Samsung Canada held three simultaneous launch parties in Canada for their newest flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 on Thursday, April 25th! The party in Vancouver was at Rocky Mountaineer Station.

They started letting people in at 5pm starting with VIPs and media. Being neither, we had to wait a while at the side entrance.

There was a HUGE lineup already by the time we arrived. Fortunately, K, being a former Samsung Mob!ler, is a preferred guest so we got to skip that lineup.

 People helped us put our wristbands on as we walked into the venue.

 So many people showed up to take a look at one of the hottest phones in the market. 

 A cash bar was open at one end of the building.

Organizers even created their own drink for the GS4 launch - the BLUE GALAXY!
 




There were two demo stations at each end of the venue with two phones at each location for people to look at. One had the blue and the other white version of the GS4.

This time it wasn't a station where all the phones were tied down. The Samsung reps were the ones giving us a spiel on the new features of the phone.

Holding the phone, I noticed how thin and light it was compared to my old and obsolete GSIIX as well as its predecessor the GSIII. It looks pretty much the same as the GSIII except the sides were smaller so the screen is ever so slightly larger. It is also missing a bum on the back.

 Group Play - share music, video, documents, and games between up to 10 connected phones.

S Health - a new built in app for calorie tracking, pedometer and stuff like that. There's also a built in Google translate or S Translate.  

13-megapixel camera which all sorts of nifty settings for phone taking, such as duo camera mode, erase people in the background, animated photos, sound and shot, drama mode just to name a few.

I wouldn't say these new features are essential but they are cool to play with. I do like the camera though. There are a lot more new features but people were vying to get their hands on the phone so I had to reluctantly give it up. It's a very nice phone and I think worth getting if you are in the market and don't have a GS3.


After playing with the phone, STARS took to the stage and the party really got going!
















After STARS played a few sets, the winner of the Vancouver GALAXY S4 Casting Calls, Gio Levy came out on stage to perform. He looks so hipster.




He sung the same song at his audition:

Feist was suppose to perform in three cities - Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto AT THE SAME TIME that night but Samsung gave us nothing on how she would accomplish this feat. After a short break, it was finally revealed! Feist appeared as a hologram! She gave a performance of  “A Commotion” simultaneously in all three cities!





Unfortunately holograms make for blurry photos. It was pretty cool to see though. Technology of the future, everyone!


Here's a video that Samsung posted on Youtube of Hologrammed Feist:

Food is complicated. There are so many different ingredients in foods that it takes time to decipher what will meet your individual needs. CarrotLines is a free mobile app that simplifies the decision making process and helps you make the right healthy food choices faster!

You set your nutritional profile (e.g. Organic, Vegan, low fat, high fibre, amount of sugar, allergies, etc.) and use the camera on your mobile device to scan the bar code on a product in store. The app will let you know automatically if that food is right for you! Pretty cool, huh? Now you don't have to spend the time squinting at the label and spend that time eating the food you love instead! It is a pretty innovative app that health conscience people will find very useful.

I found out about this app when I was at the Vancouver Health Show last month and I also entered a contest there and guess what? I won the grand prize which includes a Sunrise Tofu prize pack and a $100 Visa giftcard! Thank you CarrotLines and Sunrise Tofu!


When picking up my prize, I met the developers behind the CarrotLines app. They are three amazing people that made all of this into what it is! CarrotLines is currently nominated for "Best Concept" in Small Business BC's Successful You Awards. You can vote for them here. Voting closes at the end of the month so make sure you make your vote count and support some home-grown talent!

 Watch CarrotLines app in action here:

CarrotLines is available right now on the Apple App Store but don't worry Android users, your app is currently in the pipeline!

Check out the CarrotLines website for more information on the app and follow on their Facebook page and Twitter feed to get the latest news.



Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this post are honest and of my own and have not been influenced in any other way.

Yay! I finally upgraded from a BlackBerry Curve to a Samsung Galaxy SII X. I received this anticipated  package on Monday, unlocked it on Tuesday and now am fully on Android!

Here are my unboxing photos. Heheh. Am I a geek for taking photos? Yes. Yes. I probably am...


 
8MP camera! Can't wait to go out and use it. I love the feel of the backing.

 

It's pretty thin and light. It is a much bigger phone than I am use to, but big phones are standard nowadays. I'm just behind on the times. lol



Ooo turning it on...




I love the screen. It is so vivid, clear and crisp. Even at the lowest brightness settings it is still quite bright.


Yeah, that date isn't right...



Woo! I'm so excited to finally own a Galaxy S2!