NEXT GEN SMART PHONE:SAMSUNG GALAXY S3

Samsung: Galaxy S3 inspired by 'sparkling' pebbles, forest stroll

The creative folks behind the Galaxy S3 reveal the natural elements they drew on to fashion the features of Samsung's new smartphone.

Official photos:

Introduction:

The Galaxy S3 is the first Android smartphone to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, Google's Android 4.0 OS, which arrived on many phones as an update.

But not every carrier will be taking advantage of the Galaxy S3's 4G LTE capabilities.

Sprint's version will run on 4G LTE, and the carrier's limited LTE network is expected to continue to expand.

Same goes for Verizon and AT&T though T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy S3 won't support the fast 4G LTE network.

T-Mobile's version is also more expensive, at $229/$279 after a $50 mail-in rebate.

AT&T's, on the other hand, can be acquired at a discount from Target or Amazon Wireless, at $149 for the 16GB Samsung Galaxy S3.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in white or "pebble blue" on Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, and an exclusive red version will be released by AT&T in the coming months.

TechRadar recently pitted the Samsung Galaxy S3 against its biggest competitors, Apple's iPhone 4S and HTC's One X.

The Galaxy S3 sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display, Qualcomm S4 processor, 8MP camera, and 2100mAh battery.

The Android 4.0 smartphone also features NFC capabilities, facial recognition to track users' eye movements, and voice controls mimicking the Apple iPhone 4S's Siri.

Specs

• 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm
• 133 grams
• Display: 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) Pentile (no Plus)
• Processor: Exynos 4 Quad @ 1.4Ghz for HSPA version
• 1GB of RAM
• Rear Camera: 8MP Autofocus, Flash, Zero Lag Shutter BSI Image sensor
• Front Camera: 1.9 MP HD, Flash, Zero Lag Shutter
• Video: Full HD 1080p Recording and Playback
• Storage: 16GB/32GB/64GB
• 2,100mAh battery
• GPS with GLONASS
• 802.11n Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4
• microSD expansion
• 21Mbps HSPA, LTE supported
• Micro SIM

Full Specs:

Network	2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz3G (HSPA＋ 21Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz 4G (Dependent on market)
Display	4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) display
OS	Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Camera	Main(Rear): 8 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag, BSI Sub (Front): 1.9 Mega pixel camera, HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag, BSI
Video	Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, DivX, DivX3.11, VC-1, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark Recording & Playback: Full HD (1080p)
Audio	Codec: MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/AAC＋/eAAC＋, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AC-3, apt-X
Additional Features	S Beam, Buddy photo share, Share shot
	AllShare Play, AllShare Cast
	Smart stay, Social tag, Group tag, Face zoom, Face slide show
	Direct call, Smart alert, Tap to top, Camera quick access
	Pop up play
	S Voice
	Burst shot & Best photo, Recording snapshot, HDR
Google™ Mobile Services	Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Latitude Google Play Store, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Places, Google Navigation, Google Downloads
Connectivity	WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40 GPS/GLONASS NFC Bluetooth® 4.0(LE)
Sensor	Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
Memory	16/ 32GB User memory (64GB available soon) ＋ microSD slot (up to 64GB)
Dimension	136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g
Battery	2,100 mAh

Design:

The ergonomically designed S3 has a stunningly sleek bar design and is a joy to hold in your hand. The smooth and non-linear lines and gentle curves give the S3 an elegant and natural look. The super AMOLED Screen ensures that you can enjoy bright display, richer colors and optimum power processing. The Galaxy S3 comes packed with sensors like accelerometer, gyro sensor, RGB sensor, proximity sensor, barometer and compass that ensure you get the best view on the smartphone and can switch between applications with ease. The compact design of the S3 includes a raised home button and the back and menu keys placed on either side of the home button. You will also find a loudspeaker, 3.5 mm audio jack and a micro USB port neatly packed into the compact design of the phone.

Display:

The 4.8" Super AMOLED of HD resolution is where the Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III magic happens. The image quality is every bit as impressive as the specs suggest - tack sharp and with perfectly deep blacks, it's probably the best you can find on the market.

The colors are nicely saturated by default, but the display settings menu offers a choice between four different modes, so you can opt for more natural colors as well. We did prefer the livelier dynamic and standard modes, but the natural and movie modes will probably have their fans too. What's important here is that the S III display offers a level of flexibility that no other screen on the market can provide.

