, and unfortunately that still means a whole lot of plastic. Both the front panel and back panel (which is removable) are made of brushed plastic, but with a textured pattern of tiny circles laid over it. It gives the phone an industrial, textured look, but in reality all you feel is smooth plastic.

Around the edge, you’ll notice a new embellishment to the S series: a metallic bar that runs along the edge of the device. Though it looks a lot like metal, it’s actually polycarbonate and meant to protect the sensitive corners of the device.

It would be nice to see some more premium materials in this generation of the Galaxy S, but the plastic and polycarbonate construction let Samsung fit many components into a very compact, light package, according to Director of Product Planning Drew Blackard.

The Galaxy S 4 uses a new 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, bumped up from the 8-megapixel shooter on the Galaxy S III. It’s still centrally placed on the upper back half of the device, complete with LED flash, autofocus, and 1080p video recording. On the front, the Galaxy S 4 sports a 2-megapixel camera.

The higher megapixel sensor is nice, and will surely make a slight difference, but where the Galaxy S 4 camera really evolves from past generations is in the software.

For one thing, the camera app now uses the same UI as the Galaxy Camera, with a brushed silver finish to the buttons and much simpler navigation. Clicking the mode button along the bottom will bring up a simple scroll wheel full of various modes. When one is highlighted, the menu gives the name as well as a description. More sophisticated users can also see these mode options in a grid view for quick changes.

Along with some of the same modes we’ve seen on both the Galaxy Camera and newer Galaxy smartphones like Beauty Shot, Samsung has added way more modes into the mix. One is called Eraser, and it lets you remove unwanted people from a shot. Samsung says it comes in handy for shots that have been photo-bombed, or tourist shots at busy places. The camera senses any motion that goes through the frame and lets you choose to remove it, as if that person had never walked through your shot of the Eiffel Tower.

The Galaxy S 4 also has a dual-shot mode, which is just a button press away from the main camera interface. This lets you use both the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera at the same time, for both recording and still captures. There are various filters, such as Oval Blur, Postage Stamp, Cubism, and Split, which give you different options for the theme of your dual-shot creation. You can resize the pop-up picture, and move it around the screen using simple drag and drop tools. It’s pretty amazing.

Some other modes include Drama Shot, which lets you take a succession of photos of some action (like someone skiing down a mountain) and turn them into a composite of the entire sequence, and Sound and Shot, which lets you record up to 9 seconds of audio to pair along with a picture.

Samsung even jumped on the GIF train with the likes of Cinemagraph and Vine to create a gif-making mode, called Cinema Shot. It lets you take a short recording, and then determine which parts of the shot stay still and which parts remain animated. In fact, it’s almost exactly like Cinemagraph.

But Samsung took one step past capture and even built an app called Story Album which lets you create photo albums of special events or trips through templates, and use TripAdvisor to add extra location data to your story. You can even print your album through a partnership with Blurb’s print distribution network.

There’s a lot going on here, so try to keep up. We had recently heard that the GS4′s “wow” factor would be all in the software, and that’s exactly right. Most of TouchWiz is the same, though it seems to get lighter and lighter as the phones get faster. The one very noticeable edition was a set of extra toggle buttons available in the pull-down notifications menu.

Other than those particulars, let’s start with the gesture-based head-tracking stuff.

The most useful new feature of the Galaxy S 4 is Air View. It lets you hover over something on the screen to get an extended pop-up view of what’s inside. For example, if you hover over an email in your inbox, Air View will bring up the first few sentences of that email’s contents. If you hover over an album within the photo gallery, you’ll see nine thumbnails of the contents of that gallery. In fact, if you hover over an image while inside the folder, that particular thumbnail will expand to give you a better view of the particular picture. It’s all very reminiscent of what can be done with recent entries in the Galaxy Note line, except without requiring users to keep track of an S-Pen.

Air View is embedded in the email client, photo gallery, calendar, and a Galaxy S 4-edition of Flipboard, which lets you view and select headlines by hovering over a single tile.

Samsung also added an Air Gesture feature, which lets you control the phone without having to hold it — I could see this being used while driving. You can swipe left and right to switch between web pages, songs, photos in the gallery, etc. and swipe up and down to scroll. You can even accept calls by waving at the phone.

