Galaxy S IV targets BlackBerry Balance with enterprise partition

Linked gallery: Photos: Samsung launches Galaxy S IV

Samsung has taken the fight to BlackBerry and its traditional enterprise stomping ground with the launch of its new flagship smartphone.

The Galaxy S IV is the successor to the popular Galaxy S III, and boasts a bigger display and several new features, including a significant addition which promises to unsettle BlackBerry.

The phone will launch globally in the second quarter of this year. No specific date or pricing has been provided. All major Australian telcos will offer the phone locally.

The phone's main selling point for enterprise users is its Knox feature, a partitioning mobile device management system that separates work and play. The feature isolates data and applications from the personal and work profiles of the user into separate containers to secure the corporate network. 

The feature was first shown off at Mobile World Congress earlier this year and is a direct rival to BlackBerry's Balance.

Samsung's Knox runs on Secure Boot, ensuring verified and authorised software can run on the device, and Security Enchanced Android, a mechanism separating based on confidentiality and integrity requirements, Samsung said on its website. 

"Security and privacy are understandably held up as barriers to businesses embracing BYOD demands," said J.K. Shin, president of Samsung's Mobile Division, in a statement last month.

"Meanwhile, users are seeing the latest smartphones and tablets and knocking at the door of IT demanding to be able to use their own devices. The solution is clear -- combine the business and personal in a single device."

Other features offered on the new handset include facial recognition technology which uses the front camera to track a user's eyes as they view content and act accordingly; gesture sensor and control; and the ability to automatically copy details from a picture of a business card into the user's contact database. 

Specification-wise, the smartphone offers a 13MP camera, 5in display, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB storage, 4G compatibility, running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It will be available in both black and white. 

BlackBerry recently released its Z10 touchscreen and Q10 QWERTY-toting smartphones globally. The company has struggled to maintain momentum in a crowded smartphone market with the advent of BYOD, and is pinning its hopes on its two new offerings to grow market share against Apple and Samsung.