Review The Advantages Between Samsung Galaxy S3 and LG Optimus 4X HD

Judging on their Q1 2012 earnings report, LG’s business is not all that bad, as their profit in the “Mobile Communications” sector has doubled over the same quarter last year. Apparently, one of the main reasons for their increase in profit margins is the commercial success of the LG Optimus line of smartphones. But if LG plans to keep sales of the Optimus line of Android smartphones alive over the following quarters, they need not look that far to catch a glimpse of the device they will have to beat in order to remain financially successful.

This will be the phone to beat in 2012 - the Samsung Galaxy S3

This will be the phone to beat in 2012 - the Samsung Galaxy S3

In fact, their perspective doesn’t even have to cross the South Korean border as Samsung — LG’s primary local and global competitor — has recently laid out its cards in the 2012 Android smartphone market.

So, what’s LG’s response to the Samsung Galaxy S3? None other than the first smartphone ever announced to carry a quad-core processor: the LG Optimus 4X HD. How do the two new flagship smartphones from LG and Samsung measure up against each other? Let’s find out, shall we?

The Optimus 4X HD design is primarily characterized by a strong, rectangular profile

Release Date

Although LG was quick to announce that the Optimus 4X HD will be equipped with a quad-core processor, they were not as fast to release it. The official release date for the LG Optimus 4X HD has been recently announced for June for a few select European markets. The UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Poland will apparently get the 4X HD first, followed by a gradual roll-out across the globe.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is scheduled to be released in a number of European countries on May 30, 2012, with a gradual international roll-out to occur just a week or so after. As for the second largest smartphone market in the world, the US, it is likely that the Galaxy S3 will be appearing sometime towards the end of June, although nothing has been officially confirmed yet. Essentially, the Galaxy S3 will be available for purchase sooner than the 4X HD; this surely won’t help with LG’s sales.

Processor, GPU and RAM

The LG Optimus 4X HD will use the Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC, meaning it will sport a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and the ULP GeForce GPU. It’s exactly the same thing as under the hood of the HTC One X (the international version at least).

The Samsung Galaxy S3 will also feature a quad-core processor, but one that Samsung have developed themselves (based on the same architecture as the Tegra 3: ARM Cortex A9) as part of the Exynos 4212 SoC that also includes a Mali-400MP GPU (the Galaxy S2 also used the Mali-400MP GPU, but it is believed that Samsung has overclocked the one inside the S3 from the usual 233MHz to 400MHz).

The Samsung Galaxy S3 on the left, and the LG Optimus 4X on the right. Both are quad core ARM A9 SoCs, and are very close, performance wise.

 The Galaxy S3 also features 1GB of RAM, which is sort of a standard for high-end smartphones these days. While preliminary benchmarks show that the Exynos 4212 is faster (but only slightly) than the Tegra 3, we’re going have to wait and see how long the S3’s battery lasts before judging if the extra juice comes with a compromise or not.

Display

While Samsung and LG are competitors in the Android smartphone market, the two companies are also involved in a more head-on battle against each other when it comes to the display market as a whole, ranging from TVs to PC monitors and so forth. As you would expect from the two biggest display companies, the display tech in their flagship smartphones for 2012 is truly something incredible to behold.

Samsung is currently making full use of their lead in the AMOLED field and have equipped the Galaxy S3 with a 4.8 HD Super AMOLED display running at a 1280 by 720 pixel resolution. The colors are vivid, the contrast is superb, but what might upset some users is the use of a Pentile arrangement instead of the standard RGB matrix.That’s why you shouldn’t take much consideration into the 306 ppi pixel density, as the number of subpixels is significantly lower than what you would encounter in a true HD screen.

As it turns out, the “true HD” part is exactly LG’s marketing pitch when it comes to the display on the LG Optimus 4X True HD, as its 4.7-inch True HD IPS display uses a regular RGB matrix to show 1280 x 720 pixels on the screen at a 312 ppi pixel density. We’ll have to wait until we get both these smartphones in our hands before we can tell for sure, but judging by the specsheet, these might be the best displays around for a while.

OS, UI and Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S3 and the LG Optimus 4X HD both feature an 8 megapixel primary camera with LED flash and autofocus. The S3’s secondary camera has a resolution of 1.9 megapixels, while the Optimus 4X features a 1.3 megapixel secondary camera.
Both smartphones run on the latest version of Android available, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung has equipped the S3 with its new TouchWiz UI. LG was quick to respond and have announced that the Optimus 4X will launch with LG Optimus UI 3.0, a direct competitor for the new Samsung TouchWiz UI as well as HTC’s Sense 4.0 UI. But although both UI’s should provide roughly the same experience (probably a lot worse than the vanilla-flavored Android UI), what sets the Galaxy S3 apart from all other smartphones are its human-centric functions (that you can read more about here).

Storage and Battery

The LG Optimus 4X HD will come in 16GB and 32GB models, while the S3 will also come in a 64GB version as well. Given that both these smartphones support microSD cards, you shouldn’t worry too much about storage space. At a battery level, the new Optimus will be powered by a 2140 mAh battery, while the Galaxy S3 will be powered by a 2100 mAh battery.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the specs, I would tend to believe that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has got everything it takes to be better than the LG Optimus 4X: overall better specs and better software, not to mention market availability at least a full month earlier. The only reason you should go for the LG Optimus 4X HD instead of the Galaxy S3 (at least as far as I’m concerned) is the true HD non-pentile display on LG’s next flagship smartphone.

