News Technology 2012 - Samsung Galaxy S III: Everything You Need to Know Form - http://www.pcworld.com/article/254950/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_everything_you_need_to_know.html
After all of the rumors and speculation, the Samsung Galaxy S III is finally here but you probably have a few questions about this new Android phone.
Samsung is the master of flash and flare at its press conferences,
but we’re here to help you get to the nitty gritty of why you should
care about this phone. The Galaxy S III will go on sale in Europe on May
23. No official word yet on a U.S. launch, but it could come this
summer.
Can the S III Really Follow Your Every Move?
The Samsung S III really wants to be your new best
friend--your new psychic best friend. According to Samsung’s somewhat
creepy commercial (shown below), the S III “follows your every move.”
Scared yet?
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In reality, the Samsung S III can do things like predict when you
want the screen awake by using the front-facing camera to monitor your
eyes. If you’re watching a movie on your phone and happen to fall
asleep, the phone’s display will turn off.
The S III also has a feature called S Voice, which is a customized voice-recognition system. Hmm, sound familiar?
Like Apple’s Siri, S Voice can recognize a variety of commands. For
example, you can say “snooze” when your alarm goes off and buy yourself a
little more sleeping time. You can also say “direct call” and ring
somebody while you’re in the middle of a text. You can also control the
volume of your music, organize your calendar, and launch the camera via
voice commands.
However, there's no word, so far, on whether S Voice works with
third-party applications. S Voice works with eight different languages,
including British English and American English. A few of my
friends from across the pond have complained about Siri’s difficulty in
understanding them so I guess this is good news there.
Is It Quad-Core Powered?
Samsung confirmed before today’s announcement that the Galaxy S III phones will be powered by the company’s own quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad processor.
Oddly, however, the processor specs were not in the press materials we
received today. I have a suspicion that the Samsung quad-core processor
is not compatible with U.S. LTE networks. If true, we might see a
different processor on the S III phones in the United States. Samsung
would not comment on what sort of processor the U.S. versions will have
when I asked.
HTC pulled a similar trick with the One X.
The global version runs on an NVidia Tegra 3 processor, while the U.S.
phone uses a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. NVidia’s
quad-core processor was not yet compatible with AT&T’s LTE network
at the time of the One X’s manufacture. In our benchmarks, however, the
U.S. version of the One X did quite well despite having fewer cores.When Will the S III Come to the United States?
According to our sources at Samsung, the 4G (HSPA+/LTE) versions of
the S III will come to North America this summer. Samsung said it will
optimize the phones for the LTE and HSPA+ networks. Timing, pricing, or
carrier partners have not yet been announced.
What is the Deal with the New Sharing Apps?
Samsung made a big deal about the ease of sharing from the S III, but
from what I can tell, it looks like you can only share from your S III
to another. Samsung has enhanced Android Beam,
which allows large files to be transferred between phones quickly. Now
called S Beam, you can share music, photos, and up to 1GB of video from
your S III to your buddy’s S III.
To help you understand, here's how Android Beam works on the Galaxy Nexus.
Samsung also enhanced its DLNA service for sharing content from your
phone to your TV. AllShare Cast lets you wirelessly connect your Galaxy S
III to your TV, tablet, or PC and share files over WiFi. However,
you’ll have to buy the separate All Cast Hub accessory in order to use
this feature (see the Accessories question below)
What is an HD Super AMOLED display?
The
3.4-inch-thick S III has a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a
1280-pixel by 720-pixel resolution. This is the same display technology
we saw on the Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy S II had Super AMOLED Plus, which
is actually based on a PenTile pixel structure in which pixels share
subpixels.
The Galaxy S II phones, on the other hand, have full RGB displays in which the pixels have their own subpixels.
This means that HD Super AMOLED displays have lower overall subpixel
density, which could translate to reduced sharpness and degraded color
accuracy.
When we compared the Galaxy Nexus to the Galaxy S II, however, we
didn’t notice a huge difference in display quality. The only quality
different we detected was color accuracy, especially with whites (they
appeared to have a yellowish tint). I have yet to see the Galaxy SIII up
close and personal, so I’m not sure if it suffers from this same issue
One cool thing is that despite the Galaxy S III having a larger
display than its predecessor (4.8 inches versus 4.3/4.5 inches), it
isn’t much bigger. There’s very little bezel around the phone as the
display takes full advantage of the hardware real estate.
Will Battery Life Really Improve?
Battery life is the bane of every tech user. Samsung claims that it
won’t be an issue with the S III as it has a larger 2100mAh battery. For
comparison, the Galaxy S II has a 1560mAh battery, while the Galaxy
Nexus has a 1750mAh battery. The granddaddy of phones with long battery
life, the Droid Razr Maxx, has a 3300mAH battery.
I fear that Samsung’s all-seeing front-facing camera might put a
strain on the battery life, however. Also, phone manufacturers still
haven’t worked out all the kinks with battery conservation on LTE
networks. Battery life will depend on what sort of processor Samsung is
packing into its S III phones for the United States and, as we’ve
learned, this is still very much up in the air.
Is the Camera Any Good?
The Samsung Galaxy phones have always performed quite well in our
PCWorld Test Center camera subjective tests. While I haven’t personally
gotten my hands on the Galaxy S III’s 8-megapixel camera, I can tell you
a little bit about its new features.
According to Samsung, the Galaxy S III will have zero shutter lag.
The company also claims that the camera will start in “less than one
second.” The S III will also have a burst-shot mode, a feature we saw on
HTC’s One phones.
The S III camera also will have a feature called “Best Photo,” which
will automatically select your best photos out of a series of eight
photos taken in succession. But do you really want your phone to be your
photo assistant?
What About Accessories?
Samsung Galaxy Note S PenSamsung announced a slew of accessories, including a C Pen stylus (which seems pretty similar to the S Pen on the Galaxy Note),
an AllShare Cast Hub for wireless streaming, a docking station for your
desk, a wireless charger, a car kit, and an HDMI adapter.
Samsung also announced the S Pebble “music companion” MP3 player. Why
does this accessory look so familiar? Oh yes, in 2009, I reviewed the Samsung Pebble MP3 player which looks strikingly similar to the S Pebble.
Is the Galaxy Nexus Outdated Now?
Samsung Galaxy NexusNo,
relax. It might not have as many cores as the S III, and the display
might be a little smaller, but don’t feel bad if you just walked out of
the store with a brand new Galaxy Nexus. Your Galaxy Nexus is still an
excellent, current phone and offers something the Galaxy S III does not:
A pure, untouched Android experience.
Have more questions? Sound off in the comments and I’ll try my best to answer them for you.
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