Sunlight legibility is splendid too - the HD Super AMOLED isn't the brightest around, but its reflectivity is so low that even outside in the brightest day, you'll still be able to see what's on the screen quite clearly. As a matter of fact, the Galaxy S III managed to top our sunlight legibility charts.

Samsung galaxy s3 user interface:

Camera:

The Samsung Galaxy S III offers the same camera resolution but actually improves on the performance. It can capture stills of up to 3264 x 2448 pixels and 1.9 MP ones with the front-facing cam.

The latest Galaxy offers geotagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and digital image stabilization. Due to the fast quad-core processor it is also able to simultaneously record HD (1080p or 720p) video and take near full-resolution pictures (those are cropped to an aspect ratio of 16:9 to match that of the videos and what is shown in the viewfinder).

The camera interface is quite similar to what the Galaxy S II has. You get two shortcut bars on each side of the viewfinder - on the right you get the still camera / camcorder switch, a virtual shutter key and the gallery shortcut (which is a thumbnail of the last photo taken).

On the left you get several controls and the good news is that you can pick any four shortcuts to put there - you can easily have all frequently used features just a tap away. The fifth shortcut always points to Settings.

Video:

The 1080p videos are impressively smooth, noise-free and with plenty of detail and good colors. The video container used is mp4 and it creates clips with a bitrate of about 17-18Mbps, which is enough to encode the video with no traces of compression. The framerate stays pretty solid at 30fps.

The same goes for the 720p videos, which have an average bitrate of 12Mpbs. Unlike the S II, the Galaxy S III camera has the same field of view whether you're recording 1080p or 720p videos.

Both 1080p and 720p videos are recorded with stereo sound using the AAC codec with a bitrate of 134Kbps and sampling rate of 48kHz.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is able to record FullHD 1080p and HD 720p video hassle-free. During recording you can also snap full-res 16:9 stills.

Storage and Battery:

The S3 is powered by a powerful 2100 mAh Li-Ion battery that supports optimum talktime and standby time. The smartphone has an internal memory of 16 GB and the memory can be expanded up to 64 GB using micro SD or micro SDHC cards. 

Samsung Galaxy S III features and extras

A quick look at some of the more important new features debuting on the Galaxy S III.

S Voice:

The Galaxy S III is the second smartphone in the Galaxy series to do voice commands. While the Vlingo-powered service on the S II only worked if you kept to a strict syntax, here Samsung have implemented a more direct competitor to the iPhone's Siri. You can tell the S Voice to accept/reject calls, take pictures, set alarms and search the internet among others.

In our experience this worked pretty well, recognizing most of the commands we threw at it. When you're not going too far with your demands, the S Voice tends to understands what you're trying to do quite well, even if the response time is, at times, a bit long.

                   

Some of the available voice commands include alarm setting.

Direct call:

This allows you to place calls by lifting the phone up to your ear when you're browsing your contacts, or are in the middle of reading/writing a message to someone and decide you need to call them. This is a nifty little feature that can save time (not to mention how cool it actually is), and works without a hitch.

The Direct call/pickup gesture

Smart stay:

Ever been reading something for a while when the screen annoyingly dims or even shuts off right in the middle of your sentence? Samsung have implemented a sensor which detects whether you're looking at the screen, so you no longer have to worry about keeping it awake. Works just as advertised, too.

Smart alert:

If you've been away from your phone for a while, the Galaxy S III will vibrate on pickup, if you have any missed calls or messages. Also fairly straightforward in terms of how well it works, with the vibration being subtle, but long enough to make sure you don't miss it.

The Smart alert gesture

S Beam:

The Galaxy S III allows you to share all sorts of media via NFC by simply touching the devices back-to-back. Sadly, you'd need two Samsung I9300 units to make this work as there are no other S Beam-enabled smartphones on the market just yet.

         

The S Beam function • "Beaming" images using NFC

You can share with other NFC devices as well, but functionality is limited to what is provided by the stock Android Beam. We tested this with the Galaxy Nexus and we had no trouble transferring webpages and contacts from our S III to the Galaxy Nexus.

Buddy photo share:

The Buddy photo feature enables the Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III to automatically tag your pictures with all the people it recognizes from your contact profiles.

