Samsung Galaxy S3: First impression

LATEST BUZZ: THE NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY S3

New Delhi: Samsung Mobile Galaxy S3, Samsung's flagship Android phone, has hit India. It was launched today at a glitzy ceremony in New Delhi. Since Galaxy S was launched in 2010 and set a new standard for Android phones, smartphone enthusiasts have come to expect each flagship Galaxy device to be a market leader in terms of hardware, performance, features and user experience. Galaxy S II nicely exceeded what was expected of it and became one of the best-selling Android devices of all time. No wonder, there is a lot of buzz around Galaxy S III (SGS III). 

We have the review unit of SGS III with us and over the next few days we will be putting it through its paces. In the meantime, we can share our first impression of the device. 

First the basics. With a screen size of 4.8 inches, the phone feels big in hand. But that is somewhat of an industry standard nowadays. Other flagship devices like Galaxy Nexus or One X too are equally large if not more. But given the size, we will definitely ask you to check out the device before buying. This is particularly important if you have small hands. The phone is built of glossy plastic but it feels sturdy and quite classy, at least in white colour. The Super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1280x720 pixels. It has punchy colours, something that is hallmark of AMOLED screens. 

Samsung says the phone's design and user interface are inspired by shapes and sounds found in nature. As a user, you are going to find the evidence of this as soon as you power up the phone. The lock screen on the phone doesn't have any strip showing people how they should swipe the way it is on iPhone, or any circle that needs to dragged. Instead it asks users to swipe on the screen and when a user does that, the moment creates ripples, as if there is water under the screen, before it is unlocked. Then there are sounds. For example, when the phone is unlocked the sound is that of a drop falling into a pool of water. 

Overall, the phone feels fast. It runs on Android 4.0.4, which is the latest version. In comparison, Galaxy S II that received Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4) updates day before yesterday uses Android 4.0.3 version. 

Before we go back to exploring the device, we want to talk about a couple of pictures that we snapped with the phone's 8MP camera. All of these pictures were taken in good lighting. And all of them have excellent level of detail and very pleasing colours. Of course, we need to spend more time with the phone and its camera before we can conclusively say something. 
That's all for now. We will post the full review, including how it stacks up to competitors like HTC One X, in the coming days.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC OneX vs iPhone 4S

 Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC OneX vs iPhone 4S

The unveiling of Samsung Galaxy SIII recently has further fueled the ongoing smartphone war. One of the most-awaited phones of 2012, Samsung Galaxy SIII is designed to take the fight to the new crop of quadcore superphones. 

The smartphone takes on Apple's iPhone 4S and HTC's recently launched quadcore smartphone HTC OneX. Here's how the three compare in specs.


Processor:

Samsung Galaxy SIII: The phone has Samsung's new Arm-based processor Exynos 4 Quad. The 1.4 Ghz quadcore chip is based on ARM Cortex A9 and enables more tasks in a shorter period of time claims the company. 

Apple iPhone 4S: iPhone 4S is powered by dualcore A5 processor. The company claims that two cores in A5 chip deliver up to two times more power and render graphics up to seven times faster than iPhone 4. 

HTC OneX: HTC One X runs on a 1.5GHz Nvidia Tegra3 quadcore chip.

Operating System:

Samsung Galaxy SIII: Samsung Galaxy S-III runs on Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich OS. 

Apple iPhone 4S: iPhone 4S comes pre-loaded with iOS5. 

HTC OneX: HTC OneX also runs on the latest Android operating system Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich.

Camera:

THE IPHONE 4S CAMERA

Samsung Galaxy SIII: Samsung Galaxy S-III boasts of an 8MP rear camera and a 1.9 megapixel front camera. 

Apple iPhone 4S: iPhone 4S has an 8MP camera with back illuminated CMOS sensor, wider aperture and higher quality lens. It also records video in 1080p full HD resolution now. It has a VGA-quality front camera. 

HTC OneX: HTC OneX has an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash. There's also a 1.3 MP front camera for video conferencing.


Display:

Samsung Galaxy SIII: Galaxy SIII boasts of a 4.8 HD Super AMOLED display, with ultrafast response time. 

Apple iPhone 4S: iPhone 4S retains the same 3.5-inch (diagonal) Retina display as found in iPhone 4. 

HTC OneX: HTC OneX has a 4.7 inch Super IPS LCD2 screen.


RAM & Storage:
Samsung Galaxy SIII: Samsung Galaxy has a 1GB RAM. It comes in three storage capabilities 16, 32 and 64GB. The smartphone weighs 133 gm. 

Apple iPhone 4S: Though Apple did not disclose iPhone 4S RAM, as per teardown tests of the device it is 1GB. 

HTC OneX: HTC OneX also has 1GB RAM. The smartphone has internal memory of 32GB. It weighs 130 gm.


Battery:
Samsung Galaxy SIII: Samsung Galaxy SIII has a removable 2100mAh battery. 

Apple iPhone 4S: Apple claims iPhone 4S offers battery life offers 8 hours of 3G talk time, 6 hours of browsing (9 on WiFi), 10 hours of video playback and 40 hours of music. 

HTC OneX: HTC OneX has a non-removable 1,800 mAh battery.


Courtesy: The Times Of India

Samsung Galaxy S3, next-generation Android smartphone to launch in India soon

THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S3

NEW DELHI: Samsung on Thursday unveiled Galaxy S3, its next-generation Android smartphone, at an event in London. The phone is powered by Exynos 4212, a quad-core processor running at 1.4GHz. It is expected to become available in India in the coming weeks.

The phone has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 720P, 1GB RAM, 16/32GB storage with a slot for microSD card, 8MP camera with burst mode, zero shutter lag and backlit sensor, 2,100mAh battery, Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth. The phone weighs 133 grams and has a thickness of 8.6mm.

One of the unique features in Galaxy S3 is its ability to track the eye movement of the user. Samsung calls the feature SmartStay and claims it will make using Galaxy S3 more intuitive. The phone also has S Voice, a feature similar to Siri on iPhone, that will help users in doing several tasks through voice commands.

Galaxy S3 runs on Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android operating software. However, the default user interface of the OS is TouchWiz Nature UX, a custom skin prepared by Samsung.

Galaxy S3 is one of the most anticipated phones of the year so far. It succeeds Galaxy S2. In February, Samsung had said that it had sold over 20 million units of Galaxy S2 since introducing it in the market in April last year.

Samsung's official Twitter account said on Wednesday that the company would not launch Galaxy Nexus India but consumers should not feel dejected because new and better phone would be arriving soon, hinting at S3 launch here in May.

Samsung, which started selling Galaxy range of phones in 2010, has emerged as the biggest Android phone maker. In fact, helped by the sale of Galaxy Note and Galaxy S2, the firm recently became the largest phone vendor in the world, ending Nokia's 14 years reign at the top. According to IDC, a market research firm, Samsung shipped 93.8 million phones in Q1, 2012 compared to 82.7 million phones shipped by Nokia.

In smartphone category, the firm ousted Apple from the top position. It shipped 42.2 million smartphones compared to Apple's 35.1 million iPhones. Apple, however, continues to be the world's biggest smartphone maker in terms of profit.


Information Courtesy: Gadgets @ Times Of India