Of course, we’ll have to wait a few weeks to get both these devices in our “labs” for a thorough hands-on session. At that point we’ll update this post with our impressions on how the two phones actually look and feel.

As always, feel free to leave me feedback in the comment section below!

Souce: androidauthority

Samsung Galaxy S3 Made ​​About 75,000 Workers

Yes, believe it or not dear readers, there are roughly 75,000 people working hard right now to manufacture the Samsung Galaxy S3. If you’ve read the recent report saying that there are 9 million pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S3, you must be wondering whether these people can actually make 9 million units in time for its release? The short answer is yes, they can.

How did we arrive to the said figures? We’ll spare you the horrid details (not to mention the math) and just give you a brief recap of a feature ran by ExtremeTech.com. In the article, Sebastian Anthony uses various statistics from Apple and Samsung to estimate the workforce necessary to churn out the millions of Galaxy S3 phones that the market demands.

Just to give you an idea of how the estimation was made, Anthony starts from the capacity of Foxconn’s production lines, a figure revealed earlier this year in the diary of a worker.

Now applying that with the production line of the Samsung Galaxy S3. Samsung’s factory will at least need 60 production lines to make 5 million units of the Samsung Galaxy S3. That equals to around 38,400 workers. So to make the 9 million units of the phone who are up for pre-orders, then it will require roughly 75,000 people to work on Samsung’s manufacturing plant. And these are the same number of workers who will make Samsung Galaxy S3 units beyond the 9 million pre-orders.

Those are the bare facts about the production of the Samsung Galaxy S3. Those are the number of people who are working so hard to deliver what we have all been waiting for all these months. Hopefully, the working conditions of Samsung workers in Korea are not as bad as the Foxconn employees who make the iPhone.

So by the time you get hold of the Samsung Galaxy S3, think about these people and thank them for their hard work just to make us happy, Samsung Galaxy S3 owners.

U.S. Galaxy S3 sales ban already requested; Apple brings up the same patent it used to block the HTC One X

In early May, soon after Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S3, certain reports claimed that the company’s legal counsel had a hand in the device’s design, a design that was heavily contested at the time by certain tech blogs and even potential buyers. It was suggested that the Galaxy S3 is lawsuit-proof, as its design would not infringe any of the patents Apple could use to attack the handset.

Apple and Samsung have been involved in a huge patent-based legal fight that spanned across four continents, with the two companies suing and counter-suing each other in 10 different markets. There are well over 30 lawsuits between the two at this time, and even though Apple obtained the most favorable (temporary) rulings so far in various countries, the fight is not yet over.

Now, we hear that Apple filed on Tuesday a new motion against Samsung in the U.S., seeking to obtain a preliminary injunction against Galaxy S3 sales in the region, as the device is apparently infringing certain Apple patents.

FOSS Patents reports that Apple asked the U.S. court in its second litigation in California to allow it to “supplement the record regarding Samsung’s Galaxy S3 product.” Apple wants to include the new Galaxy S model in a preliminary injunction motion that was filed back in February against the Galaxy Nexus over four patents.

The iPhone maker is apparently still analyzing the potentially infringing elements of the Galaxy S3 on two of those patents, but the company would like to obtain a sales injunction in the region based on the other two patents, the “the ’604 [unified search, i.e., Siri] and ’647 [data tapping] patents,” that are allegedly infringed by the Galaxy S3.

In case the “data tapping” patent sounds awfully familiar, it’s because we’re looking at the same patent that helped Apple score an import ban of HTC devices with the ITC. That ban caused the launch delay of the HTC EVO 4G LTE and the HTC One X in the U.S., and that patent helped Apple move forward with a new ITC complaint against HTC, that targets 29 new HTC devices, including the two mentioned above.

Apple’s counsel went ahead and contacted Samsung lawyers to discuss the whole matter, and asked Samsung to “confirm that it will not launch the Galaxy S3 in the United States until the Court has ruled on Apple’s preliminary injunction motion.”

As expected, Samsung responded to Apple’s formal request telling the court that “if Apple wishes to seek an injunction against the Galaxy S3, the Court should require Apple to file a new motion and allow the parties to develop a full factual record on all four factors. Accordingly, the Court should reject Apple’s motion to amend its current notice of motion for a preliminary injunction.”

Business Week reported today that Samsung stated that it will “vigorously oppose Apple’s request for a court to ban sales of the Galaxy S3 smartphone and still plans to go ahead with the device’s scheduled release in the U.S. on June 21.”

Samsung will launch the Galaxy S3 in the US with five carriers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular. We have already given you all the launch-related details for each American mobile operator that’s getting the phone, but we’ll remind you that only Sprint, T-Mobile mentioned actual release dates. Both carriers plan to launch the device on June 21, the date that Samsung referred to in its comments to The Associated Press.

The company said that will “demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S3 is innovative and distinctive” and we’ll certainly follow this new legal battle between the two giants for you especially since it involves this highly-anticipated Android device.

Source: Android authority

Why Smartphone is better? One X vs Galaxy S3

The recently announced Galaxy S3 has only one worthy Android rival out there, the One X, although from what we’ve seen so far, it’s Samsung’s phone that’s generating more pre-orders and sales than HTC’s handset.

Obviously, HTC isn’t too happy about it. In fact, the Taiwanese Android device maker decided to lower its Q2 outlook after taking into consideration the low European demand and the HTC EVO 4G LTE and One X delays caused by the U.S. Customs across the pond.

