Samsung Galaxy S III is finally officially announced
The Samsung Galaxy S III is finally here! After months of rumors and speculations Samsung has unveiled its 2012 Android flagship, aiming to combing beautiful hardware with top notch software and here is the final result.
The Galaxy S III spec highlights include:
- a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display
- a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor
- Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
- an 8MP camera with flash and no shutter lag
- a 1.9MP front camera recording HD video
- 16GB/32GB/64GB versions, memory expandable via microSD card slots (up to 64GB)
- 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g
The first letdown when we think about the earlier expectations is the lack of a Super AMOLED Plusdisplay. Instead, Samsung opted for the good old PenTile matrix in a Super AMOLED HD screen. You can see how it fares against the competition in a screen comparison here.
Under the hood, the SGS III is powered by a quad-core Exynos processor clocked at 1.4GHz. There's also a reworked GPU that Samsung says is 65% faster than the one in the Galaxy S II. We also know that the SGS III will support 4G LTE depending on markets, and the States, Japan and Korea are the ones getting the LTE Galaxy S III. This might mean that we have two hardware platforms in the handset - one for non-4G S IIIs and one for those with LTE on board.
The Samsung Galaxy S III will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White initially. It packs a relatively big 2,100mAh battery.
But it's not just about the hardware, Samsung is trying to steal the show in software with some "natural interaction" additions as the company calls them. In a nutshell, Samsung wants to know what you're doing to tweak the experience accordingly. For example, it uses the built-in front facing camera to check whether your eyes are on the screen and keeps it bright.
Samsung has also responded to Apple's Siri with its own S Voice natural language processing application. We don't know the full extent of its functions, but what Samsung gives as an example is that when your alarm sounds off you can say "Snooze" to have the phone try to wake you up later on.
In terms of connectivity, there's NFC on board for both mobile payments and beaming up files short distance. For instance, Samsung has improved the Android Beam in its own S Beam app, which functions similarly.
The Galaxy S III release date is May 29th globally, and the summer for the US. Check out the official press release below for all the tiny details and let us know how you like what you see!
source: Samsung
Samsung Introduces the GALAXY S III, the Smartphone
Designed for Humans and Inspired by Nature
May 4, 2012
Effortlessly smart and intuitively simple,
Samsung GALAXY S III reveals a new concept of smartphone
London, UK—May 4, 2012—Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, announced today the third generation GALAXY S, the GALAXY S III. Designed for humans and inspired by nature, the GALAXY S III is a smartphone that recognizes your voice, understands your intention, and lets you share a moment instantly and easily.
This sleek and innovative smartphone has the enhanced intelligence to make everyday life easier. With Samsung GALAXY S III, you can view the content like never before on the device’s 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display. An 8MP camera and a 1.9MP front camera offer users a variety of intelligent camera features and face recognition related options that ensure all moments are captured easily and instantly. Samsung GALAXY S III is powered by Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, with greatly enhanced usability and practicality to make life easier. Packed with intuitive technology, the GALAXY S III delivers a uniquely personalized mobile experience that refuses to be compromised.
“With the GALAXY S III, Samsung has maximized the consumer benefits by integrating superior hardware with enhanced smartphone usability,” said JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung. “Designed to be both effortlessly smart and intuitively simple, the GALAXY S III has been created with our human needs and capabilities in mind. What makes me most proud is that it enables one of the most seamless, natural and human-centric mobile experiences, opening up a new horizon that allows you to live a life extraordinary.”
Introducing Natural Interaction
The GALAXY S III enhances the interaction experience between the device and user. Smart enough to detect your face, voice and motions, the GALAXY S III adapts to the individual user to provide a more convenient and natural experience. With the innovative ‘Smart stay’ feature, the GALAXY S III recognizes how you are using your phone – reading an e-book or browsing the web for instance – by having the front camera identify your eyes; the phone maintains a bright display for continued viewing pleasure.
