Samsung’s response to the newly freed One series of devices is already available in many parts of the globe and while those of us in the U.S. are still just grasping at rumors, our neighbors to the north can now lord their certainty over us as Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S III will be available there starting June 20th.
If that date sounds familiar it’s probably because that is the same date that is currently being tossed around for a U.S. launch on T-Mobile, but this isn’t about the U.S. so I’ll stop stealing your limelight, Canada.
It should come as a surprise to no one that the quad-core Exynos has been dropped in favor of the dual-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 processor. If that stings a bit then perhaps the full 2GB of RAM (whether you need it or not) will pep you back up.
The LTE version (SGH-i747) will be available on Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, SaskTel, TELUS and Virgin Mobile. Those of you on Mobilicity, Wind or Videotron will be getting the HSPA+ 42 variant (SGH-iT999).
The rest of the specs match up with what we saw at the launch event in London so you can go back and check them out here or hit the “show press release” button at the end of the post. The only other discrepancy is that there is no sign of a 64GB version, but with a microSD slot available I doubt that should be too much of a concern.
For pricing the only one to have officially weighed in so far is TELUS and they will be offering the 16GB for $159.99 and the 32GB for $209.99 both on 3-year contracts. No word on what it’ll cost you if you don’t want to do that kind of time, but if I remember correctly it was about $400 more to go with a 2-year on the Galaxy S II when it launched on TELUS so it’s safe to assume it’ll cost you.
In the face off between the One X and the Galaxy S III you seemed to generally favor the One X. Has anyone changed their mind since then or is HTC’s latest still the top dog this time around?
Show Press ReleaseThe Samsung GALAXY S III provides Canadians with a more human smartphone experience
Canada NewsWire
MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 30, 2012
Designed for humans and inspired by nature, the Samsung GALAXY S III brings the best combination of power and performance to the Canadian marketplace
MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 30, 2012 /CNW/ – Samsung Electronics Canada, today announces the models details and availability date of the much-anticipated GALAXY S III. Beginning June 20th, the Samsung GALAXY S III will be available through leading Canadian wireless carriers and authorized national retailers.
“We are very excited to bring the highly anticipated GALAXY S III to Canadians so they can experience firsthand, the power, performance and passion that Samsung is known for,” said Paul Brannen, Vice President, Enterprise Business Group, Samsung Canada. “This next generation of the GALAXY S series is sleek and stylish, and offers users features that promote sharing, and are intuitive and powerful, allowing Canadians to enjoy a more human experience with their smartphone.”
Natural Interaction
Smart enough to detect face, voice and motions, the GALAXY S III adapts to the user, providing users an interface that is convenient and natural.
- With the innovative ‘Smart stay’ feature, the GALAXY S III recognizes how the user is using their device such as, reading an e-book or browsing the web. By having the front camera identify eye motion the phone maintains a bright display for continued viewing pleasure.
- The GALAXY S III features ‘S Voice,’ an advanced natural language user interface, to listen and respond to user commands. S Voice presents powerful functions in regards to device control and commands, such as allowing the user to play a favorite song, turn the volume up or down, send text messages and emails, organize schedules, or automatically launch the camera and capture a photo.
- With ‘Smart alert‘ the GALAXY S III will alert the user by catching any missed messages or calls with a vibration to notify missed statuses when picked up after being idle. If the user is messaging someone but decide to call them instead, they can simply lift phone to their ear and ‘Direct call’ will dial their number.
Easy and Instant Sharing
The Samsung GALAXY S III is more than a personal device that can be enjoyed by one user – it wants to share and experience smartphone benefits with family and friends, regardless of location with the following features:
- With the new ‘S Beam,’ the GALAXY S III expands upon Android™ Beam™, allowing a 1GB movie file to be shared within three minutes and a 10MB music file within two seconds by simply touching another GALAXY S III phone, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal.
- The ‘Buddy photo share’ function also allows photos to be easily and simultaneously shared with all friends pictured in an image directly from the camera or the photo gallery.
- ‘AllShare Play’ can be used to instantly share any forms of files between GALAXY S III and tablet, PC, and televisions that are DLNA enabled, regardless of the distance between the devices.
- The ‘Group Cast’ feature that allows users to share their screen among multiple friends on the same Wi-Fi network; users can comment and draw changes at the same time as co-workers- witnessing real-time sharing on individual devices.
- The preloaded ‘Dropbox’ application provides an even more convenient sharing experience, supplying 50GB of free storage for two years for not just image and music files, but now also for video content. With the GALAXY S III files can also be instantly uploaded through data networks without requiring WiFi access.
Uncompromised Performance
With a 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED display, the GALAXY S III offers a large and vivid viewing experience. Samsung Mobile’s heritage Super AMOLED display even enhances to HD and 16:9 wider viewing angles. To ensure faster content sharing and connectivity, the GALAXY S III offers Wi-Fi Channel Bonding which doubles the Wi-Fi bandwidth.
The GALAXY S III not only presents features with enhanced usability, but also provides an ergonomic and comfortable experience through its human-centric design. Its comfortable grip, gentle curves, and organic form deliver a rich human-centric feel and design. Available in Pebble Blue and Marble White at launch, Samsung will introduce a variety of additional color options.
The GALAXY S III also sports a range of additional features that boost performance and the overall user experience in entirely new ways, with features such as:
- ‘Pop up play,’ users can play a video anywhere on their screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new emails or surfing the Web.
- An 8MP camera features a zero-lag shutter speed that lets users capture moving objects easily without delay, with the ‘Burst shot’ function that instantly captures twenty continuous shots, and the ‘Best photo’ feature that selects the best of eight photographs, the GALAXY S III ensures users a more enhanced and memorable camera experience.
- HD video can be recorded even with the 1.9MP front-facing camera, which users can use to capture a video of themselves. An improved backside illumination sensor further helps to eliminate blur in photos that result from shaking, even under low light conditions.
- With Samsung Hubs, users can continually refresh phone content through the ‘Game Hub,’ which provides access to numerous social games, while Video Hub, a new service offering to the Canadian marketplace, brings users high quality TV and movies for rent . Furthermore, Samsung Music Hub will offer a personal music streaming service.
The GALAXY S III will be available for purchase in Canada starting on June 20, 2012. Samsung is pleased to be working with all of the leading wireless providers in Canada, to give our customers a choice of service provider. The SGH-i747 variation of the GALAXY S III will be available from Bell Mobility, Virgin Mobile, SaskTel, TELUS and Rogers Wireless. The SGH-iT999 model will be available from Videotron, Wind and Mobilicity.
Additional Features Include:
- Processor:
- Snapdragon S4 Dual Core 1.5 GHz
- Qualcomm MSM8960 Chipset
- OS (Shipping): ICS 4.0.4
- Data: LTE (SGH-i747 variation) and HSPA+ 42 (SGH-iT999 variation)
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
- Weight: 133g
- Memory: 16/32GB internal memory (SGH-i747)/ 16GB internal memory (SGH-iT999)
- Expandable microSD up to 32GB
- Display: 4.8 HD Super AMOLED 1280×720 (306ppi)
- Connectivity: NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, MHL Video Out
- Camera: 8MP Rear-facing, 1.9MP Front-facing
- Battery: 2100 mAh
- Other:
- TouchWiz with Motion UX
- S Beam
- AllShare Play enhance functionality
- MP3/ACC+/WAV audio player
- DivX/Xvid/MP4/WMV/H.263/ H.264 Video Player
