Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone

 

Samsung Electronics has launched the Galaxy S III, which comes with a quad-core processor, a bigger screen and a host of software features, including voice recognition, the company said at an event in London.  

After months of speculation about screen sizes, camera resolutions and design, the smartphone is finally here. The 3G version will be available from the end of the month in Europe before being rolled out to 144 countries total. The LTE version will be rolled out in June, according to Samsung.

The hardware specification is close to other high-end Android-based smartphones launched this year, including the already available HTC One X.

The Galaxy S III is powered by Samsung's quad-core 1.4GHz processor, which is based on the the ARM Cortex A9. It has a 4.8-inch super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1280-by-720 pixels, which is housed in a shell that is 8.6 millimeters thick and weighs 133 grams.

Storage capacity is either 16, 32 or 64GB which can be expanded via the MicroSD card slot. There is 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera and NFC, as well.

Samsung has been a proponent of NFC, so support for the technology isn't a surprise. But the memory size and camera resolution were rumored to be 2GB and 12-megapixel.

But even though the camera has the same resolution as the one in the Galaxy S II, it is an improvement, according to Samsung. For example, users will be able to take 20 photographs in a row and the camera can pick the best photo out of eight taken in a row, it said.

One advantage over HTC's One X is that the LTE-version of the Galaxy S III, which will initially be released in the U.S., South Korea and Japan, will have the quad-core processor, according to Saadi. The LTE version of the One X has a dual-core processor, while the 3G version has a quad-core processor.

For other parts of the world, Samsung will release a version with HSPA+ at 21M bps (bits per second).

To help all that run as long as possible, there is a 2100mAh battery.

Galaxy S III is an evolution, not a revolution, that they wish it had a better camera, that it came in ceramic material, and that the design wasn't that compelling. I must respectfully disagree on all three counts, and here's why.

Design-
I found the phone's design and two colors -- marble white and pebble blue -- immediately compelling. The handset's plastic looked far more premium than other devices. Yes, the white version is shiny plastic, but the silver accents give it a more premium look and feel. The "pebble blue" color (which to my eyes is more like a slate gray with bluer overtones) looks like it has a brushed finish.

The design is also accessible, with the 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen (1,280x720 pixels) taking center stage. Samsung does this purposely, to make the handset as universally appealing as possible, and I think it's a good strategy.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich
The Galaxy S III features Android 4.0 ICS with its TouchWiz interface. I've never been the biggest TouchWiz fan, but I found this version a little less intrusive, and the phone navigable and easy to use. Samsung's TouchWiz does add certain enhancements that we'll get to in a moment, so I have to appreciate the layer.

Features-
One of the most impressive features is the 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos 4 quad-core processor on this global model. It felt very fast, but of course the data network also contributes to impressions of speed when it comes to data-heavy tasks like loading Web sites and uploading photos.

Since Wi-Fi always struggles within the concrete depths of a convention center, there was some legginess there, but I can't attribute that to the processor. I'll need more real-world tests to really gauge the internals.

The camera is another major area of interest. Here it's an 8-megapixel shooter that can shoot 1080p HD video. For all you naysayers who were hoping the rumors of a 12-megapixel camera would pan out, bite your tongues. After all, the outdated assumption that the more megapixels you have the better simply isn't true 

The front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera supports shooting 720p HD video, something new for Samsung. There's some sensor intelligence in there that can keep the screen lit while you look at it, a scenario suited for video chats.

Apps-
Samsung has put a lot of work into differentiating itself from rivals with its apps. There are a lot, many involving sharing using AllShare Play, a DLNA protocol app, and many involving Wi-Fi Direct. For instance, you can open the AllShare Play app to view content across your AllShare apps on the smartphone, tablet, computer, and so on.

 

There's also a group photo-sharing app that leverages AllShare, and an enhancement on Android Beam, which uses NFC technology, or near-field communication, to "beam" URLs, map data, and smaller chunks of information between compatible phones. S Beam uses Wi-Fi Direct to send files up to 1GB in size, including photos, music and video files, and documents. You don't have to have Wi-Fi on to use it, but you do need a phone with S Beam.

The app that probably captured the most attention is S Voice, a Siri-like presentation that builds off Samsung's voice actions app. It works as promised, doing things like fetching the weather or a map, placing calls, and so on, but one element I do like is being able to wake the app up when it idles by calling its name.

Another great voice element is being able to speak commands to do things like answer or ignore phone calls when they come in.