Samsung Galaxy S III launches in 28 countries
By July the smartphone is expected to be available on 296 operators in 145 countries around the globe, making it Samsung’s largest ever rollout for a single smartphone model (the Galaxy S II was released in more than 210 countries while the Galaxy S launched in 112 countries).
Samsung has toppled Apple as the world’s leading smartphone maker and is hoping to lure consumers away from the popular iPhone 4S (and rumored next-generation iPhone) with features such as eye tracking, Siri-challenging voice recognition and lag-free photo-taking.
The Galaxy S III also sports a huge 4.8” HD Super AMOLED (1280x720) display, a 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quad processor, an 8MP camera, a 2,100mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. It runs on a customized version of Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and offers cloud storage and Samsung-exclusive apps.
Like its predecessors, the Galaxy S III has already proved to be very popular with consumers. Pre-orders for the device are reported to have already topped nine million while a spokesperson for Vodafone told Reuters that "[i]n the two years that we've been offering pre-orders, it's the most pre-ordered Android device we've had in our line-up."
The Galaxy S III has been named the official phone of the London Olympic Games and Samsung has created specially designed pop-up stores to introduce the device within the country. Samsung’s “premium pop-up experience spaces” have been set up in London at Westfield Shepherd’s Bush and Old Spitalfields Market for the launch of the device. Two additional pop-up stores will open in Hyde Park and Olympic Park in the summer.
