Samsung Galaxy S3 Preorders On US Cellular Announced, Launch In July; Verizon's Variant To Support Global Roaming

Joining the four major US carriers, the nation's sixth largest carrier U.S. Cellular has announced that it will launch the latest Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone in July with preorders beginning June 12.

The carrier said in a statement that the handset would be offered in a 16 GB version in Marble White and Pebble Blue and a 32 GB version in Marble White. Pricing is said to be available when the presale begins June 12.

U.S. Cellular, in partnership with King Street Wireless, currently offers 4G LTE service in select cities in Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. According to the company, its 4G LTE coverage will expand to cover select cities in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia in the second half of this year.

We're eager to get this iconic smartphone into the hands of our customers so they can experience the 4G LTE network on a powerful device with lots of new, unique and cool features, said Edward Perez, vice president of sales and marketing operations for U.S. Cellular. Whether you are a first-time smartphone buyer or a seasoned user, the Galaxy S III makes it easy to stay connected to the people and information that are important to you.

Claimed to be the nation's largest 4G network with over 260 million users, AT&T has announced the arrival of the handset over the next few weeks with preorders beginning Wednesday in company-owned stores and online. The device will be available for $199.99 for the 16 GB model after a two-year contract. AT&T stores will also offer a 16 GB microSD card for $39 for a total of 32 GB for under $238.99.

Additionally, AT&T also announced that its customers would also have exclusive access to a red version of Galaxy S3 this summer, thus expanding the color options to three - white, blue and red.

If a recent report by Droid Matters is to be believed, the Galaxy S3 preorders on AT&T are scheduled to begin shipping on June 18. The report stated that on the AT&T website, if you add a Galaxy S3 to your cart and follow the instructions, you'll get to the checkout page with a pop up message telling you that your order is scheduled to be shipped on June 18.

Both T-Mobile and Sprint have also confirmed the arrival of Samsung's flagship super-phone June 21, with Sprint already started taking pre-orders from Tuesday. While Sprint charges $199.99 for the 16GB version and $249.99 for the 32GB version after a two-year contract, T-Mobile has not yet revealed pricing details.

Global Roaming On Verizon's Variant

Verizon has also confirmed that its consumers will be able to preorder the new handset starting at 7 am Wednesday. Two versions of the Galaxy S3 will be up for preorders - 16GB for $199.99 and 32GB for 249.99, both subsidized under a two-year contract.

In addition, Verizon consumers will also have to subscribe to a $30 monthly 4G LTE mobile broadband data plan that offers 2GB of data allowance each month. The actual release date for Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S3 is not yet disclosed.

However, according to a report by Phone Scoop, Verizon will offer a software update with its version of Galaxy S3, allowing users to have conversations around the world.

Verizon Wireless confirmed to Phone Scoop in an email that its variant of the Samsung Galaxy S III will eventually be able to roam onto the 2G/3G networks of overseas network operators, said the report.

The capability won't be available at launch, but will be enabled down the line through a software update. Verizon didn't say when that update might become available.

Verizon confirmed last month that four of its Android smartphones, including Droid Razr, Droid Razr Maxx, Droid 4 and HTC Rezound would get a software update soon that would allow them to operate on GSM networks, which is the dominant global wireless technology and the standard in Europe, CNET reported.

Samsung Galaxy S3 sports a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, which is surrounded by an ultra-thin bezel to maximize the viewing area of the handset. It weighs 4.7 ounces (133.24 grams) and is 8.6 millimeters thin.

The device also features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE connectivity, 2GB of RAM, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, an 8MP Rear-facing camera, a 1.9MP Front-facing camera and a 2100 mAh battery.

From the connectivity part, the smartphone comes with NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n and MHL Video Out.

Galaxy S3's other features include AllShare Play, Group Cast and Share Shot functions allowing users to share photos with others. Another feature, S-Beam, allows easy transfer of large files from Galaxy S3 to another device by touching the backs of the two devices.

The much talked about feature of Galaxy S3 is S Voice, a language recognition technology allowing customers to control applications and services with words instead of touch. The handset also includes camera features like Best Shot to choose the best image from a series when taking a photo.

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