Samsung Galaxy S3 Release Date: May 3 invitation Offers Clues About Phone's Features, Specs [PHOTO]

Samsung has finally broken its silence and will be holding a London press event on May 3, in what is expected to be the unveiling of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 phone.

The biggest clue is in the lead of the invitation: Come and meet the next Galaxy.

Following Samsung's recent release of the Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet hybrid, the Samsung S3 is the most likely candidate to be announced in London.

The invitation includes large paint-like blobs, which some have interpreted as meaning the phone will feature the same S-Pen Stylus as the Galaxy Note. Another speculation linked to the invitation is that the metallic metal effect on the blue botch could mean Samsung will ditch the plastic case of the S2 for a metallic one.

The success of the Galaxy S2 and the delay of S3 puts a lot of pressure on Samsung to deliver a sequel. The S2 was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, and was heralded one of the best phones of the year for its sleek design and lightening-fast performance.

Although Samsung is late to deliver the S3, they surprised fans with the release of the Galaxy Note this year, which has sold over 5 million units so far.

The evolution in S2 is already here, it's there, it's Galaxy Note and that is a really strong device for Samsung, globally as well as in the UK, Simon Stanford, VP of Samsung Telecommunications and Networks for Samsung UK and Ireland told CNET in an exclusive interview.

People don't have to have a tablet and smart phone -- it can be done all in one device -- which is exactly what people are using it for, Stanford added.

The Galaxy Note has been heralded for its big and beautiful 5.3-inch AMOLED display, which Stanford says is perfect for gaming, video and even PowerPoint and Excel presentations. I can edit those, look at them and share them, he says.

It's likely that some features of the Galaxy Note will also feature in the Galaxy S3 smartphone, along with some of the following rumored specs:

4.6-inch 1280×720 Super AMOLED Plus display
9mm thick body
8-12 megapixel main camera with LED and Xenon flash
2 megapixel front-facing camera
32 or 64 GB of internal memory
USB 3.0 capability2GB RAM
4G LTE
1.8GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos CPU Processor
Touchwhiz 5.0 overlay