PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
The Samsung Galaxy S3 could appear as early as next month according to Samsung insiders cited by ZDNet Korea with a major marketing campaign aimed at the London 2012 Olympic games.
The Korean electronics giant’s new superphone is the sequel to the number one Android smartphone, the Galaxy S2, which sold 20 million in the space of just nine months. The updated Android 4.0 S3 is expected to feature a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and possibly a Galaxy Nexus-sized 4.8-inch screen.
The smartphone loving UK was cited as an influential launch territory and the London Olympic Games in August was cited as an important part of the marketing plans for the new phone.
Curiously the S3 is also said to be 4G LTE compatible, despite the lack of a 4G network in the UK. It’s possible that there might be several versions, as there were the S2, with a general HSPA+ compatible GSM phone for the UK. That said, the next generation of high end devices may well ship with 4G in preparation for the arrival of networks in 2013.
Perhaps the most interesting tidbit to come out of the Korean report is that Samsung plan to bundle credit card applications which will make use of the Galaxy S3’s Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality. It was earlier reported that Samsung is to team up with Visa to launch 3,000 contactless payment terminals at the event.
Visa hasn’t been waiting on handset makers and is pushing a downloadable mobile app to NFC-capable phones but the NFC capability of the upcoming S3 is expected to have out-of-the-box application support. No doubt contactless payments will feature in the Galaxy S3 marketing blitz to come.
