Now that Apple has launched its two flagship products for the next 6 months, the tech world's attention shifts its focus to Samsung. The success of the Korean tech company's current flagship phone the S2 has seen the handset garner a reputation as one of the only Android contenders that can topple the iPhone from its number 1 perch.
Over the last couple of months there have been daily rumours of what Samsung has planned for the third iteration of the handset. In a bid to keep some form of order we've trawled every tech site from China to San Francisco to roundup the latest rumours; everything from the looks to the specs. Everything you’ll read in this post are, of course, rumours – with the sheer number that are circulating it means they range from the feasible to farcical – so have a lump of trusty salt at the ready.
Release date
At the beginning of the year it was widely reported that Samsung would be on hand at MWC to show off the new handset. Well, that just didn't happen - they were at MWC, but without the S3.
It's clear that Samsung rightfully recognises that the S3 is their most important product launch of 2012, and to this end they have seemingly decided they will unveil the phone at an event solely dedicated to the smartphone.
Speaking about the Samsung Galaxy S3’s no-show at MWC this year an official spokesperson for Samsung said: "The successor to the Galaxy S2 smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product."
The current belief by many is that the S3 will be shown off for the first time in April. Head of Samsung China, Kim Young-Ha, seemingly confirm this when he let it slip in a interview that the Galaxy S3 could be released in the UK in April.
Design
Over the last couple of weeks there have daily leaks of what the handset will look like. What we do know is it's likely to be drastically different to any of the previous Galaxy handsets - this is because Samsung wants to move the look and design away from the iPhone and in the process avoid and future legal wrangling.
The latest shots offer up a handset quite different to what has been talked about thus far. It sports a peculiar S-shaped bend in the 4.6-inch 3D screen which looks to be highly un-ergonomic, and as if someone might have sat on it by accident – but hey who are we to argue with the future.
Meanwhile, Samsung could have accidentally outed the Galaxy S3 at CES during a promotional video. The video shows actors using a phone that could be the new S3. It sure looks like what we’ve come to expect from Samsung: thinner, bigger and lighter. But the video was a promotional tool – and would Samsung be so foolish to out their new handset by accident? We have our doubts. Sure looks good, though.
Specs
The specs for the phone are a little easier to pin down. Multiple online sources seem to agree that the new handset will come with a huge 4.6-inch Super AMOLED plus screen, with an impressive 1280×720 screen. This would mean the screen is easily on par with anything Apple has released with a pixel density of 319ppi - just a fraction off Apple's 331ppi iPhone Retina display.
Known specifications include an Exynos 4212 quad-core 1.8GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 12MP rear facing camera, a 2MP front facing camera and 4G LTE connectivity. It will also have version 4.0 of Samsung's TouchWiz interface and we understand that it will run Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Wishful thinking
No comes the farcical: there have been hundred of rumours about the S3 – some more than reasonable, and some not so – the first we’ve come across is the possibility that Samsung will employ new waterproofing technology in the S3. Quite why were not sure. It’s not as if your average smartphone user is sat by the pool thinking: “Damn I wish my phone was waterproof”. It’s not that it’s a bad idea, but honestly who really worries about dropping their phone in water?
Electronics waterproofing outfit P2i is in talks with “large Korean manufacturers about making their phones water-resistant”. Eric Cohill, COO for P2i said “There is major interest from carriers in the US to discuss criteria to help against water ingestion for customers. We’re working with major carriers to create a standard of performance [for water repellence] which can give OEMs something to work to when creating smartphones. There are several hundred pound gorillas in the phone industry, we’ve got the ‘fruity companies’ and the big Korean brands, and they’re all becoming interested as they don’t want to be second best in the market.”
Wireless of the future
When Apple released the iPhone 4S and a new version of iOS one of the headline grabbing features was the ability to ditch wires when synching the phone. But Sammy might taking this concept one step further: wireless charging.
Now this is nothing new. You can get charging solutions that will let you place a phone on a charged surface and the power is transferred via the physical connection. But Sammy’s solution is taking it to the next level. Apparently Samsung have developed its own patented wireless charging method that doesn’t even require the phone to be physically touching the charging surface. It is claimed that the smartphone can be up to “a meter or two away”. We’ll believe when we see it.
Whatever Samsung does decide on it’s clear that Samsung will try and out-do the competition on the specs list and hopefully will create a design every bit as inspiring as Apple does. Well know for sure soon.