It's finally here, folks. Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S III at its event in London after teasing the device with websites and videos. The specs of the Galaxy S III have been one of the hottest topics in the mobile world over the past several months, so let's just dive right in now that they're official. Samsung's newest member of the Galaxy S family packs a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad quad-core processor, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.9-megapixel shooter around front, 21Mbps HSPA+ support (with LTE models coming to the U.S.), 16GB/32GB of internal storage with a 64GB model coming soon, microSD slot, NFC, and a 2,100mAh battery powering the whole show. Also on board is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich beneath Samsung's TouchWiz UI.
Samsung's also touting a few new special software features that are built into the Galaxy S III. One such feature is "Smart Stay," which uses the front facing camera to monitor your eyes and learn how you're using the phone. For example, this feature is that the GSIII can recognize that you're browsing the web and decide to keep the screen brightness raised. "S Voice" is a feature that'll allow for information search and device commands, like saying "Snooze" when your alarm goes off but you want to sleep some more. There's also "S Beam," which is a beefier version of the Android Beam feature built into Ice Cream Sandwich and will allow for the quick transfer of large files, like moving a 1GB movie in 3 minutes.
Speaking of movies, the Galaxy S III also packs in a feature referred to as "Pop up play," which Samsung says will allow users to watch a video anywhere on your screen while simultaneously running other tasks. The Galaxy S III's camera includes a couple of tricks of its own, like a zero-lag shutter speed, a "Burst Shot" function that takes 20 continuos photos and the "Best Photo" feature that'll select the 8 best images and present them to you.
What about launch details, you ask? Samsung says that the Galaxy S III will be available on 296 operators in 145 countries, so there's a good chance that one of your local operators will offer the device. The GSIII is scheduled to arrive in Europe at the end of May, and those of us in the U.S. will be able to get our mitts on the device this summer. No specific U.S. carrier availability was mentioned.
So there's the Samsung Galaxy S III. The hype surrounding Samsung's next Galaxy smartphone has gotten pretty crazy as of late, and while it's up to you to decide whether or not the Galaxy S III lives up to that hype, there's no question that the device is packing some pretty high-end specs and interesting software tweaks, too. Perhaps the best news, though, is that those of us in the U.S. won't have to wait months and months for the Galaxy S III to make its way stateside. Here's to hoping that we hear more on U.S. availability soon. Now that the Galaxy S III is officially official, what do you all make of it? Does it live up to your expectations? Do you think you might pick up one of the U.S. variants when they arrive?
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.
