Samsung Galaxy S3: Did the Rumours Lie to us?

Samsung's Galaxy S3 has been launched and it is now time to see how far all the very many rumours and leaked photographs surrounding the eagerly anticipated next-gen smartphone were true. The new smartphone, which was released on 3 May, is expected to be available in the region by the end of the month and should enter US markets later in the summer.

"Our aim with the Galaxy S3 was to develop the best smartphone ever made, and by focusing on creating a unique user experience through superior hardware and enhanced usability we believe we have done just that. The device has been created by keeping in mind our daily needs and capability as human beings. Simple yet brilliant, the Galaxy S3 is packed with smart features that enables it to understand and respond to our actions providing the most seamless, natural and human-centric mobile experience," said Andy Griffiths, the Managing Director of Samsung UK and Ireland, at the launch.

Check out how far all the rumoured specs were true...

Display:

A leaked service manual for model number GT - I9300 was leaked a few days before the phone was released and suggested the display could be a 4.8in Super AMOLED unit. The rumour turned out to be somewhat correct. The S3 features a 4.8in HD Super AMOLED display.

Weight:

A leaked image and information on Gizmodo's Brazilian Web site, quoted in an earlier IBTimes UK report, said the Galaxy S3 would be thinner and heavier than the S2. The report was true - the S3 is 17g heavier than the S2.

Operating System:

This was always going to be a no-brainer. The Galaxy S3 was expected to run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and it does indeed do that.

Camera:

The service manual referred to above said the S3 would have an eight megapixel rear-facing camera (with auto-focus and LED flash and be capable of recording videos at 1080p). The rumour, once again, turned out to be true.

Connectivity & NFC:

Information from a Vietnamese Web site called Tinhte suggested the S3 would support Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which it does. In addition, the S3 does offer Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth v4.0, all as expected.

Processor and Memory:

Samsung confirmed the processor in the S3 as the 1.4GHz Exynos 4 quad-core chip quite some time back so no surprises there. Information regarding onboard storage suggested a single model, with 16GB and the option to increase it with a microSD card. The Galaxy S3, we now know, offers both 16/32GB models, with the promises of a 64GB variant as well, with a microSD slot for expansion up to a further 64GB.

Eye-Tracking:

An earlier IBTimes UK report spoke of information from within the UK telecom industry as saying the new Galaxy would feature a technology called Eye-Tracking. As it turned out, the S3 does have a feature called Smart Stay; the front-facing camera recognises when the user is looking at the screen and refrains from locking the display until such time as the user's gaze is averted.