Vietnam leak spoils Samsung Galaxy S III

21606updated 07:55 am EDT, Fri April 20, 2012 Galaxy S III now known to be GT-i9300

Samsung's May 3 event was spoiled in conspicuous fashion on Friday after Vietnam's Tinhte briefly posted (since pulled) a detailed look at what's now very likely to be the Galaxy S III. Previously seen earlier as the GT-i9300, the hardware appears to have roughly the physical footprint of the Galaxy S II but with a taller, 4.6-inch, 720p screen that uses Android 4.0's onscreen controls. A quad-core 1.4GHz chip (likely the Exynos 4412) makes it clear the device is high-end.Some elements would be conservative relative to the S II. Despite a year's time, it would still have 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage with a microSD slot, an eight-megapixel rear camera, and the year-old Mali-400 graphics. NFC would now be a standard feature, however, and the phone would get a large 2,050mAh battery that could be a clue to longer battery life.

The software would still see TouchWiz customizations, but with a more conspicuous embracing of Android 4.0's features. A "Galaxy S" reference on the boot screen may be a placeholder but leaves little doubt as to the focus.

Whether or not the design represents the final look isn't clear: Samsung is known to be using false shells to mask the final look, although this appears closer to the real product than most. Samsung wouldn't explicitly confirm the design, but did say the media would learn more at the May 3 event.

Apart from the improved screen, the third-generation Galaxy S could end up being what the iPhone 4S was to the iPhone 4, focusing on quiet upgrades and higher performance rather than being a complete overhaul. Samsung considers the Galaxy S series the backbone of its lineup and could see strong sales through its concentration, but it may not make the same clear leap and have the same impact.

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