Rumors suggested that Samsung had developed some sort of magic-scroll eye-tracking technology, when in reality the Galaxy S 4 can actually only track your head, very much like the Galaxy S III’s Smart stay feature. The front-facing camera can detect that your head is facing the phone directly, which stops the display from dimming.

In the Galaxy S 4, that technology evolves to automatically pause videos when you turn away from the phone with Smart Pause. As far as scrolling is concerned, if you’re on a page that requires reading or scrolling, the Galaxy S 4 will let you tip the phone forward or backward to scroll (as long as the ff-camera senses that you’re paying attention).

Samsung said that using tilt-gestures as well as “head-tracking” technology to streamline browsing a page was “the most intuitive and natural to the end-consumer.”

As far as NFC is concerned, the GS4 includes S Beam and TecTile integration, but Samsung also lets you pair with up to eight other NFC-devices to run a feature called GroupPlay, which lets you play the same song across eight different devices… to create a party on the go.

Samsung also included an IR blaster on the Galaxy S 4 so that you can use it as a remote for just about any modern television. Called WatchON, it also includes rich information proved by an electronic programming guide.

Along with an updated camera and Story Album, the Galaxy S 4 brings a handful of brand new applications to the Galaxy S family. The first, and possibly most important, is S Translator. S Translator is available in nine languages at launch, including Chinese, English U.S., English British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese.

It is a standalone app that automatically translates information that is typed or copy/pasted into it. S Translator is also embedded in ChatOn, Messaging, and email.

The Galaxy S 4 also has an optical reader which turns analog information into digital, by reading business cards and turning them into address book contacts. S Translator is also embedded into the optical reader, which scans QR codes as well.

ChatOn, Samsung’s own-branded VoIP application, has been updated to include three-way video calls, screen share, and annotations. You can even use the new dual-camera mode to enjoy ChatOn calls.

Samsung has been making a big push in the health department with the new Galaxy S 4, and has thus preloaded the S Health app on the device. The app originally made its debut last July and seemed to focus mainly on linking up with existing health gadgets like fancy scales and blood glucose monitors. This time around, using the Galaxy S 4′s built-in pedometer, S Health tracks your activity throughout the day and knows when you’re running, walking or climbing stairs. The S Health app also lets you input your consumption activities to track caloric intake and get suggestions.

Speaking of S Health, Samsung is selling a few health-related accessories to tackle the ever-growing quantified self products like the Jawbone Up, Nike Fuelband, and FitBit. That said, Samsung has introduced the wrist-worn S Band that tracks activity, temperature and humidity.

Samsung is even going so far as to sell a heart-rate monitor which you can strap on for your daily workouts, and a body scale. All of the accessories come with Bluetooth so they can pair back to your device and be recorded by the S Health app.

And since Samsung loves making special cases for its big-name phones, the Galaxy S 4 had to go big even with its case. It’s called the S View cover, and it has a little screen on the front that reads information from the phone. That way, even though the phone is locked, you can still see the time, SMS notifications, battery status, and choose to accept or ignore incoming calls.

Samsung didn’t specify which technology they used for the cover’s display, or whether or not it needs a charge or takes battery from the S 4, but it wouldn’t surprise me to hear they took a page out of the YotaPhone playbook and are using low-power e-ink here.

Samsung didn’t clarify exact pricing, but said it would go for the same price as a “Samsung premium smartphone”. The Galaxy S III launched in the US at $199 with a 2 year contact.

In terms of availability, they didn’t give a specific release date but did say it would be on store shelves in 2013Q2, at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Cricket and U.S. Cellular.

Samsung is riding high on the success of the Galaxy S III and from what I’ve seen, the Galaxy S 4 is a worthy successor with innovative features packed into a familiar housing. It’s a bit of a shame that Samsung announced the phone without giving a price or release date, but at this point, with Samsung the global sales and innovation leader in smartphones, it can do pretty much whatever it wants.

ref : http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/14/samsung-galaxy-s-4-beats-the-best-with-5-inch-1080p-display-1-9ghz-processor-gesture-controls-and-a-q2-2012-release/