Pop up play:

Pop up play is the Galaxy's version of a windowed media player. It lets you play a video in a separate window, which you can drag around and resize while performing other tasks on the phone, such as texting or web surfing.

We were quite pleasantly surprised at how well this worked. Not a single moment of lag or stutter while the video played in its own window, and the interaction between video and background was quite seamless. Granted, this isn't going to be used that often, but it's a nifty feature to have.

Gesture controls:

The Galaxy S III also has some new gesture controls you may not have heard about.

• Shaking the device lets you detect nearby Bluetooth devices, as well as update your email, news or weather apps.
• A double-tap on the top of the device lets you move to the top of a scrollable list.
• Turning the phone over now not only mutes calls, but also media or radio playback as well.
• Screenshots can be captured by a hand sweep across the screen.
• You can pause media playback by holding your palm against the screen.
• Finally, the camera can be accessed from the lock screen by holding your finger against the display and rotating the phone to landscape mode.

 
The new gestures menu in the settings


Hands ON With S3:

Main disadvantages:

• All-plastic body of dubious aesthetics
• No dedicated camera key
• microSIM slot
• S Voice is hardly as functional as ads might make you believe

FUTURE UPDATE:

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Update: International Galaxy S3 Owners Get It By The End Of August; US Consumers Will Have To Wait...

Samsung has been a busy bee this year. On top of releasing the Galaxy S3 earlier this summer, the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet around one week ago, and unveiling the Galaxy Note 2 in a few days, the Korean electronics company is also hard at work developing Jelly Bean upgrades for many of its devices. Now, multiple reports are stating that Samsung will make a Jelly Bean update for international Galaxy S3 owners available at the end of August.

The latest report comes from AndroidCentral , which claims that a source has revealed to them a Jelly Bean upgrade is on its way.

"Sources familiar with Samsung's plans inform us that the firmware is in the final stages of testing. The current schedule calls for the release of the international S3 Jelly Bean update shortly after the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin, Germany next Wednesday, Aug. 29," says AndroidCentral.

Samsung will reveal the Galaxy Note 2 at the Unpacked event in Berlin, but it is highly unlikely that the Galaxy Note 2 would ship with Jelly Bean pre-installed.

Website SamMobile  claimed to have gotten their hands on a pre-release build of the Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S3 and wrote this on August 16:

"ADVICE of SamMobile is wait for 15 days to get the official updates by KIES or OTA!!!!"

If you do the simple math, that puts the Jelly Bean upgrade date at August 31.

This Jelly Bean upgrade, however, will only be available to unlocked Galaxy S3 smartphones via OTA or Samsung's KIES software.

Galaxy S3 owners in the United States and other countries will have to wait until their carriers approve and distribute the Jelly Bean update after they receive it from Samsung.

Some user reviews:

