An alleged photo of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4 hinted the imminent release date of the device.

A purported image of Samsung's much anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 surfaced online that offered a clue of its release date. However, this piece of information is still unconfirmed since there are a lot of rumours on the release of the smartphone.

This is not the first time that we have seen reported leaked images of the Samsung Galaxy S4 but it is the first time that such an image has given us an idea about when the new model is set to be released.

Unlike previous leaks which reportedly show the phone in action or in very low quality this look like it is an official product image from Samsung. The image itself was found on Picasa and perhaps the most surprising thing is that the image was actually posted around one month ago but until this week nobody had really spotted it.

The picture itself shows a phone that is larger than the Galaxy S3 and incorporates a much slimmer bezel than we saw on last year's model. A home button is visible on the device, an aspect of the phone that was missing on previous reported photographs.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this latest image is the date that is shown on the home screen of the handset. This date reads the 22nd April and quite often this gives us a clue about the potential release date of the phone.

The date aligns with one of the rumours surrounding the device. Reports claimed that the SG4 will have an April release date after a major product launch that would be held during March.

Some of the rumoured specifications for the Galaxy S4 include a 5-inch FHD Super AMOLED 1980 x 1080 Flexible Display, 4G LTE connectivity, a 13-megapixel camera, 2-megapixel front camera, 2GB of RAM and Samsung's latest eight core processor, the Exynos 5 Octa that the company introduced at CES.

Some rumours claimed that the device will come with Androidv4.2.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. However, other rumours say that the device will run with Androidv5.0, Key Lime Pie.