To counter the negative effects on sales the Galaxy S3 may have, HTC apparently created some “special packs” for  HTC sales teams, which explain why the HTC One X is better than the Samsung flagship device. The documents, available in the gallery bellow, show how HTC defends some of the “flaws” of the One X as follows:

• While the Galaxy S3 is slimmer, the HTC One X is just 0.3mm bigger, but it’s “lighter, feels slimmer and looks way better.”
• The Galaxy S3 has a removable battery, but the HTC One X’s battery can “easily” last a full day. The HTC One X non-removable battery design “allows implementation of unibody design which is more resistant to dust and water.” Furthermore, the Galaxy S3’s removable battery means that users will need a separate battery charger, “often impractical, especially when traveling.” When changing batteries, the Galaxy S3 would have to be turned off to make the change.
• While the Galaxy S3 has a micro SD card slot that lets users bump their total memory, the One X comes with 32GB internal memory and 25GB of Dropbox cloud storage.
• The Galaxy S3 has a bigger display, but it’s “less bright and blush especially from an angle and is lower density.” Moreover, the PenTile technology used by the Galaxy S3 display is “commonly known as being inferior compare [sic] to true HD LCD display.” HTC goes to great lengths to compare the two display technologies by showing the differences between AMOLED and SLCD2 displays and between PenTile and regular RGB-RGB panels.

When it comes to certain specs and features the One X is better than the Galaxy S3, the documentation suggests. It has a:

• Better speed/faster – Quad-core 1.5GHz vs Quad-core 1.4
• Better camera – 70% better quality with f2.0, Faster: 4fps/99 shot, Faster startup: 0.7s vs Poor low light with f2.6, Slower: 3fps/20shots, Slower startup: 0.99sec.
• Better sound – Beats Audio vs “none”
• Better screen – Brighter & cleaner, higher density vs “Dull Bluish,” lower density
• Better durability – Polycarbonate vs Plastic
• Better design – “World acclaimed” vs “Disappointing”

Some of HTC’s claims are rather silly, and can be easily debunked but you can’t blame HTC for trying. At the same time, some of the “flaws” it tries to defend aren’t necessarily flaws. Nevertheless, the One X is definitely a great handset, and alongside the Galaxy S3, they are the best Android smartphones made to date. But as it often is the case in the Android mobile ecosystem, a better high-end smartphone is almost certainly down the road.

  
  

At the end of the day, it’s up to buyers to choose between the Galaxy S3 and the One X, and if they end up buying the first one, it’s not necessarily because the Samsung phone is the better choice. There are other factors that could influence that decision. The Galaxy S3’s late announcement, the almost simultaneous launch in several markets including the U.S., Samsung’s marketing efforts and the increased hype around the third device in a family of illustrious predecessors, are all factors that will eventually help the Galaxy S3 beat the One X when it comes to overall sales.

What HTC seems to lack is a strong smartphone brand name – Samsung has a strong “Galaxy S” family of high-end smartphones – although the company has corrected that this year, by launching its “One” line. Hopefully in time, the “One” line would become equally popular.

What smartphone are you buying between the two? We have a Galaxy S3 vs One X video review to help you decide.

Some Version of The Galaxy S3 Delayed in UK

[Update] Since this article was written, Samsung has confirmed the delays in an official statement that you can read below.

Heads up, UK folks! There’s some bad news about the Samsung Galaxy S3 that you’d definitely want to know about. Some UK carriers and retailers are now reporting a possible shipment delay of the flagship phone.

Vodafone said that customers who pre-ordered the 32GB Marble White model of the phone aren’t likely to get the phones tomorrow. The carrier also mentioned the same delay will be faced by those who pre-ordered the 16GB and 32GB Pebble Blue models of the phone. It might take between two weeks and a month for customers for customers to receive those variants. Yikes!

This leaves the 16GB white variant of the phone as the only one that isn’t affected by any shipments delays. According to a Vodafone spokesperson, said model will be sent out to pre-ordered customers on May 30.

Online retailer Clove has also announced that they will delay the shipment of the Samsung Galaxy S3 for pre-ordering customers. As seen on its website, shipment of the first stock of the Marble White Galaxy S3 will only be done on June 1, instead of the planned May 30^th date. Things are looking even grimmer for the Pebble Blue model, as the retailer will only ship the first stock on June 5. Note that the date for the later is still tentative.

It’s hard not to link the shipments delay to the recently reported manufacturing problem that Samsung is apparently facing for the blue Galaxy S3, but that doesn’t explain why some retailers are forced to push back the release date of the white model as well. Perhaps, in the words of a Vodafone spokesman, the pre-orders for the Galaxy S3 have just been too overwhelming for the supply to keep up with the demand.

To our UK readers, are any of you affected by the shipments delay of the Samsung Galaxy S3? Feel free to vent out in the comments below.

[Update] Here’s Samsung official position on this issue:

“Samsung’s GALAXY S III Pebble Blue version comes with a newly invented blue color and special hyperglaze material.In order to meet the highest internal quality standards and to provide the best quality GALAXY S III to customers, a short supply of Pebble Blue version is expected in some regions in the next 2-3 weeks.Samsung is working hard to ensure that customers will get the Pebble Blue colored devices as soon as possible.”