1.Samsung Galaxy S3: an unforgettable experience

Its been a week I bought this phone, and trust me guys, this is a beast!!!
The first thing you will notice about this phone is, well,its size. Its huge to say the least, and phones shouldn't really get any bigger than this. Personally I feel the size is big for a phone, and is simply risky for one handed use. On the other hand, the larger screen estate does help when browsing the internet, or watching a video, etc.
Many people have been complaining about the build quality of this phone, saying its cheap plastic n all. While it doesn’t look as premium as other flagships, but its not that bad either. You will be fooled if you judge the phone's appearance by the pictures; in hand, it really looks and feels much better and sturdy. Also, its polycarbonate, the same material used on the HTC One X, so you can comfortably forget about the bad comments on quality of materials.
The display is one of the the best displays right now in the market, period. Super AMOLEDs are known for their rich colors and deep blacks, and trust me, you have to see it to believe it if you haven’t already. The blacks are impenetrable, and colors pop out to the eyes. You can tweak display settings if you like more natural looking colors. Finally, those who are worried about the pentile nature of the display, don't be. At pixel density of 306 ppi, you won't even notice the graininess in day to day use that was prevalent on galaxy S, unless you see from very close range.
The ICS 4.0.4 UI is skinned by Samsung Touchwiz Nature UX. This is nothing like what touchwiz used to be couple of years back, and really brings a fresh feel to user experience, not very visually appealing as HTC Sense, but not bad either. The software runs on Exynos quad core processor, that coupled with a MALI 400 GPU and 1 GB of RAM, this phone literally eats most other phones for breakfast. I haven't seen any android device this smooth, the UI literally flies with your touch, and apps launch in a flash; it just refuses to give up, its insanely fast! All of this is powered by a 2100 mAh battery, which is a removable one too. It easily lasts a day and a half with moderate to heavy usage, and the longevity is certain to increase after a couple of charge/discharge cycles.
Storage option is plenty, as this phone comes with 16 GB onboard. If you crave for more, it supports microSD card slots of upto 64 GB capacity, so storage shouldn’t be a problem for most.
The default video player, as usual, has very rich codec support. I have experienced some issues with .mkv format, and really hope this to be fixed soon with an update. The other popular formats, divx/xvid,mp4, flv, all played without any issues. 1080p videos played smoothly without any hiccups. This phone really is one capable video player OOTB.
Samsung has incorporated the touchwiz music player, with new, polished look. The player supports all popular formats, and the phone really excels in the audio department, with a top notch audio output. Buy a pair of good headphones and you are good to go.
Camera has the same pixel count as its predecessor, the S2 (8 MP), but Samsung have improved on the sensors for better pics, which is a smart move. For all who are talking about the absence of a 12 MP unit, unless you are planning to print billboard size photos, its really not necessary. Image quality depends on the sensors. The zero shutter lag feature works as expected. The camera has a couple of useful shot modes (burst shot, panorama, etc), which are handy, but I found that not all of them uses the flash, like the burst shot mode, so forget it if you are planning to make a burst shot in low light conditions. The front camera is a 1.9 MP module, and is pretty decent as well.
The camera is capable of recording 1080p videos is mp4 format, and you can actually capture 8 MP stills while recording the video simultaneously, which is a nice feature. I won't comment much on this since I haven't shot videos yet, but the online reviews have been positive about the video recorder. The front module is capable of shooting videos in 720p.
A couple of negatives that I have come across:-
1) Some of the features I feel are more of marketing gimmicks, like The Smart stay feature only works in a well-lit environment, and that too, the operation is not guaranteed (I personally was annoyed about this feature, and Samsung itself warns about the same).
2) Surprisingly, Samsung has removed/disabled the ICS feature of drag-n-drop one app shortcut on another to create a folder, so you have to go the old-fashioned Gingerbread way of creation of folders.
3) You cannot move installed applications to memory card.
If you consider the overall experience, there are not many phones in market right now which can dare to stand toe-to-toe with this beast. Its not perfect, but its far from being bad either. If you have the pocket and do not want to go for anything else but the best, you cannot go wrong with this phone. Highly recommended!!!

2.Not the best Value for Money... Time to give a little love to HTC...

Samsung is slipping...
Samsung has done a bad job with S3 this year. The design is uninspiring. Specs which were Samsung's USP have also been diluted possibly due to the weak Android competition esp from HTC and Motorola. LG is always plagued with software issues and confusion. So Samsung followed up the spec-busting S2 with a rather underwhelming S3. My sore points are as below:

Firstly sad design...! sadder colors...!
1GB RAM vs 2GB RAM expected
8MP Camera vs 12MP expected
720p Pentile Display vs SuperAmoled Plus FullHDDisplay
And unavailability of 32GB or 64GB version

Especially the 2GB RAM(available in Canada,US and Korea) is a slap in the face for every Samsung fan in India. Join the protest if you believe in the cause and show your displeasure at every Samsung forum online or otherwise.

Samsung is showing why we never should be loyal to a brand and just be objective while analyzing the value for money and features. Unfortunately Samsung may do well again due to weak Android competition. Probably we should favor HTC with some love so that Samsung feels the heat again.

A Final word:

The Galaxy S II (and its many incarnations) is a best-seller for Samsung and the Galaxy S III is a better phone in practically every way. So, there's every reason to expect that the S III will outdo its predecessor. It also has what it takes to lead the Android assault on the iPhone - S Voice is a less than subtle way to let everybody know.

In the end though, it seems the Galaxy S III has such a comfortable lead that Samsung may as well ease off the gas and let others catch up. Once again, the bar's been raised quite high and yet another Galaxy S is setting the standards - not only for Android but smartphones as a whole.