Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 Release Date: Who Wins the Rumor Roundup?

Apple's iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 are two of the most anticipated phones for 2012, but with no official word on specs and features; How do the rumors for each phone measure up?

Following a head-to-head battle with the iPhone 4S at the Mobile World Congress 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S2 came out on top winning the Best Smartphone Award. But Samsung enthusiasts were disappointed that the company didn't unveil the S3 as they had done with the phone's predecessor the year before.

The Galaxy S2 was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in 2011, and has been deemed one of the most popular phones of the year, heralded for its all-powerful features packed into a slim, sleek case.

The iPhone 4S has also been heralded one of the top phones of 2011, compensating for its weak battery life with its A5 chip and Siri, its popular voice assistant.

But what should we expect from the iPhone 5 and Samsung S3? Here's a round-up of some of the popular rumors.

Release Date:

Uncertainty continues to surround the Samsung S3's release date. It was initially rumored to be unveiled at the MWC 2012, but after the no show the phone has since been rumored to have a March, April or July launch. The latest and most popular release date rumor is that the phone will launch on March13 at an event in Turkey. While this is highly unlikely, S3 enthusiasts are hoping the event will bring official information about the phone's release.

After great media hype, iPhone customers expected the iPhone 5 to be released in October 2011, but instead the iPhone 4S was unveiled. Popular rumors suggest the phone will be launched at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, but is highly unlikely as Apple usually has its own event to launch new models of its products. A recent report in the Japanese blog Mocotakara, say that Apple will abandon its mid-year iPhone releases and instead switch to a 12-month launch model. This rumor seems realistic as the iPhone 4S launched in October last year instead of the usual iPhone mid-summer launch period.

Display:

The S3 is expected to come with a larger screen than that of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, nearer to the 5-inch scale. It is rumored to have an AMOLED Plus screen with 1280x720 resolution. If the phone comes with a S5K2P1 chip, it will be able to capture 60fps HD video and 8.3 megapixel images.

The latest iPhone 5 rumors also point to a 1280z70 resolution, but instead of an AMOLED screen it is expected to come with a Quantum Dot LED curved glass edge-to-edge display.

Processor:

The next generation of Samsung is expected to boast an Exynos 4412 chipset with a quad-core unit, which will apparently be clocked at 1.5GHz. The phone is guaranteed to arrive with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

The iPhone 5 will probably come with the same chip as the iPad 3. An A6 Chip is expected for both. The first-generation iPad came with an A4 Chip and the iPad 2 followed with an A5 chip, which suggests the iPad 3 will follow suit and run on the A6 chip.

An A6 chip would double the power of the A5 chip that is currently used in the iPhone 4s and the iPad 2. An unnamed source, who claims to have an iPad 3 prototype, sent Boy Genius Report pictures of a diagnostic tool called iBoot, which states a chip model number that appears to be that of the A6 chip.

As far as the realistic rumors go, both phone's seem to be head-to-head with impressive features, but you never know what kind of magic Apple and Samsung will pull out of the hat on launch day.

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