Samsung Galaxy S3 Release Date: Phone Ready for Production, Report

The Samsung Galaxy S3 release date is one of the best-kept secrets on the market, with still no official word from Samsung since the launch of the Galaxy S2 over a year ago.

As a range of release dates enter and exit the rumor mill, tech blogger Eldar Muratizin --who has a history of both accurate and inaccurate prophecies-says the next generation Galaxy phone has been finalized and entered into production.

SGS3 finalized and goes into production. Preorders from operators/ retailers are highest in all galaxy history, he tweeted.

The success of the Galaxy S2 is thought to the biggest reason behind the S3 delay. The S2 only just released its Android Ice Cream Sandwich update, which is thought to prolong the launch of the next generation phone even further.

The phones predecessor was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, and then launched in April, which spurred rumors that the S3 would be out at the same time. But Samsung has said that Galaxy enthusiasts shouldn't hold their breath for a March release, as the phone is likely to come in the middle of the year, closer to the summer, according to a report obtained by News Sizzle.

The S3 is expected to boast an Exynos 4412 chipset with a quad-core unit, which will apparently be clocked at 1.5GHz.

Early predictions say the S3 will 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.

Other rumored specs: