Samsung Galaxy S3, Apple iPhone 5 in For Keen Battle

Ever since Samsung edged past the elite smartphone club to compete against Apple iPhone, the battle between these two tech giants has descended into nothing less than a tug-of-war.

Nothing has stopped Samsung expect for the blocks which Apple put on its way in the form of lawsuits.

Last year, the Samsung Galaxy S2 ensured Samsung remained the only competition against Apple's every growing presence with the iPhone brand as the iPhone 4S helped the Cupertino giant to shatter quite a few records.

As Samsung is not expected to announce anything about its Galaxy S3 launch during the Mobile World Congress, the wait for handsets arrival is getting spicier as official info points to a separate Samsung-hosted event to reveal information relating to Galaxy S3 "in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product."

The biggest upstaging of Apple was not just due to Samsung's handset but rather the combined onslaught by Google's Android OS and Samsung's polished hardware front.

Samsung and Android have ensured that Apple remains on the edge of the seat as recently the news relating to Apple and Samsung sales has caught everyone's attention. In Q1, Apple sold 37 million iPhones while Android-powered Samsung is closely following with 35 million smartphones.

And 2012 will witness a battle between Samsung Galaxy S3 and the highly anticipated Apple iPhone 5. Although the Internet is abuzz with widespread rumours relating to the iPhone 5, iIt is really hard to predict. Last year saw quite a few predictions and leaks making it out as the Apple iPhone 4S. This year is no different.

The Galaxy S3 features and specifications are getting pretty much clear as many tech Web sites are leaking out information relating to the handset. Here are some of them:

Display: The device will sport a 4.6-inch HD (720 x 1280 pixels) Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen with 319 ppi pixel density. But inclusion of peculiar information related to flexible display has brought in a surprise. Last year, Samsung did showcase flexible display during CES 2011.

Proving the point lately, Samsung Mobile Display released two videos, revealing its long-term plans for seethrough sheet of plastic that's flexible and has the ability to display images in 3D as well as 2D. An authentic image related to a flexible Super AMOLED Plus is floating around the Web, dwindling the possibility of it being Galaxy S3.

When it comes to iPhone 5, it's reportedly said that Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs was working on a "radical redesign" of the iPhone up until very shortly before his death in 2011. There are conflicting reports that the iPhone 5 may adopt either a new, teardrop shape or simply be an enlarged iPhone 4S. Tech websites point to Hitachi Displays and Sony Mobile Display Corporation whereas few analysts reportedly learned about the partnership between Sharp and Apple that resulted in a modified IGZO - or indium, gallium, zinc - technology to reach 330 dots-per-inch screen resolution.

The current retina display in Apple's iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S does 326 dpi/ppi (also designated 'pixels-per-inch'). The IGZO technology is said to be near perfect offering similar to OLED power consumption while having a lower cost and thinness that is only 25% greater than OLED. A 4-inch LCD panel is more favourable and competitive for the iPhone 5, putting it in line with top selling Android device offing closer to similar sized displays.

Camera: The iPhone 5 camera is also in for a debate as Steve Jobs met with the CEO of Lytro just months before his death, hinting at a possibility of inclusion of the technology in the sixth generation handset.

Actually Lytro offers something never-before-seen in the world of photography. Lytro is an entirely new kind of camera that allows users to completely change the focus of a picture after the shutter clicks. The Lytro sensor records the entire light field which is made up of all the light rays in a scene. This includes the colour, intensity and direction of the rays of light.

Other cameras simply record all the light as a single amount of light. The Lytro sensor's sensitivity to light also makes it possible to take photos in very low-light conditions without the need of a flash. It also makes it possible to take 3D-like photographs with only a single lens, and without the need for glasses to see the immersive effects.

Getting into the camera-making business is not a cheap endeavour and Lytro Company is still raising millions of dollars from a variety of investors, hence it most probably won't make it to the iPhone 5 as Apple usually maintains an affordable pricing for its flagship smartphone.

The Sony camera sensor perfectly fits the iPhone 5 thinner form. Sony's latest 8 megapixel camera sensor that features a slimmer form may be the best match for the upcoming version of the iPhone. Recently, an 8 megapixel camera sensor of Sony with a slimmer form factor was reported. Moreover, Sony's latest process in its manufacturing is less expensive and the quality of the images is better.

Although rumors relating to Galaxy S3 points towards a 12 MP camera, reports have surfaced about Galaxy S3 coming with 16 MP camera. A reply on official Samsung Galaxy S3 page on Facebook related to 16 MP camera points that the phone is going to be loaded with quad core chip which can almost hold up to 22 MP camera.

Processor: When it comes to processor, the Samsung Galaxy S3 may feature a quad-core, Exynos 4212/ Exyos 5250 and 2 GHz/ 1.8 GHz processor with 2GB RAM. The Samsung Exynos 4212 processor will be 25 per cent faster than S2 and will consume 30 per cent less power. Also, it is nearly twice the speed of iPhone 4S. However, iPhone 5 is predicted to integrate a fast 1.2-to-1.5 GHz quad-core A6 chip, with probably 1GB or more of RAM.

The official Samsung Galaxy S3 reply to one of the commentators has predicted that the phone will be released in August or September. The iPhone 5 is also expected to be released in September.

Other predictions for the Galaxy S3 may include the no home button feature found in Galaxy Nexus, while the three new patent applications from Apple, as published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), detailed Apple's revolutionary I/O technology, called Thunderbolt.

Also, Apple Company, in its secondary patent application, stated "a connection may be provided between a portable media player and a display; a computer and a portable media player; or between other types of devices."