Although the iPhone 5 has received favorable reviews from Consumer Reports, several other models, from HTC, LG, and now Samsung, rate slightly better. While CR is entitled to its conclusions, I wonder if the surfeit of sometimes useless features on the Galaxy S4 has overwhelmed the magazine's testers and granted the product a higher rating than it might otherwise deserve.

As a point of reference, the iPhone 5 scores a 77, while the Galaxy S4 scores an 81. Both are very good indeed, and the differences are slight enough as to not be significant in the real world. In saying that, the review of the new Samsung smartphone makes it crystal clear that the Galaxy S4's overwhelming feature set has clearly influenced the magazine's tech editors, even though it's clear not all those features really work, or are even useful.

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Based on what Tim Cook said at Apple's last quarterly conference call with financial analysts, the conventional wisdom has it that the company isn't going to release a single new product until the fall. That perceived product draught is one reason why the stock price, and media expectations, have been suffering in recent weeks, and why some complain Apple lost it. But what's really going on?

While it's not always easy to figure out what Apple is really up to, there are signs that at least some new gear may not be so far away after all. Take a published report from AppleInsider that the inventory of the MacBook Air appears to be dwindling. While it may not be evidence of anything more than a supply shift, you would expect that Apple would be cutting shipments in the weeks ahead of a product refresh. The timing is just too perfect.

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Google has become the number one mobile platform on the planet, and one major reason is that Samsung happens to sell more mobile handsets than any other company. When it comes to profits, Samsung divides 100% with Apple, which means losses and very tiny profits for all the rest. Google doesn't make a huge amount of cash from Android, although I expect things will improve as more and more apps are sold in the Play Store. But not if Samsung has anything to do with it.

Google should certainly feel slighted over the fact that much of the coverage of the launch of the flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone focused on Samsung's own apps and the revised hardware specs. You'd hardly know the thing uses the Android OS on the basis of the manufacturer's advertising and promotion. Rather than showcase the value of Android, Samsung is showcasing the value of their own ecosystem.

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According to published reports, Samsung is claiming that the Samsung Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone shipped some 10 million copies during the first 28 days on sale. As my friend Daniel Eran Dilger remarks in a recent AppleInsider article, this is considered a great accomplishment compared to the iPhone 5, which sold five million the very first weekend, which wasn't considered so great. So much for being fair and balanced.

Certainly, there are several published bake-offs comparing the Galaxy S4 with the HTC One and, of course, the iPhone 5. I won't consider whether these reviewers are necessarily accurate or misleading. Make your own conclusions.

I've only had one for a few days, but I've been able to put together some random findings about whether it represents a major upgrade, or is just a minor update to an existing model. So, aside from all the flashy (if only occasionally useful) new software, the changes are relatively minor in the scheme of things compared to the Galaxy S3.

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