 

Samsung announced that the Galaxy S3 coming to 5 US carriers in the following weeks – Snapdragon S4, 2GB RAM, starting from $199

The much awaited Galaxy S3 will not disappoint Americans, like it happened last year with the delays that marred the release of the Galaxy S2. According to a Samsung official statement, the Galaxy S3 will arrive in the US in a few weeks, with details to be revealed in the coming days. As we suspected, the device will launch on five carriers: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular.

This is a big improvement over last year, when US customers had to wait not only for the Galaxy S2 to arrive in US, but also had to wait many weeks for the device to hit their carrier. Samsung has clearly learned from the past, and now that they’ve become the world’s phone king and smartphone king, they’re taking their position very seriously. The Koreans seem to be strengthening their relationships with carriers all around the world and, this time, they have more negotiation power against the powerful US carriers.

I believe there will be several versions of the Galaxy S3 in the US (that is, if carriers decide to have their own design and such, like with the One X). However, all the carriers will get a Galaxy S3 with the Qualcomm S4 processor, with its integrated LTE radio. Although it would have been possible for them to adopt the Exynos 4 Quad SoC and combine it with a separate baseband chip, that would have taken a lot of time to implement.

That is why we’re seeing everyone adopting Qualcomm’s S4 chip. Using Qualcomm’s solution dramatically reduces time to market, thanks to the integration of LTE in the SoC. Samsung official press release only mentions the Snapdragon chip, which contradicts some pundits that speculated that T-Mobile and other non-LTE carriers might get the quad-core Exynos chip found in the international version.

The American Galaxy S3 will come with 2GB of RAM, just like the Canadian and the Japanese version, which should appease some of the worries of spec geeks. Besides the proc and the RAM amount, the other specs and, at least in TMo’s case, the appearance of the Galaxy S3 will remain the same as those of the international version.

Samsung revealed that the Galaxy S3 will go from $199, although it did not provide more details on specs and availability  - “Exact pricing and retail availability will be announced by each of the five carriers in the coming weeks.” The press release does reveal that Samsung device will hit the markets “almost simultaneously”, so a synced launch across all carriers is excluded. As far as we can tell, the presumptive launch date of June 20 still stands, and fits nicely with Samsung’s statements.

Even though the Galaxy S3 is a highly controversial device (not unlike the iPhone 4S), because of its “non-iconic” design, plastic build materials, and Pentile screen, I still think it will easily break the sales records of the Galaxy S2. The smartphone should sell up to 20 million units by the end of the year, and from 30 to 40 million by the time the next Galaxy flagship arrives.

What do you guys make of Samsung’s announcement? Full press release is below.

Download it Now! Samsung Galaxy S3 ROM is Leaked

Only yesterday, wickedly skilled developer Chainfire rooted the S3 before it is released. Today, the Samsung obsessed boys over at SamMobile received a leaked ROM containing all the goodies packed into the upcoming Galaxy S3. Yes, you read it right, a full Android 4.0.4 ROM with the latest iteration of TouchWiz featured on the Galaxy S3 is here!

So, if you’re looking for a way to test or simply use the S3′s TouchWiz interface even before the device itself is released, this is your chance.

Note: this ROM will only work if your device has Android 4.0 ICS, initial reports say

The leaked ROM of the Galaxy S3 that has trickled its way onto XDA’s forum gives you the experience of having Samsung’s latest flagship phone in your hand – way earlier than those 9 million (possibly more now) people who have pre-ordered the much anticipated Android device.

 S-Voice, Smart Stay and Pop Up Play are only some of the pretty amazing features of the S III. S-Voice is a Siri-style virtual assistant on your Android phone. With your voice, you can control your device by saying commands like launching the camera, controlling songs, adjusting volumes and you can even yell ‘snooze’ to your S III’s alarm if you want it to go away for a while.

Other features baked into the latest version of TouchWiz is ‘Pop Up Play’, which is a brand new feature from Samsung. It lets you watch HD videos while checking your email or simply chatting with your friends via SMS.

So, if you’re feeling adventurous, and want to grab a taste of the Galaxy S3′s full ROM, you can download the ridiculously large file (768MB) here. But, if you’re only looking for the APK of the S-Voice feature, you can download it below. Initial reports are indicating that Samsung’s cloud is quite selective, and will only work with Samsung devices. Still – worth a try though! Let us know how it goes. We’ve got the downloads coming in one of our team members Galaxy Nexus, so stay tuned for the full ROM review soon!

S Voice APK

• Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?m7mu6pdt0b63dul
• Uploaded.to Mirror: http://uploaded.to/file/itkvz5ej
• Dropbox Mirror : http://db.tt/UJHkCZWc

It’s great to see the S3′s features leaked to other Android smartphone with this leaked ROM. The Galaxy Unpacked event in London marked Samsung’s first foray into focusing on the more human elements of technology. Most of their announcements have been full on spec hype-fests, but this time around, it was different. 

Soon though friend soon – we will have a Galaxy S3 of our own to play with and love, but for now, this ROM is just an appetizer to the feast that is to come in 10 days from now!

Are you going to be giving the S3 ROM a try? How about S Voice? Let us know down below!

Home button still in the picture, T-Mobile Galaxy S3 photo Leaked

While the Samsung Galaxy S3 is already available in various international markets, US Android fans interested in purchasing the company’s 2012 flagship smartphone will have to wait at least a few more weeks to get it, if recent rumors are correct.

