Samsung Galaxy S3 Release Date: Is It Coming In April Or May? (Roundup Of Rumored Specs And Features)

Samsung Electronics continues to keep silence over the highly anticipated smartphone of the year -- Samsung Galaxy S3. However, the media world is abuzz with the next generation gadget's rumored specs, features and unofficial pictures.

Samsung fans have imagined all possible concept designs, some that could be likely be. However, most of the speculations are fabricated and might never see the light of the day, at least with the next generation Galaxy S smartphone.

Launch date April or May 22?

The South Korean manufacturer took to Twitter to shoot down rumors recently and fed the hype of the successor of S2 by saying, once a specific launch date [is available] we will notify you via Twitter first.

Samsung also reached out to the Verge and informed the website that the device will be revealed in the first half of 2012. They were quoted saying in the verge report, The successor to the GALAXY S II smartphone will be unveiled in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product... We cannot confirm the detailed information at the moment.

Hence the media world and the smartphone maniacs got a vague assurance that the S3 will come in the first part of the year.

Taking that further, last week, Dutch mobile blog GSM Helpdesk in the Netherlands leaked a new image of Samsung Galaxy S3 which it claimed to be an official press photo of the device, obtained from an unnamed source.

Along with a professed official press image of the expected smartphone, the reports have also added updates on most of the hardware specifications.

The site reasserted a potential date for S3's announcement and reaffirmed that the device will be launched May 22 at a press conference in London. The published image of the next generation smartphone showed the weather in London and the Unpacked Event calendar entry pictured on the home screen pointed to a May 22 press conference in London.

However, despite an the image leak that made a May announcement seem increasingly likely, rumors swirled around that Samsung is still considering an April launch for its highly anticipated Galaxy S3 smartphone. A South Korean news site MK reported that Samsung president for the China region Kim Young-ha was quoted as having said that the company was pushing for an April launch.

In order to increase sales of the Galaxy S3 as well as the Galaxy Note which is already very popular in China, the company is considering rescheduling the rollout of the Galaxy S3 from May to April, Kim Young-Ha, Samsung Greater China president, was quoted with the statement in the report. He was speaking at the Samsung Forum 2012.

Adding on to the release date spice, rumor has it that a couple of South African carriers have said in the recent past that they expect the Samsung Galaxy S3 to hit the shelves by July.

MyBroadband reports claimed that South-African major carrier MTN confirmed that it will offer Samsung Galaxy S3 as an alternative to Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which the carrier refused to add to its portfolio.

According to MTN, Galaxy S3 has already been ranged, but the phone needs to follow as certain procedure, such as testing, pricing and advertising. Galaxy S3 will hit shelves at MTN only after this process is complete.

The report mentioned that other South-African carriers hope to be able to offer the Galaxy S3 as well. Virgin Mobile estimated that it will be able to carry the smartphone from Q3 2012 while Cell C predicted they will start offering the Galaxy S3 from July.

It is a known fact that the phones predecessor was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, and then launched in April, which accelerated rumors that the S3 would be out at the same time. The success of Galaxy S2 is thought to the biggest reason behind the S3 delay.

Are you looking forward to Samsung Galaxy S3? Take a look at the rumor roundup of the most popular specifications and features of the most awaited future smarphone of this year -- Samsung Galaxy S3.

Display: The Galaxy S3 version is expected to have a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED Plus HD screen, with 1280 x 720 pixels of resolutions with a pixel density of 313 PPI. The smartphone is also assumed to feature a spectacular 3D screen.

Ice Cream Sandwich OS: According to GSM Helpdesk, S3 will definitely come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update and the device looks to have Samsung’s latest version of TouchWiz software atop the user interface.

Processor: At the same time, the new phone is expected to be powered by Samsung’s 1.5 GHz Exynos quad-core chip accompanied by 2GB RAM to keep the things running smoothly. Further it is also rumoured to feature an expandable memory option up to 32 GB.

12 MP Camera: The camera upgrade is expected to be a big one with 12-megapixels with a 1080p video at 60 frames per second and video chatting with a front-facing 2 megapixel camera.

Battery Upgrade: Rumour has it that the S3 will be loaded with a 2250 mAh battery. Also, it would measure 131 x 64 x 8 mm and weigh around 125grams.

4G LTE and NFC: Rumours are intense that the successor of S2, Samsung Galaxy S3, will be backed by the 4G LTE capability and also the latest, Near Field Communication (NFC) feature.

Additional Features: The device is also rumoured to come clocked with the ground-breaking 3D lenticular image technology along with innovative waterproof body feature and wireless charging.