Samsung Galaxy S3: The truth is out there

We have seen and heard far too many rumors about the Samsung Galaxy S3. We “know” almost everything about the device, including the display, the size, the processor, the internal storage, the camera, and the battery. The only problem is, none of it might be true. Or all of it could be. We will not know for sure until the official announcement, which is expected to be May 22 in London. But again, that is another rumor that needs validation.

Apart from specification rumors, we’ve also been seeing numerous images of the supposedly real Galaxy S3. Most were easy to identify as fakes, while some were completely different devices. But we aren’t any closer to getting any accurate information about the phone than the day we first heard the name “Samsung Galaxy S3.”

After a lot of visitors commented along the lines of “Stop talking about the S3 because you don’t know anything about it,”  I started to wonder as to why. Why don’t we know anything concrete about this phone yet? Especially if we are as close to the launch as we think.

Up to eight weeks before a launch, manufacturers are known to send out their devices for carrier testing. While most vendors would do anything to prevent information leaks, it is during this carrier testing phase that we receive the most credible leaks, including specification sheets, “future” press shots, and, in some extreme cases, even hands-on videos.

According to the Korean Financial and Tech Blog ET News, Samsung had sent out the Galaxy S3 for carrier testing over six weeks ago, which is in line with our estimated release date.

Yes! We finally get to see the real Galaxy S3! Not quite.

In a move straight out of Apple’s playbook, Samsung is using disguised prototypes, said to be in a “lunch box” design, when sending out the device for testing. If you are confused, what this means is that while the internal hardware and device firmware are the same, the casing itself is inconspicuous and is nothing like the final design of the product. This allows carriers to test the device, while also preventing information leaks.

This ploy is a brilliant way to maintain secrecy, and without an semi-official leak, allow Samsung to make design changes right until the launch. Who knows, all the speculation and rumors so far might be a part of Samsung’s strategy to find out what, we, the consumers, would like to see on its next flagship device.

All we know for certain at this point, and something we knew all along, is that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will feature the Android 4.0 OS.

What are your thoughts? Do we now have concrete information on why we don’t have any concrete information about the Galaxy S3? Also, how many times have I stated or implied a rumor in this article?

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LG’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the upcoming 4.7-inch D1L

Previously today, we’ve talked about LG’s plans to develop a “thinking smartphone”, a very interesting endeavor that aims to put the South Korean smartphone manufacturer above local rival Samsung (as well as other major manufacturers around the globe). But, as the thinking smartphone is probably at least a couple of years from entering production, it does make a lot of sense for LG to prepare for a much more imminent threat posed to its already modest sales, namely the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S3.

Unfortunately, all we have at this point are a bunch of rumored specs for the Galaxy S3. But I’m sure a lot of our regular readers have figured it out by now that none of the smartphones announced by LG at MWC in early March can stand as a real competitor to Samsung’s next flagship superphone.

Fortunately for all Android fans out there, LG seems to have figured that out as well, and, according to recent reports, is planning the release of a worthy contender to the rivals’ S3. Although the production name of this device is unknown, the upcoming LG smartphone in question is referred to as the LG D1L.

According to recent rumors, the LG D1L will feature a 4.7-inch LCD display running at a native 1280 x 720 pixel resolution (there will be none of that 3D screen madness that LG has tried – with limited success – to push over the last couple of years). The device will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 SoC, which makes use of a 1.5GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A15-based CPU – probably the best smartphone CPU currently available. Of course, on top of that impressive hardware, LG D1L will run the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich.

The LG D1L, expected to be released in May 2012, is touted as LTE-compatible, meaning it will probably reach the US and LG’s native South Korea first, while common sense dictates that a 3G HSPA+ version of the D1L will be released in European markets as well, by the end of Q2 2012.

Overall, while the rumored specs for the LG D1L are fairly decent, I’m willing to bet that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will sell many times more units, just out of the inertia of the Galaxy series alone. The D1L will be more like an alternative the HTC One S than a serious threat to the S3.

As always, feel free to contradict me in the comment section below, gloves off!

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Samsung’s winning streak: 41 million smartphones sold in Q1, $5.15 billion profit

Samsung’s consistent financial run over the last couple of years doesn’t seem to be gearing towards an end any time soon. According to figures quoted by KoreaTimes.co.kr, Sammy has sold no less than 41 million smartphones in Q1 2012, posting, at the same time, a record operating profit of 5.8 trillion Korean won ($5.15 billion).

The first of these two figures, while extremely impressive, is on-par with the predictions we reported a week ago. At that time, Samsung seemed to be heading towards quarterly sales of 40 to 44 million smartphones, so taking that into consideration, Sammy could have actually done a tad better.

On the other hand, you should not forget that we are dealing with estimates, so in reality things could actually be a bit different. I wouldn’t expect huge gaps between the estimated figures and the official ones, though. Moreover, we will probably never learn the official sales numbers, meaning that we will have to take Korea Times’ information as is.

Like I said, Samsung’s sales results don’t come as a huge shock for pretty much anybody, but the 45 trillion won operating profit can surely be described as a nice surprise. The estimates for the January-March period mark a 96.6%  increase over the same period of last year, as well as a 9.4% gain over the previous quarter. That’s really something, especially considering that sales are usually weaker at the beginning of a year.

