Galaxy SIV Mini coming in June

A smaller version of Samsung's upcoming flagship phone will launch in Europe in June.

Samsung has confirmed, albeit possibly by accident, that the future existence of the Galaxy SIV Mini, first seen in leaked images, is real and that the device will not be launched before its bigger brother finally rolls out across the US and Europe. The news came during an in-depth feature in Bloomberg Business Week where the diminuitive phone's launch is mentioned as an aside. The company has also confirmed some of the device's rumored specifications. It will run on a quad-core processor and will launch with version 4.2.2 of the Android operating system. It will also boast a 4.3-inch AMOLED high-resolution screen and an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, touch-focus, and face detection.

Available in black or white, the Galaxy SIV Mini will feature a micro SD expansion slot (for up to 32GB of removable storage) and can also be specified with 8, 16 or 32GB of internal storage.

Meanwhile, the latest news regarding the phone's big brother, the Galaxy SIV, suggests that consumers will not be able to get their hands on the device until the end of April, in the UK anyway.

The first British orders are expected to be fulfilled on April 26 while in the US, T-Mobile -- the only network operator to thus far confirm when the handset will be available -- claims that it will be in store on May 1, meaning that it will have taken nearly two months for the phone to go from its official launch to market, adding credence to rumors that Samsung pushed ahead with the official unveiling despite the device not being ready for the public.

It also explains why the Mini version is not expected to hit the stores until June in Europe and possibly July in the US.