Samsung Galaxy S 4 buzz still white-hot, but could that mean we're ignoring the HTC M7?

Hottest Android news and rumors for the week ending Jan. 25

Events have unfolded and rumors have broken -- entirely coincidentally, I'm sure -- in a way such that the upcoming Galaxy S 4 from Samsung has never been far from the front pages. The device is unquestionably the most anticipated Android phone ever, and the appearance this week of apparent photographs pulled from Picasa accomplished the task of keeping the Galaxy S 4 squarely in the forefront of the Android world's attention span.

The date displayed on the apparent Galaxy S 4's home screen has provoked speculation that the device will be released on April 22 -- rumors had previously centered on the upcoming Mobile World Congress, to be held at the end of February. But now everyone seems to agree that Samsung would throw its own launch party for such a big-deal new product.

Page 2 of 2

*

I alluded in the post-CES edition of this column to the fact that Huawei and ZTE made big Android-shaped splashes at that tech show, though I also pointed out that this was partially due to a paucity of Android news from more established companies.

It looks like I should probably eat at least a few of my words where Huawei is concerned, however -- the Chinese firm surprised many, not least myself, by taking third place in IDC's global quarterly ranking of smartphone vendors. ZTE -- another company based on the Chinese mainland -- took fifth place, behind Sony, Huawei, Apple and Samsung, which IDC says set both quarterly and yearly records for smartphone sales.

Email Jon Gold at jgold@nww.com and follow him on Twitter at @NWWJonGold.

Read more about software in Network World's Software section.