Announced earlier this month, Samsung's Galaxy S III is set to give the iPhone 4S a run for its money starting May 29 when it's released in Europe, but the phone won't be hitting the States until June. Thankfully, if you want to get your hands on Samsung's upcoming device as soon as possible, you can count on Amazon to give it to you -- for a high price, that is.
Tech news and review blog Unwired View noticed on Monday that Amazon is currently serving up the Samsung Galaxy S III GT-i9300 (which is the European version) for a whopping $799.99.
Amazon's product pages show that the Pebble Blue and Marble White versions of the Android-powered device will be released on June 1. (Earlier today, the site said the the Pebble Blue flavor would hit stores on May 29, but that date appears to have been changed.)
The devices being peddled on Amazon come unlocked and will allow users to switch networks as they please. However, as CNET points out, this perk has some strings attached: The unlocked phone won't work with either Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel and can only use the slower networks offered by AT&T and T-Mobile.
Even with these limitations, it would come as no surprise if Amazon has already received dozens if not hundreds of orders for the phone from the U.S. According to Reuters, as of Friday, Samsung said it had received around nine million preorders for the device from more than 100 global carriers.
Will you be preordering the Samsung Galaxy S III? Let us know in the comments! But before you do, flip through the slideshow below to get a better look at this new device's many features.
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4.8-Inch Super AMOLED Display
The screen is huge, up from 4.3 inches on the Galaxy S II. A 4.8 inch screen makes it one of the largest displays on a flagship phone there is. Compare with HTC's One X (4.7 inches), the Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx (4.3 inches), and Apple's iPhone 4S (3.5 inches).
The resolution is 1280x720.
S Voice
Samsung introduces 'S Voice' on the Galaxy S III.
To wake the phone up and activate the voice sensor, you simply say "Hi Galaxy!" and the phone wakes up; no need to push a button.
Other voice commands, in addition to the stock ones in the Google Voice Actions catalogue: Using your voice, you can launch the camera and take a photo, turn the volume up and down, snooze the alarm (say "Snooze" as your alarm is going off -- dangerous!), and send texts and emails.
Motion Detection
If you're writing a text to someone, and then you raise the phone to your ear, the GS3 launches the telephone app and automatically calls the person you were texting.
S Beam
The Galaxy S III comes with an NFC chip that allows you to "bump" information like photos or video to other Galaxy S III owners by touching phones together, using a combination of the NFC technology and Wi-Fi Direct.
With All-Share Cast, you can beam your screen to any DLNA-compatible television; All-Share Cast also allows you to share your screen onto anyone else's smartphone for document collaboration.
Pop Up Play
"Pop up play" will allow you to play a video anywhere on the screen while also performing other tasks, like checking your email or responding to texts. You can make the video window as large or small as you want.
Here, you can see a YouTube video playing toward the bottom of the screen while a demonstrator prepares to search Google.
Burst Shot
The Galaxy S III's 8 megapixel camera comes with burst photography: Holding down the shutter will take twenty photos in a row; you can then choose the best photo and the phone will automatically erase the other 19. A similar function exists on the HTC One line of phones.
An alternate function: The Burst camera can take 8 photos in a row and then automatically choose the best one, if you're too indecisive to choose on your own.
Buddy Photo Share
The photography software comes with smart facial recognition: When you take a picture of a friend, it can recognize their face and will prompt you to send that photo to that person's phone or email address.
Smart Stay
Essentially an eye recognition technology, the GS3 can sense when you are and are not looking it: When you are looking at your screen, the display will stay illuminated; when you stop looking at your phone, the display goes dark to save power.
The feature can be toggled on and off, if you prefer to just let your screen time out.
This Commercial
Here's the first commercial for the Galaxy S III. At least, we think it's advertising the Galaxy S III. It might also be advertising a soap opera or Zach Braff film of some kind.
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The Huffington Post | By Courteney Palis Posted: 05/22/2012 1:21 pm Updated: 05/22/2012 4:26 pm