The GALAXY S III features ‘S Voice,’ the advanced natural language user interface, to listen and respond to your words. In addition to allowing information search and basic device-user communication, S Voice presents powerful functions in regards to device control and commands. When your phone alarm goes off but you need a little extra rest, just tell the GALAXY S III “snooze.” You can also use S Voice to play your favorite songs, turn the volume up or down, send text messages and emails, organize your schedules, or automatically launch the camera and capture a photo.
In addition to recognizing your face and voice, the GALAXY S III understands your motions to offer maximized usability. If you are messaging someone but decide to call them instead, simply lift your phone to your ear and ‘Direct call’ will dial their number. With ‘Smart alert,’ the GALAXY S III will also save you from trouble by catching any missed messages or calls; your phone will vibrate to notify missed statuses when picked up after being idle.
Easy and Instant Sharing
The Samsung GALAXY S III is more than a personal device that can be enjoyed by one user - it wants you to share and experience smartphone benefits with family and friends, regardless of where you are. With the new ‘S Beam,’ the GALAXY S III expands upon Android™ Beam™, allowing a 1GB movie file to be shared within three minutes and a 10MB music file within two seconds by simply touching another GALAXY S III phone, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. The ‘Buddy photo share’ function also allows photos to be easily and simultaneously shared with all your friends pictured in an image directly from the camera or the photo gallery.
With ‘AllShare Cast’, users can wirelessly connect their GALAXY S III to their television to immediately transfer smartphone content onto a larger display. ‘AllShare Play’ can be also used to instantly share any forms of files between GALAXY S III and your tablet, PC, and televisions regardless of the distance between the devices. Under AllShare Play is also the ‘Group Cast’ feature that allows you to share your screen among multiple friends on the same Wi-Fi network; you can make comments and draw changes at the same time with your co-workers, witnessing real-time sharing on your individual device.
Human-centric Design with Uncompromised Performance
The GALAXY S III not only presents features with enhanced usability, but also provides an ergonomic and comfortable experience through its human-centric design. Its comfortable grip, gentle curves, and organic form deliver a rich human-centric feel and design. Inspired by nature, its design concept is the flow and movement of nature. The elements of wind, water and light are all evoked in the physical construct of the GALAXY S III. In its essence, the minimal organic design identity is reflected in the smooth and non-linear lines of the device. Available in Pebble Blue and Marble White at launch, Samsung will introduce a variety of additional color options.
With a 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display, the GALAXY S III offers a large and vivid viewing experience. Samsung Mobile’s heritage Super AMOLED display even enhances to HD and 16:9 wider viewing angles. To ensure faster content sharing and connectivity, the GALAXY S III offers Wi-Fi Channel Bonding which doubles the Wi-Fi bandwidth.
The GALAXY S III also sports a range of additional features that boost performance and the overall user experience in entirely new ways. It introduces ‘Pop up play,’ a feature that allows you to play a video anywhere on your screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new emails or surfing the Web. Its 8MP camera features a zero-lag shutter speed that lets you capture moving objects easily without delay – the image you see is the picture you take. With the ‘Burst shot’ function that instantly captures twenty continuous shots, and the ‘Best photo’ feature that selects the best of eight photographs for you, the GALAXY S III ensures users a more enhanced and memorable camera experience. HD video can be recorded even with the 1.9MP front-facing camera, which you can use to capture a video of yourself. Improved backside illumination further helps to eliminate blur in photos that result from shaking, even under low lights.
Mobile payment is also accessible with the device through advanced Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The gaming experience is enhanced through ‘Game Hub,’ providing access to numerous social games, while Video Hub brings users high quality TV and movies. Furthermore, Samsung Music Hub will offer a personal music streaming service. Game Hub, Video Hub and Music Hub will be introduced in select countries initially and soon rolled out to global markets.
The Samsung GALAXY S III will be available from the end of May in Europe before rolling out to other markets globally.
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