50 million smartphones in three months? It can be done, even without the Galaxy S3

After such a great year, with constant sales improvements and a huge profit boost, we have to ask ourselves where will Samsung be drawing the lines of success from now on. I mean, if they managed to sell 41 million smartphones in what is usually the slowest part of the year, where will they be going from here?

Our good colleague and friend Bogdan spoke about Samsung’s near future last week and said that the giant could sell as much as 50 million smartphones in the next three months if the S3 will be released anytime before June. Well, I’m willing to call his prediction and up the ante a bit, saying that Sammy can sell 50 million smartphones even without the Galaxy S3. What makes me say something as crazy-sounding as that? First of all, the Galaxy Note “phablet”, whose sales have been booming lately.

Secondly, it seems that Sammy has been doing a great job in the low-end and mid-range market niches over the past few months, so I suspect this to be going on for a little while longer. And thirdly, I’m basing my prediction on recent history, cold facts, and numbers.

Samsung has enjoyed sales grow rates of between 15% and 60% quarter over quarter, this past year. For example, in Q2 2011, Sammy sold 20.2 million smartphones, while in the following three months period, it sold no less than 28.1 million devices. From 28.1 million, the number quickly grew to 36.5 and now we have 41 million. To jump from 41 to 50 million, the Koreans would need a 21% increase. Is such an feat easy to achieve? Of course not. Can Sammy pull it off? I think it can, and I am willing to bet that it will, with or without the S3.

What do you guys think? Can Samsung continue to grow, even without the Galaxy S3’s launch before June? Is the sky the limit for Sammy or will their sales and profits drop soon enough? Hit us back with a comment and let us know your opinions on the subject!

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New Samsung Galaxy S3 render pops up. Is May 22 the official release date?

After I recently wrote about how easy it is to create a render for the Samsung Galaxy S3, it’s now time for me to write about exactly that, as a new supposed depiction of Samsung’s upcoming superphone has surfaced in Korea. I was set to approach this latest “rumor” about the Galaxy S3 with caution, but I actually believe that we might be looking at the real thing. Here’s why.

The timing of this “leak”, which has popped up on a few Korean websites, couldn’t be better. With the recent announcement of the HTC EVO 4G LTE and the HTC One X already shipping to select countries in Europe and India, Samsung really needs to step up its game and announce the Galaxy S3. While a lot of people are eagerly waiting for this device, they might eventually get fed up with the wait and go ahead with an (supposedly) equally good, if not better, device. I, for one, am certainly vexed about the endless speculations about the device and I will be more than a little upset if the device isn’t announced soon.

Other fake renders that we’ve seen in the past have mostly been design changes made on top of the Galaxy S2 or other existing devices, and as such, it has been possible to weed out the fakes easily. I’m no Photoshop expert and I know that the above render can be made up with some time and effort, but I feel like this could be authentic. The phone design is futuristic and impressive, and in line with what we expect Samsung to do with its next flagship device.

The May 22 date and the London location are certainly in line with the strong possibility that Samsung will announce its hero device ahead of the Olympic Games, of which it is a main sponsor.

In a recent tweet, Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin, one of the few persons believed to have held the actual device, left us with a “No comment” which is generally corporate speak for “It’s true, but you’re not supposed to know about it yet.” While this is just further speculation on my part, could this tweet be an indication that we finally have a real image of the S3?

My above reasoning can easily be turned upside down and used to show that this latest render is fake. As we’ve seen, it’s not that hard for an expert to put something like this together. The image of the phone is also similar to a lot of concept phone designs I’ve seen around the web. Along those lines, anyone could arrive at the potential date and location for the “actual” announcement of the device, especially since that date has been rumored before.

With no official confirmation from Samsung about the S3, we can only process this newest information with the mandatory grain of salt. All we, the millions of Android fans impatiently waiting for this device, can do is send out a humble request (which will eventually turn into an angry demand, I’m sure) to Samsung: Please, do not drag this out any longer!

What do you think? Do we finally have some real information? Or is it just another fake?

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Samsung may announce the Galaxy S III in April

Over the weekend rumors started that Samsung would announce the Galaxy S III at the Unpacked event in London on May 22, but we have an interesting comment from Kim Young-ha, Chief Executive of Samsung Electronics China. He was speaking at the Samsung Forum 2012 in Beijing, China about marketing strategies. There is one quote in particular that Android fans will care about:

In order to increase sales of the Galaxy S III as well as the Galaxy Note which is already very popular in China, the company is considering rescheduling the rollout of the Galaxy S III from May to April.

I say if the phone is ready, go ahead an get this bad boy released, but I’m far from a marketing genius. Until then I guess we have to enjoy all the fake renders that keep popping up every few hours.

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It’s Alive: Samsung Galaxy S III is now testing in Korea

My title was actually a little sarcastic because I’m not sure if this is really news, but AsiaE is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S III has begun testing with carriers in Korea. Everyone knows when it comes to mobile phones, they test them for many months before they’re released. We already know a Galaxy S III is coming so this is far from a shocker. According to AsiaE, they are a little impatient as they want things to go a little faster. Unfortunately, the fact that it has a quad-core processor and LTE will only slow things down.

In the other non shocker, ddaily in Korea is reporting that they expect the Galaxy S III to come with a 4.65-inch 720p display, but it will also be the first 720p display that is Super AMOLED Plus. It will also have a ppi of 316ppi which rivals the iPhone 4 and 4S. Again this is news that has already been rumored that we reported on, but I guess it’s nice to see some more confirmation. All I really want is a true picture of this beast!!!

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