Samsung Electronics Co., the world‘s top smartphone maker, said Thursday that it will roll out the Galaxy S4, the latest version of its flagship smartphone line-up, in South Korea on Friday to take on Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 and other rival smartphones.

The Galaxy S4, one of the most highly anticipated smartphones of year, is the latest in Samsung‘s successful Galaxy S line-up that has sold more than 100 million units worldwide.

Since last Friday, South Korea’s three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus Corp. -- have been taking preorders for the mobile device.

Samsung Electronics said it plans to roll out the Galaxy S4 in the second quarter via 327 operators in 155 countries, including key mobile operators such as AT&T, Vodafone and Telefonica.

Samsung did not reveal the price for the device, but the Galaxy S4 is expected to be priced at 899,000 won ($800) in South Korea, about 100,000 won lower than that of the previous Galaxy S3. The price is comparable to the iPhone 5‘s 946,000 won.

Thanks to the flagship model that sold more than 40 million units worldwide, Samsung emerged as the world’s biggest handset maker, beating out long-time market leader Nokia Corp.

Market watchers project Samsung will sell roughly 22 million Galaxy S4 smartphones in the April-June period.

In March, Samsung Electronics showcased the Galaxy S4 with a 5-inch full HD Super AMOLED display. The flagship phone that comes with a quad-core or octa-core processor depending on the market will be released in both third generation and long-term evolution versions.

The Galaxy S4 also comes with features that detect a user‘s face, voice and motions to enable screen control without directly touching the device.

The “Smart Pause” feature, for instance, pauses a video when a user looks away, then resumes when the user turns back to the screen. The “Smart Scroll” feature also allows a user to scroll up and down without touching the screen.

The smartphone also comes with “air view” and “air gesture” features that allow users to control their smartphone displays by moving their fingers just above the screen, Samsung said. (Yonhap News)