03 May, 2012

TechPinas

TechPinas


Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300 Complete Technical Specifications, Press Photos : 2012 Samsung Android Flagship Smartphone, Officially Announced in London!

Posted: 03 May 2012 02:41 PM PDT

TechPinas Exclusive!

Sticking to its current smartphone nomenclature, Samsung Mobile officially unveiled the follow-up to Samsung Galaxy S2 in an exclusive Unpacked event in London just a few hours ago.

Finally, after a Google phone and a phablet hybrid, Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300 has arrived to serve as the true follow-up to last year's best-selling flagship.

samsung galaxy s3

samsung galaxy s3

samsung galaxy s3

Measuring only 8.6 millimeters at its thickest point and weighing just 133 grams, the Korean company's top-of-the-line Android handset this year not only flaunts a bigger 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and a re-imagined contoured-and-glazed design compared its predecessor but also comes with key enhancements to its innards; Most notable of which is the new quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 Exynos 4212 chipset processor, which promises to deliver the fastest mobile performance from Samsung yet.

samsung galaxy s3

Interestingly, in the imaging department, Samsung merely kept the 8 MegaPixel camera resolution of both SGS2 and SGNote on Samsung Galaxy S3. Nonetheless, the company introduced several new features to the camera interface including Burst Shooting and Best Photo mode, which - while not particularly unique to this handset as frankly the HTC One series got them first - are still a welcome addition to SGS3's strong multimedia offerings. Also, it's worth noting that users will now be able to record videos - 720p HD 30 frames per second clips, to be exact - using Samsung Galaxy S3's front-facing camera; Something that's currently not possible using SGS2 or even SGNote's default camera application.

samsung galaxy s3

samsung galaxy s3

Available in two colors, namely Marble White and Pebble Blue, Samsung Galaxy S3 runs the latest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system (4.0.4) skinned by Samsung's very own refreshed TouchWiz user interface.

If anything, it appears that software has been the primary focus of Samsung in molding SGS3. As an actual representation of the company's new smartphone design philosophy, "Inspired by Nature, Designed for Humans", the 2012 flagship handset not only comes replete with a lot of nature-inspired graphics and sound effects but also has several intelligent features like gesture control and voice 'interaction' that recognize the very nature of the smartphone user. There's Smart Stay, for example, which automatically detects if a user is trying to look at the phone's screen and automatically turns on or turns off the display. Likewise, users can employ on-screen gestures to launch the camera; You can do it by tapping and holding the screen, and rotating the phone horizontally.

samsung galaxy s3

Overall, I think Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300 is a strong flagship release that's worthy of superseding Samsung Galaxy S2. It is by no means perfect - for one, I think there's much to improve on in terms of build and materials, the amount of RAM (there's never enough of it anyway), the battery, and the optics for the camera - but the software enhancement, the massive Super AMOLED display, as well as the quad-core CPU with the geek-favorite Exynos chipset - combined - will be enough to make SGS3 a best-seller.

Here's what I tweeted Samsung Mobile Philippines while Samsung Galaxy S3 was being announced in London,



To which they replied,



Wow! What a tease! So does that mean the Philippines will be one of the first to get SGS3?! I guess we'll know for sure within the next few weeks. But right now, I want to know which color you prefer; White Marble or Pebble Blue?

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name Samsung Galaxy S3 i9300
Type Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen)
Price Category High-End (2012 Flagship)
Dimensions136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
Weight 133 grams
Available Colors Marble White, Pebble Blue
Operating System Android OS 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Display 4.8 inches (~306 ppi pixel density), 720 x 1280 pixels, HD Super AMOLED, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Processor Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 Mali-400MP GPU Exynos 4212 Quad chipset
RAM/ROM 1 GB RAM
Camera 8 MegaPixels, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus and LED flash, 1.9 MegaPixels front camera
Video Capture Full HD 1080p 30 frames per second, 720p 30 frames per second front-facing camera
Audio and Video Playback MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263/MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
Ports microUSB (MHL) v2.0, USB On-The-Go, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, 3G HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, (4G LTE Version will follow in select regions)
Network 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G LTE (select territories)
Internal Storage 16/32/64 GB options, expandable via microSD, supports up to 64GB
Sensors Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Gyro, Proximity, Barometer
Battery Li-Ion 2100 mAh
Uptime TBD
Value-Added Features Flagship Release, Quad Core Processor, SNS integration, Google Services Suite, 50GB of Dropbox Storage, Gorilla Glass touchscreen, New Imaging Features and Refreshed User Interface
Announcement Worldwide: May 2012
Availability Europe: May 29, 2012
Price TP Guesstimate: Php 33,000 - Php 36,000


Watch Samsung Galaxy S3 Announcement LiveStream : Online Streaming of Samsung Unpacked 2012 Event in London

Posted: 03 May 2012 11:16 AM PDT

Korean electronics giant, Samsung, is currently holding an Unpacked event in London where the company is expected to officially unveil its 2012 flagship Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy S3.


Be one of the first to see the much-anticipated smartphone on video! Watch the event unfold via this exclusive TP online streaming of Samsung Unpacked 2012 --



Update as of 2:30 AM, Manila Time:

We have the first official press photo of Samsung Galaxy S3 --

samsung galaxy s3

The 8.6 millimeter thin, 133 gram light smartphone flaunts a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and an 8 MegaPixel camera with a slew of new imaging features from Samsung. Furthermore, according to the company, the hardware and user interface design elements of the quad-core-processor-powered Samsung Galaxy S3 aims to mimic the warmth and beauty of nature. Of course, the complete technical specifications will be posted on TP soonest.

The handset will be available in 145 countries via Samsung's 296 mobile operators partners across the globe. The 3G version will be out on May 29,2012 starting with Europe -- while the 4G version will follow around June.


Samsung Galaxy S2 Price Update in Philippines : Now Only Php 24,990! Is It Because S3 is Arriving?!

Posted: 03 May 2012 03:28 AM PDT

TechPinas Exclusive!

Samsung Electronics Philippines Corporation has just slashed a whopping Php 5,000 off the official suggested retail price of its 2011 flagship Android handset, Samsung Galaxy S2. Retailers, please note.

samsung galaxy s2
We got the confirmation yesterday via Samsung Mobile Philippines' official Twitter account.

Aside from the smartphone starting to feel old, a price cut this big can only mean one thing: The successor to Samsung Galaxy S2 - the company's 2012 flagship release - is already on the horizon.

Some insiders are already calling the refresh Samsung Galaxy S3 but, as of writing, the company hasn't even made a formal statement on the handset's existence. Nonetheless, Samsung is expected to officially announce and unveil its new top-of-the-line smartphone via an exclusive event in London set to happen within the day - so keep checking TP for updates.

TP Thoughts: 'One of the Best Smartphones of 2011'

samsung galaxy s2

Putting the smartphone-tablet hybrid Samsung Galaxy Note in a separate category, Samsung Galaxy S2 is probably the best smartphone of 2011 in terms of internal specifications and display quality.

Sure, the handset lacked the durable and elegant aluminum enclosure of HTC Sensation or the powerful camera of Nokia N8 Belle, but the combined charm and performance of its 1.2 GHz Dual Core Exynos chipset processor, Mali 400MP graphics, 1 GB of RAM, and stunning 4.3-inch SuperAMOLED display made it a true best-seller, which greatly helped catapult Samsung to top smartphone manufacturer status.

With Samsung Galaxy S2, the company showed consumers that it is capable of coming up with an ultra-thin smartphone that can top benchmarks charts and smoke the competition. I'd imagine that it will be quite a challenge to create a handset to supersede such a strong previous generation release, then again if there's a company that can do, it's definitely Samsung.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100
Type Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen)
Price Category High-End (2011 Flagship Release)
Dimensions125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm
Weight 116 grams
Available Colors Black
Operating System Android 2.3 Gingerbread upon release, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Update, Out Now
Display 4.3-inch (271 ppi), 480 x 800 pixels resolution, Gorilla Glass Capacitive Touchscreen, SuperAMOLED display, 16M Colors
Processor Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset
Camera 8MP camera with LED flash, Full HD video capture capability
Video Capture 1080p, 30 frames per second
Audio and Video Playback MP4/H.264/H.263 player MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player, details to follow
Ports microUSB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity 5 Ghz Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0+HS
Network 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G Network: HSPA+ (4G?)
Memory 16GB and 32GB options
Sensors Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity
Battery Li-Ion 1650 mAh
Uptime TBA
Value-Added Features Gorilla Glass screen, TouchWiz UI, Readers Hub, Social Hub, Games Hub, Music Hub, Google Services Suite. For Camera: Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization
Announcement February 2011
Availability Q2 2011
Price Upon Release in 2011: Php 29,990
2012 Price Update: Php 24,990