Samsung has been relentless, bold and innovative over the last few months with its avant-garde mobile devices. September of last year saw the South Korean phone maker launch its record-breaking Galaxy S2 smartphone, so popular that it made a new lineup of versions for the company. Amid the handset’s successful run, Samsung again released another highly anticipated phone in the Galaxy Nexus, a joint project with search giant and Android OS creator Google. The latter handset reached the market in January this year. The Samsung Galaxy Note, a hybrid phone that somewhat created a bridge between smartphones and tablets with its humongous display. Overall, it was a busy one-year period for Samsung, which helped catapult it as the world’s largest smartphone maker.
The mobile market is still fond and hyped up about the Galaxy S2 and all its variants. However, Samsung only wants to give consumers little breathing room with the release of its next-generation Android phone in the Galaxy S3. The new handset broke records for most pre-ordered Android handset ever, toppling down the milestone set by its predecessor.
Samsung recently launched it across all major U.S. telecoms carriers, namely Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.
What makes the Galaxy S3 the new flagship of Samsung? What sets it apart from competition?
The Samsung Galaxy S3. (Image: Houang Stephane, via Flickr / CC)
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)
While the first Android-based handset to run Android ICS is Galaxy S3 sibling Galaxy Nexus, Samsung ensured that its latest flagship smartphone will run on the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. The Galaxy S3 now joins a select few that runs Android 4.0 out of the box. However, several other Android devices are likely to receive an ICS update soon.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – S Beam/Android Beam
During the Galaxy S3 launch, Samsung said clearly that its new flagship aims to offer users easier and better sharing through a smartphone. It rids of modern day complexities usually linked with a simpler and faster way to share digital content, which includes documents, images, presentations and videos.
Samsung provided support for S Beam and Android Beam technologies for users to just tap two Galaxy S3 devices together and share documents, photos and videos in a flash, and more using Near Field Communications (NFC) and Wi-Fi Direct. This helps you save cellular data costs and time for finding Wi-Fi hotspots.
Unfortunately, this specific feature requires phones compatible with S Beam or Android Beam, so do not expect it to work by tapping the Galaxy S3 against any handset to share/transfer files or media content. S Beam is surely valuable for sharing files among family and friends who have compatible devices. It may urge them to purchase the handheld for quickly sharing content with you and between each other.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Photo Sharing
“Share Shot” enables users to make friends lists for sending sets of images. For instance, you could go out on a nature-themed trip over the weekend with friends, and then quickly send the images to those who were with you. “Buddy Photo Share” features an easier task to tag people in photos. It has face recognition technology and allows you to add tags manually or pull one from the phone’s contacts list and share the edited image.
Samsung Galaxy S3 – File Sharing
The Galaxy S3 “All Share Play” feature provides easy access and sharing of files on other devices such as tablets and PCs, while “All Share Group Cast” allows file sharing and collaborating with others on a Wi-Fi network.
While other manufacturers and rival mobile platforms offer similar sharing services, Samsung wants to set the Galaxy S3 apart with its own technologies.
The Samsung Galaxy S3. (Image: Houang Stephane, via Flickr / CC)
Samsung Galaxy S3 – Key Features and Specs
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is set to hit U.S. shelves in the next few weeks through five telecoms carriers, which include AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless.
Versions that will arrive on AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and Verizon will all support 4G LTE technology for faster data connections, whereas the T-Mobile model will only support 3G HSPA+/HSPA/EDGE networks. The companies have yet to announce the pricing details and associated contracts for the handset.
The Galaxy S3 itself is somewhat large at 5.38 inches x 2.78 inches, but 0.34-inch thin frame counterbalances the wider dimensions. It only weighs around 4.7 ounces and touts a 4.8-inch 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) Super AMOLED display.
The handset has a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor and comes with 16 GB of built-in storage, with support for microSD cards of up to 64 GB.
Read our own review here. We also quoted some of the experts’ reviews here. Official details on the Galaxy S3 on Samsung’s website are here.
[poll id=”3″]