The phone is expected to land in U.S. stores on June 20, at which point you’ll be able to get your Galaxy S3 flavor from one of the four major mobile operators – Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are already confirmed to carry the Galaxy S3 – or from one of the regional carriers that will surely pick up the phone.

Meanwhile, the first press photo of a U.S. Galaxy S3 version has been leaked and the image is quite revealing. The Verge got its hands on pics of T-Mobile’s Galaxy S3 versions, both in white and blue. From the looks of it, it appears that U.S. carriers are finally ready to launch the same Galaxy S3 version that’s available in Europe and other markets. The images reveal that the Home button is here to stay for a change, at least in T-Mobile’s Galaxy S3 version.

Historically, US carriers pressured Samsung to create custom Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 versions for their customers, and even went ahead and used different names for those devices. One of the most notable differences between US and international Galaxy S / Galaxy S II versions was the absence of the Home button, in both cases. American Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 models feature the standard 4-button layout found by default on most Android devices, while their international counterparts have a larger Home button flanked by two capacitive buttons.

In 2010, the Galaxy S was referred to in the USA as the Verizon Fascinate, the AT&T Captivate, the Sprint Epic 4G, the T-Mobile Vibrant, or the U.S. Cellular Mesmerizing. In addition to different names, these devices sported a custom design for each carrier. However, all these handsets offered similar functionality, with only the Epic 4G standing out from the crowd thanks to its 4G WiMAX connectivity and slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

In 2011, the Galaxy S2 was sold as the AT&T Galaxy S2, the T-Mobile Galaxy S2, the Sprint Epic 4G Touch and the U.S. Cellular Galaxy S2. While most carriers kept the original name of the product, only AT&T decided to stick with the default 4.3-inch screen size, while the other carriers opted for a larger 4.5-inch display. Furthermore, Sprint went ahead and asked for 4G WiMAX support to be added to the Epic 4G Touch, while Verizon chose not to launch a Galaxy S2 version, but wait for the Galaxy Nexus to arrive and enjoy a brief exclusivity of Google’s third-generation Nexus smartphone.

We already know that this year’s Galaxy S3 U.S. versions will have built-in 4G LTE support, but if the images we saw today are to be believed, then we expect little changes for these devices.

American buyers interested in getting the original GSM Galaxy S2 model – sans LTE support that is – can purchase the device from third-party retailers, such as Amazon.

Leaked video of Sprint Galaxy S3 ahead of Launch

The Sprint Galaxy S3 is already available for pre-order and it will be launched in just over a week from now, on June 21. For that matter, in addition to Sprint, Samsung’s 2012 flagship device will hit five more U.S. carriers this summer including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and C Spire.

In case you’re particularly interested in purchasing the device from Sprint, then you’ll be happy to hear that no less than 15 Galaxy S3 training videos for Sprint employees have been leaked, each one demoing certain features of the handset.

The videos, posted by Inside Sprint Now, are very short (45 to 80 seconds) but they each show you an interesting Galaxy S3 function including All Share, Dropbox, Group Cast, lock screen, S Beam, S Voice, picture sharing, Smart Gestures, Samsung TecTiles, and camera features.

Of the available videos, we’ll notice two of them, the ones that are detailing Smart Gestures and Samsung TecTiles. With Smart Gestures, users will be able to initiate certain Galaxy S3 actions on the handset by simply taking advantage of the gesture features the device supports. These gestures include Direct Call, Smart Alert, Shake to Update and can be customized in the phone’s settings app, which is also where you can get more details about the available gestures.



Samsung TecTiles is a new NFC-based sticker that Samsung will have in stores alongside other Galaxy S3 accessories. The sticker can be placed in various places (house, car, work) and can be used to automatically trigger certain actions or start certain apps on the Galaxy S3 when the phone is in NFC range.


 

While the videos have not been confirmed by either Sprint or Samsung, they certainly look genuine enough, and should prove to be quite helpful not only to Sprint staff training on the device but also to potential Galaxy S3 buyers, no matter what U.S. carrier they choose.

Samsung Galaxy S3 can be sold for a full retail price of $599 and $649 in Verizon

You’ve already got the lowdown on Verizon’s Samsung Galaxy S3 yesterday. As reported, the carrier will be selling the 16GB model of the flagship phone for $199, while the 32GB one will go for $249 — both on a 2-year contract. The launch date isn’t the only thing that’s missing for now, as customers of the Big red may also be wondering what the full retail price of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is going to be.

Knowing the retail price of the phone is important for them, because it might be the only way to maintain their unlimited data plan with Verizon. In case you missed the announcement, here’s what Verizon said a month ago, and the reasons why customers are also waiting anxiously to see when the carrier will announce the end of grandfathered unlimited share data plan.

• Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
• When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
• Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.

While there’s still hope that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will land before the unlimited data party ends, it’d be handy to know how much the phones will cost without a contract. According to sources quoted by Droid-Life, the non-contract price of the 16GB Samsung Galaxy S3 will be set at $599, while the 32GB model can be had for $649. They may look steep, but just remember that in some parts of the world the 16GB model is going for $750.

Galaxy S3 will be released in Canada on June 20 for $150 on contract

 

After hitting yesterday 28 countries across Europe and the Middle East, the hugely anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 is finally closing in on its North American release. We have some good news for Canadian tech enthusiasts waiting for the S3, which could be interpreted as good news for Samsung fans in the US.

