Samsung Electronics Co. is trumpeting the new software in its Galaxy S 4 smartphone unveiled Thursday, such as features that let users control the screen with their eyes.


But while many of the functions are useful or innovative, a few of them didn't seem ready for prime time in a preview with journalists.

The Galaxy's 4's impressive but less-than-perfect performance underscores the challenge Samsung faces in transforming itself from a hardware-driven company into a software leader as mobile phones become increasingly commoditized.

That was my main take-away after seeing a presentation of the device and test-driving it for about 30 minutes Thursday morning in a hotel in midtown Manhattan.

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The big reveal began when David Park, a young Samsung sales and marketing team manager gave us a 30-minute presentation of the phone. Mr. Park spent a few minutes describing the hardware improvements of the device. (It is slightly thinner and lighter, with a better camera and battery and a bigger, sharper screen.)

But he devoted the majority of his talk highlighting a few dozen software features developed for the phone. Afterward, we tried out the phones before giving them back.

Mr. Park emphasized that the phone's software development was driven by four key requirements that Samsung research found consumers most desired: The phone had to be fun, encourage closer relationships, offer convenience and help improve health and wellness.

In the fun category, the major goal was to improve the camera experience. He rifled through a number of features, such as dual video recording, which allows a user to embed a front-facing video window inside a video stream of the rear-facing camera. That way you could play TV correspondent, providing color commentary on your video.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S 4 Matthew Lynley / The Wall Street Journal

Samsung Electronics unveiled its fourth-generation Galaxy S smartphone Thursday. Among the new device's features is a function that lets users control the smartphone screen with their eyes. MarketWatch's Dan Gallagher reports. (Photo: Samsung)

A neat feature called "Sound & Shot" lets you record sound and attach it to a picture. Another one called "Story Album" automatically creates a photo album with your pictures and lets you order a printed version through a partnership with publishing service Blurb.

But a few of the camera functions seemed gimmicky, while others failed. One called "Beauty Face" was supposed to make you look better by doing things like slimming your face automatically. The feature didn't turn me into George Clooney ; in fact I couldn't see any difference between the photos.

Another one called "Drama Shot" sounded promising in theory, letting you create one integrated photo composed from several pictures. But when I tried the feature it simply didn't work. Samsung marketers shrugged and blamed the way we staged the photo shoot.

The main feature illustrating the relationship category was a tool that translated emails, text and Samsung chat messages. Other I didn't have time to test included three-way video calling and what Samsung called "Group Play," a feature that connects other Galaxy S 4 phones and allows people to play the same music on different phones, or share photos, documents or even play videogames with your friends.

Convenience centered on new gesture technologies allowing a user to control the phone without touching it. "Air View" lets you hover your finger over email, browser or calendar, then pops up a close-up look of that area. "Smart pause" automatically pauses a video when you look away from the screen.

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S 4

The Galaxy S 4 was unveiled in New York on Thursday. Getty Images

Another highly touted feature called "Air Gesture" is designed to let you manipulate the screen by moving your hand across, or up and down the screen. At first I couldn't get it to work. A Samsung rep gave me a quick tutorial, which helped, but it wasn't as responsive as I had hoped.

One feature that worked well was "Easy Remote," which allows you to control a TV, DVD or set-top box through a virtual remote-control app.

The health category seems promising. Samsung developed an app called "S Health" that lets you track your walking through a sensor. If you input the food you eat, it spits out a caloric counter. The app was designed to work with accessories as well, including a body scale, heart-rate monitor and a wearable wrist sensor called an "S band."

It is hard to predict if these software features together are enough to convince consumers to buy the phone in record numbers. But coupled with the improved hardware, the Galaxy S 4 should provide the strongest competition yet to the iPhone.

Write to Spencer E. Ante at