| Samsung unwraps latest Galaxy SIII rival to iPhone |
| | Sat, 05 May 2012 |
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CAPITALS: Samsung Electronics unveiled a new top-of-the-range Galaxy smartphone in London on Thursday, updating the most direct rival to Apple's iPhone with a larger touch screen and more powerful processor.
The South Korean technology group, which overtook Finnish company Nokia as the world's biggest cellphone maker earlier this year, said the new Galaxy SIII model would go on sale in some markets in late May and around the world from June.
The new Galaxy SIII model will have a 4.8 inch touch screen, 8 megapixel camera and will use the latest version of Google's Android software.
Analysts said the expected massive marketing campaign and features of the handset - billed as the official smartphone of the London 2012 Olympics - were likely enough to generate strong sales, but the launch left many of them unexcited.
"It is not an eye-catching device that will overwhelm consumers," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.
The blue lights in the launch venue downtown London, echoing the cold rainy day outside, and the background sounds of nature, which Samsung said inspired the design, resulted in a fairly muted atmosphere in the room.
Analysts said the new device represented a formidable challenge to rivals, given a combination of the Galaxy brand, sales support from operators and heavy marketing.
Exclusive Features and Opinions
Samsung has foregone cutting-edge design and world-first specs on the flagship device in favor of an improved user interface, software optimization, exclusive on-board features and consumer-pleasing specs.
The device sports a desirable list of hardware specifications that include a huge 4.8" HD Super AMOLED (1280x720) display, a 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quadprocessor, an 8MP camera, a 2,100mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. It runs on a customized version of Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Added features such as Siri-challenging voice commands (S Voice), cloud storage, eye-tracking and lag-free photo taking will also help Samsung differentiate the device from its Android competitors.
While bloggers lamented the flagship smartphone's lack of edgy design, they praised the device's specs, improved user interface, software optimization and exclusive features.
Engadget said, "this is a good-looking phone, with an impressive high definition Super AMOLED screen and a processor that looks likely to spar for top spot among Android devices," but complained it lacked stand-out design and "wow-factor hardware."
Ars Technica called it "a conservative evolution of the Galaxy S II," and added "It's just a pity that for all the innovation on the inside, and all the work that Samsung has done on the software, the whole thing is wrapped up in a package that's so mediocre. Flagship phones deserve better than flimsy plastic."
"There's no doubt that the SIII will be a big seller," said The Next Web.
The Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone will launch in Europe on May 29 before a wider rollout in global markets. Pricing has not been announced.
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