

Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone unveiled  - esolyt
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17935684

======
dkrich
All I can say about this launch is that I can't believe how underwhelming the
coverage was. TechCrunch wrote two short posts about the launch event and
didn't laud or criticize the S3. In fact the only opinionated piece I saw at
all was one explaining why Android isn't "actually" winning in the battle
against iOS.

This phone is in many ways a better device than the iPhone 4S. While Apple's
accomplishments in mobile have been incredible, the fact that Samsung has
closed the gap and in many ways surpassed the iPhone is extremely impressive.
I don't think Apple is going to get much more mileage out of the "3.5 inches
is the right size for a phone and the current iPhone form factor is the
perfect design" argument. When you look at the 4S and then the S3 and then the
4S again, it feels like you are going back a generation.

Now I have no doubt that Apple will impress with the iPhone 5, but I don't
think that is coming until the October timeframe, so in the meantime, Samsung
has jumped ahead of Apple in innovation. I can't wait to see what comes out of
these two companies over the next several years.

My point is not to criticize Apple, but rather that I would like to see a more
open approach to Apple competitors. Samsung is for real and is developing
devices that are at least as good as Apple in many ways and they deserve equal
consideration, and that is good for everybody.

~~~
nextparadigms
I think a lot of people were underwhelmed by the design. They've been
iterating on pretty much the same design for years. It might make _some_ sense
if it was an iconic amazing design to begin with, but it never was.

I also don't like the fact that Samsung seems to be going ever heavier with
Touchwiz, instead of the opposite direction like HTC with Sense 4. At this
point they are basically fighting Google's improvements, and just replacing
them with their own. I think that's the wrong direction for them to take.

It's one thing to have the Apple and Microsoft communities against you, but
it's quite another if the Android community turns against you for screwing
with Android too much. I don't like Samsung's direction, and I think they will
feel it in revenues by the end of the year if they keep this up with other
flagship devices.

The Pentile screen was a real downer, too. I couldn't believe it myself that
they actually used Pentile. That was probably the most shocking and
disappointing thing for people expecting better hardware from Samsung.

One thing I like about the Galaxy S3 - perhaps the only thing - is the
processor. It's probably the best on the market right now in both CPU and GPU
performance (the only one that beats the iPhone 4S in GPU right now). It seems
to have crazy fast browsing. I saw Engadget loading their own website on it,
and it was like instant. The benchmarks seem to confirm a significant increase
in browser peformance compared to everyone else in the Browsermark test:

[http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-
perf...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-performance-
preview)

This only makes me more excited for the upcoming Exynos 5250 chip with a
totally new CPU (Cortex A15) and a totally new GPU and architecture (Mali
T604). I'm hoping this chip will come out in both the next Nexus phone and in
the Galaxy Note 2.

~~~
eco
Does a pentile layout matter on a "retina display"? The pixels shouldn't be
discernible at these resolutions. When the Galaxy Nexus came out there was a
lot of confusion and argument about whether it was pentile or not. If you
can't tell by looking at it it's kind of a moot point.

~~~
ajross
Amen. The "retina" nonsense has to stop. Apple ended up with an
extrarodinarily high resolution for their screen because of design
_constraints_ , not aesthetic appeal. They had to match the physical size of
the existing phones with an integral increase in pixel count (so as to not
break the existing pixel-aligned artwork in deployed apps).

Except for those rare individuals who can focus at 4 inches, there's no visual
value in a 330dpi screen vs. the 280+ pitches we're seeing elsewhere.

------
modeless
I'm disappointed. The hardware face buttons are still there. The volume
buttons are still directly opposite the power button (and thus far too easy to
accidentally press). No ringer switch. The bezel is a bit smaller, but not
enough so to be interesting, and the screen is PenTile. No Cortex A15 CPU.

Bright spots seem to be a GPU that can finally compete with what Apple's
shipping, and some imagination put into hardware/software features like the
eye tracking and proximity-sensor-triggered calling, though TouchWiz is
probably still a net loss.

~~~
zurn
It's too bad that you can't really make use of the GPUs in Android. It'd be
tolerable if there were only differences in capabilities (that works out OK on
iOS after all), but you have to deal with the different sets of bugs in all
the GPU drivers. All (?) the OpenGL ES drivers are pretty buggy, so dealing
with several at once is not pretty.

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kungfooey
Yes, the phone hardware looks pretty nice. However, I bought a Samsung Galaxy
S (Vibrant) and was subsequently underwhelmed with their lack of ongoing
support for the phone itself. I will not be purchasing another phone from
Samsung unless it is a Google-branded phone (e.g., Nexus S).