The first piece of Galaxy S3 news to come from the Great White North refers to the phone’s pre-orders, which will most likely start today. Rogers Wireless, the biggest mobile carrier in Canada, has put up a special web page with a countdown clock for the S3, which will run out at 12:00 PM EST, when the operator will start taking pre-orders.

The information is not confirmed and there is a small chance that the countdown will lead to something other than the start of the pre-ordering process, but then again, we’re almost sure that this is what that clock is all about.

Second up, we have even better news from Videotron, a small local carrier from Quebec. On Videotron’s official website, there’s a sign up page stating that the “new Galaxy is coming June 20^th”. That has been the most likely release date for the phone in Canada for a while now and is on-par with what we reported a couple of days back. This not a 100% officially confirmed information, though, and Videotron doesn’t state anywhere on its site that the S3 will start shipping on June 20, so the carrier could actually start taking pre-orders on that day (highly unlikely, but still possible).

 Finally, Best Buy Canada provides another piece of the puzzle, the pricing of the Galaxy S3 in Canada, so we can now say that we know (almost) all of the important things about Sammy’s new flagship. According to BB’s site, the S3 will start at $149.99 with a 3-year contract (from Rogers) and will be available for as much as $169.99 (from SaskTel). In between the two carriers, there are Telus and Virgin’s offerings, both operators being ready to sell the new Galaxy phone for $159.99.

Best Buy doesn’t state when we should expect the phones to start selling at any of the four major operators, but chances are that June 20 is the “magic day”. Also, the price tags haven’t been confirmed by the carriers, so they are only 90% sure for the time being.

We have nothing new to report on the Galaxy S3’s availability and pricing in the United States, but it is very likely to see the phone released at the same time as in Canada, on June 20. The Canadian price tags, on the other hand, will be a hard act to follow in the US. But we’re still waiting for the S3 to be made available at around $200 with two-year carrier agreements across the States.

Stay tuned on our website in the next hours or so, because we will most likely be updating this post with confirmations and other details. In the meantime, our Canadian readers are asked to stay calm, get their budgets in order, and prepare for the time of their lives.

Review HTC One X VS Samsung Galaxy S3

Both the Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X are beautiful pieces of gear, no doubt. Both are powered by powerful chips and both lead the benchmark rankings. Both are built with utmost attention to detail, by the two most prestigious Android manufacturers in the world.

So, how could one pick a side in this epic battle? How can one say, with confidence, that the Galaxy S3 is superior to the One X, or the other way? Taking sides it’s hard to do, especially since doing so will bring upon you the ire of countless fans of the “losing” side. But we did it anyway in our Galaxy S3 vs. One X review, that we published just hours after we first got our hands on Samsung’s new hero device.

Now, our Sam Cater has taken again to comparing the two titans of the 2012 Android lineup, this time on video. Check it out below – Sam pitches the One X and the Galaxy S3 in a 7 minute review that will take you through many of the essential aspects of the phone. You’ll see how the two quad-cores fare against each other, from booting times to launching apps, to navigating the user interfaces.

You’ll get to hear the difference in the audio output of the two devices and see which one does better at taking snapshots. Sam even succinctly compares the Ice Cream Sandwich implementations of HTC and Samsung – Sense and TouchWiz.

  

After watching the video, you might reach the same conclusion I did. It’s all a matter of feeling. It’s so hard to discern between the S3 and the HTC One X that most buyers will end up making an emotional decision, instead of a rational one. Personally, I think that the One X looks and feels better, but I wouldn’t look down on anybody for choosing the Galaxy S3. They are that close.

Samsung Galaxy S3 teardown reveals iPad 2-like CPU, iPhone 4S-like Sony camera

As expected, the recently launched Galaxy S3 has been torn apart by the guys over at Chipworks in collaboration with iFixit, and the teardown revealed a few interesting details about the company’s 2012 flagship smartphone.

The phone sacrificed in this joint venture was an international GSM Galaxy S3 version, with the LTE model that will ship to U.S. carriers to be cracked open on a future date.

Among the internal components found inside the Galaxy S III, Chipworks noticed the application processor, a Samsung Exynos 4412 32nm CMOS 1.4GHz quad-core ARM processor that’s apparently the same generation as the “Apple A5 rev 2, APL2498, also fabricated by Samsung,” which is found inside the 2012 iPad 2 and Apple TV models. Furthermore, the 8-megapixel camera backside-illuminated sensor is produced by Sony, and it’s similar to the one found inside the iPhone 4S, but newer.

What’s also worth mentioning is the fact that the display of the smartphone is a very expensive part to replace in case you end up breaking it. The glass is apparently “fused to the display and the display to the Galaxy S3’s frame,” which means you’ll have to shell out more cash for these components in case of accident.

As for the handset’s battery, you’ll be happy to hear that the Galaxy S3 has a “serviceable battery,” which means you’ll probably be able to replace it yourself in case you’ll need more than one unit to get you through the day, especially when if you end up buying the LTE version.

iFixit did not provide a repairability score for the Galaxy S3 at this time, not that we’d encourage you to fix the handset yourself in case of breakage.

Dropbox not giving 50GB capacity for Samsung Galaxy S3 on AT&T and Verizon

If one of the many reasons you’ve pre-ordered the Samsung Galaxy S3 on AT&T or Verizon was the free 50GB online storage offer from Dropbox, prepare to be disappointed. According to a moderator on Dropbox’ forum, the two carriers have apparently opted out of the 2-year free cloud storage deal that Samsung announced at the phone’s unveiling last month.