Fool me once and all that.

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dm8
Another oversized phone. When I saw its predecessor I was shocked by the size.
How can you properly fit it in pocket? I don't understand why phone
manufacturers are engaged in "we are the biggest screen" race? Make your
hardware better. Things like Retina display add that wow factor. I have owned
two Android phones (none of them were Nexus) and they were marred with
hardware and battery problems. Motorola Droid (I used for dev stuff) had
amazing hardware but rest other sucked big time.

Edit: Grammatical mistakes

~~~
nextparadigms
I think people really overstate how much bigger such a phone is compared to an
iPhone in your hand. When people hear something like a 4.7" phone vs a 3.5"
they must imagine it's like twice as tall or something. Galaxy S3 is only 2 cm
taller and 2 cm wider than an iPhone. A picture comparing the 2 here:

[http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files...](http://cdn.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/imagecache/w680h550/postimages/684/samsung-
galaxy-s-iii-28.jpg)

I've tried a 4.3" Galaxy S2 recently (I own a smaller older phone right now),
and I could easily use it with just one hand, and yet there's this myth around
the Internet ever since that misleading Curtis article that only 3.5" is the
"perfect size" for one-handed use. It's not true. And no, I don't have large
hands.

~~~
taligent
I think this photo better exemplifies the difference:

<http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-gallery#>

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dillona
I don't know if I really like that the screen got even larger.

I often wind up accidentally hitting buttons with my wrist when reaching
across the screen with my thumb

~~~
poglet
The most frustrating thing with the Galaxy Nexus (4.65" screen) is trying to
'slide to unlock' it with one hand. I get most of the way across then my palm
touches the camera button.

~~~
drivebyacct2
Spent a significant amount of time before realizing you must be left handed.
I've figured out how to hold my GN where my hand isn't too big of an issue.
It's so weird holding my old Fascinate though.

------
bookwormAT
I find this was a very interesting announcement. Almost the whole presentation
was about software, services and addons. Samsung did not talk much about the
hardware, and not once use the term "Android" during the whole presentation.

This is how I want smartphone providers to make their android-based devices:
Either use just AOSP and focus on supporting that well (updates), or make a
very unique and improved experience for your customers.

Adding differences "just to be somehow different" will only make your phone
worse.

I don't care much about the gesture stuff, but what they do with the face
detection API that came with Android 4 is very interesting.

The idea that the screen will not go black as long as I look at it solves one
of the most annoying problems I have when using computers. E.g. you think for
a few seconds about what you just read on your smartphone, and when you're
back you have to turn on the screen again. So annoying.

There are also a lot of little nice touches to the ui, like this one:

"Pick up the phone when you've got a missed call or text and it will vibrate
gently in your hand in combination with the notification light to let you know
you're a popular bunny."

or that you can hold the phone to your ear while you're texting someone and it
will call the person you're texting.

Or that you can select a person in the camera and the focus will stay on that
person.

Or that you can burst 10 photos with one shot and then have the phone
automatically recommend the best picture to you.

The wireless charger and the HDMI dongle are also very nice.

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nhangen
Why are we still focusing on hardware when it is clear that software is just
as, if not more important than appearance and feature set?

It has a big screen and fancy processor, but it's still Android, and until
that blemish is removed, Samsung will always be a second rate cell phone
manufacturer.

I say this as someone that will only buy Samsung in almost every other
category.

~~~
elithrar
> Why are we still focusing on hardware when it is clear that software is just
> as, if not more important than appearance and feature set?

It's because comparing hardware specifications is _easy_ \- it's quantifiable,
it's numbers, and techies are familiar with them. How do you objectively
compare the effect on that hardware on the software experience, and the
quality of the software experience itself (qualitative)?

FWIW, ICS (Android 4.0) is a big step in the right direction compared to
earlier versions, especially when it comes to making the most of the hardware
underneath.

~~~
i386
Why do consumers care that their phone has quad core gpus or whatever when
Apple tells them a simple story about how the device is supposed to fit into
and improve their lives? Technology is just a means to an end.

~~~
mayanksinghal
Because I don't really listen to _Apple_ as much as to my own experience. Well
to be fair I have used an iPhone (3S) only for a couple of hours and have been
living with an Android phone (HTC Desire S) for 8 months now. May be an iPhone
would have made me happier, but to think of it objectively I don't see much
difference in utility and ease. I would even make a hypothesis that the extra
happiness is largely because of sociological factors.

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drivebyacct2
I really don't care for its physical appearance but some of its features now
seem basically obvious. The "screen stays on while you look at it" or "eye
tracking" seem great.