There are many possible motives as to why AT&T and Verizon are depriving future owners of Galaxy S3 of their free cloud storage. Perhaps the two are worried about the repercussions of having millions of customers syncing data simultaneously and how it would affect their networks. Perhaps they are planning to release their own cloud storage solutions. Who knows? Whatever the reason, it’s a done deal and customers once again will get the short end of the stick.

On the plus side, there’s no shortage of options when it comes to cloud storage service. Your Samsung Galaxy S3 also packs a lot of internal storage, with the possibility of adding up to 64GB through microSD card for those multimedia files. So, the loss of Dropbox may not necessarily be a deal breaker.


Any AT&T and Verizon customers who would like to share their thoughts on the matter? Chime in below!

Bluetooth certified for Galaxy S3 some more, all but confirmed for all major US carriers

Less than 24 hours after seeing Verizon’s Galaxy S3, codenamed SCH-I535, getting Bluetooth SIG’s approval, we now have the best of news for fans of the other three major US carriers. The Galaxy S3 has gotten certified in three more versions and will most definitely hit Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile in addition to Big Red.

The news is very refreshing – we are now almost sure that the Galaxy S3 will come to all of the major networks in America, at about the same time. That’s a huge step forward for Samsung, who enraged many tech enthusiasts last year, with the scattered releases of the Galaxy S2. Not only did the S2 come very late to the United States in 2011, compared with Europe, Asia or even Canada, but it hit the American carriers some time apart, with Verizon being left out of the “business” entirely.

However, history will most likely not repeat itself this year, and you can expect the SCH-I535, the SGH-i747, the SHG-T999 and the SPH-L710 to start selling in a matter of weeks. Verizon’s SCH-i535 and Sprint’s SPH-L710 will most likely feature LTE connectivity and, aside from the fact that they will come with a different processor than the quad-core Exynos powering the international version, they should also look a tad different than AT&T’s and T-Mo’s Galaxy S3s

There’s also a good possibility that we’ll see the four versions of the latest Samsung flagship getting slightly different name tags (like it happened with the S2 last year). For the time being, though, we don’t know whether to expect some “Epic”, “Super” , “Ultra” or other such gimmickry attached to the name of the S3.

You should also keep in mind that, while usually very trustworthy, Bluetooth SIG’s listings are not official pieces of information. No American carrier has yet confirmed the Galaxy S3’s availability, so it’s not impossible (though it’s highly unlikely) to see the phone picked up by only two or three of the “Big Four”.

Stay tuned on our website to find out all the official information about the S3’s release(s) in the US, set to come our way very soon! In the meantime, don’t forget that you can already pre-order the SIM-free, unlocked Galaxy S3 from Amazon.com, if you’re not into carrier agreements and contracts.

Are you still excited about the Galaxy S3 or is the hype toned down a bit? Which one of the four major carriers in the US do you think will offer the best deals with Sammy’s new handheld? Let us know below!

Bell Galaxy S3 Launch in market of june 27

Just like American carriers, which have delayed their Galaxy S3 launch thanks to an overwhelming response from consumers, Canadian mobile operators have also pushed back the launch date of Samsung phone. But it looks like at least Bell has started to receive Galaxy S3 shipments, which is good news for consumers.

MobileSyrup reports that the phone started to arrive “at Bell locations across Canada – both in Pebble Blue and Marble White.” Therefore, we expect all other Canadian carriers to receive their own Galaxy S3 units, although we have no similar confirmation mentioning other mobile operators in the region.

The Galaxy S3 is supposed to start selling on June 27 in the country, with Bell employees being forbidden to make the phone available to the crowds anytime sooner.

Galaxy S3 buyers should also know that the phone is again available for pre-order from Best Buy Canada, although only in-store pre-orders that require a $50 down payment are taken at this time. The pre-order period expires on June 26, a day ahead of the local Galaxy S3 launch.

Are you buying a Bell Galaxy S3 or will you get the smartphone from a different carrier?

Pre Order Now at Bell Canada, Galaxy S3 only the 16 GB model for the time being

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 was made official in Canada exactly one week ago, at which point we found out the phone’s pricing and exact release date. We also expected to see Canadian carriers taking pre-orders for the S3 and, while some (Rogers and Telus) did exactly so, Bell and SaskTel were left out of the mix.

The waiting is fortunately now over for Bell customers, who can finally make sure they have a cozy place in (front of the) line for Samsung’s new flagship phone. That’s the good news of our today’s report, while the bad news (yeah, there’s bad news, too) is that the 32 GB model is not yet up for pre-order.

You can therefore either go for the 16 GB version of the Galaxy S3 right now or wait for the other model, currently listed as “coming soon”, to pop up on Bell’s site. As far as the 16 GB model goes, that’s available both in Marble White and Pebble Blue, so the color choice is all yours.

In terms of pricing, things stand as they did last week. The 16 GB Galaxy S3 is available for $159.95 with a three-year contract, or for $649.95, free of any carrier restrictions. We also know the other model’s future price outright ($699.95) and suspect it to come for $209.95, with a new carrier agreement.

June 20 is still the phone’s planned shipping date, but we’re beginning to worry a bit about the 32 GB version, which might actually start selling a couple of days (or, God forbid, weeks) later.

The S3 on Bell will come packing a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor and feature 4G LTE connectivity. The 4.8-incher will also come with 2 GB of RAM, despite a spelling error on Bell’s website listing it for a few hours as set to feature just 1 gig of memory.

The rest of the device’s features are probably known by heart by most of you, but just to make sure, here’s a quick rundown:

• OS (Shipping): ICS 4.0.4
• Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
• Weight: 133g
• MicroSD card slot for expanding the memory
• Display: 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED 1280×720 (306ppi)
• Connectivity: NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, MHL Video Out
• Camera: 8MP Rear-facing, 1.9MP Front-facing
• Battery: 2100 mAh
• TouchWiz with Motion UX, S Beam
• AllShare Play enhance functionality
• MP3/ACC+/WAV audio player
• DivX/Xvid/MP4/WMV/H.263/ H.264 Video Player

Keep an eye on Bell and our website if you’re still waiting for the 32 GB S3 or go ahead to the carrier’s site and pre-order your own spanking new super-phone with 16 GB of internal memory!

June 20 release Galaxy S3 in US, date gaining credibility after Australian announcement

Although Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has already hit Europe, large parts of Asia and Australia and has been confirmed as starting shipping on June 20 in Canada, Americans still don’t know when to expect the super-phone.

There have been a bunch of speculations saying that the S3 will see the light of the day across the States at the same time as in Canada, and even one rumor that claimed T-Mobile to be the first carrier to offer Samsung’s new flagship on June 20.

Sammy is keeping unusually quiet, but one of their partners might have spilled the beans in Australia. As you might already know, the S3 was unveiled and put up for sale in “the land down under” yesterday. It seems that, during the Vodafone launch there, one of the carrier’s officials mentioned June 20 as “the first stop in the phone’s nationwide US tour in New York”.

There’s no way to know exactly what the Vodafone exec was talking about, but there are only two possible explanations. Either the phone will enjoy a special unveiling event in NYC three weeks from now and will be put on sale later on, or the S3 will be presented to the public and made available at the same time.

It might also be possible that the announcement was a simple mistake, but we know Samsung and Vodafone well enough to be almost positive that we’re not dealing with an error.

June 20 is now the almost definite release date of the Galaxy S3 in the US, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some questions to be answered. Will any of the major carriers enjoy some kind of exclusivity period as it happened with the S2 and Sprint last year? Will the 4G LTE version of the phone come with 2 GB of RAM, as it has happened in Japan and Canada? Will the 16, 32 and 64 GB models all be put up for sale in both white and blue?

All these and much more are to be answered over the coming weeks, so keep in touch with our website and we will surely let you know about all of the important S3 details in the States.

Source code for multiple region in Galaxy S3 is Released

As the Galaxy S3 makes its landing in more countries, Samsung has decided to treat the Android community with a sweet present, by making the phone’s source code available on the company’s Open Source Release Center website.

You can download the 180MB file of the source code right here. Along with the international GT-I9300 model, Samsung has also provided an updated source file for three additional models of the Galaxy S3 released in other regions. If you have the GT-I9300 MEA, GT-I9300 SEA and GT-I9300 models, the additional 1.2MB update is also ready for download.

You’ve had time to marvel at the hardware of the Samsung Galaxy S3 for a good while. With the source code in the open, you can start tinkering with the phone’s software. It’s time for devs community to get busy and work their magic to deliver the amazing creations we got used to.

Samsung has been a rather exemplary figure when it comes to giving developers and modders something to play with. Who says Android phone makers can’t have their cake and eat it too? The Korean company, along with several noted others, have proven that releasing the source code of their phones won’t be a detrimental factor to sales.

Rumor: Sprint’s Samsung Epic 4G Touch price to drop to $99.99 on June 21

The Galaxy S3 US launch is finally (almost) upon us. For Android fans in the US, that’s great news, not only because they’ll get to play with one of the best smartphones ever, but also because some older devices will become more accessible than ever.

We’ve suspected for a while that the Samsung’s Galaxy S2, still a more than decent phone, will see discounts in the coming weeks, and now we have a confirmation of sorts from TechnoBuffalo.com. According to a “trusted source” inside Sprint, the Now Network will be dropping the price of the Epic 4G Touch to a winning $99.99 on a two-year contract on June 21, which just happens to be the release date of the S3.

The Epic 4G Touch is Sprint’s exclusive take on the Galaxy S2, and, while it has been the first S2 version to hit the US, it remains one of the best around. Launched way back in September 2011, the Epic 4G Touch has topped Sprint’s best-selling lists for a long time, going for $499.99 outright and $149.99 with a two-year agreement, after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos processor and sporting a 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 480 x 800 pixels resolution, Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch is clearly overshadowed by the new Galaxy S3, but it can still beat a lot of current mid-range devices and even some high-enders.

That being said, you’ll probably not find a better deal for the Galaxy S2 for the time to come, so keep an eye on Sprint’s website on June 21, when the special offer should go live. The deal will supposedly include the standard $50 mail-in rebate, so you might want to prepare $150 if you plan to get the discounted Epic 4G Touch.

If the old Samsung Galaxy S2 is too modest to satisfy your thirst for technology, you should know that Sprint’s S3 is still currently available for pre-order, in Marble White and Pebble Blue and both the 16 and 32GB versions. The new super-phone is expected to start shipping next Thursday, but Sprint is still claiming it’s doing its best to get it to you before that date, so you might be in for a surprise as soon as Monday or Tuesday.

Will you be looking to get the Epic 4G Touch if today’s rumor proves to be accurate? Is $100 the correct price to ask for last year’s flagship device? Drop us a comment and let us know what you think.