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Samsung Galaxy S3 set for March 30 shock launch in UK? [Rumor]
The much anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 handset could be rearing its head in a surprise arrival at a Phones 4U branch in UK on Friday, 30th March. The branch located on Oxford Street, London has been decorated with a Samsung logo captioned ‘Coming 30/3/2012’ on its store-front. While this is just a rumor and it is only speculation that makes us think that it could possibly be the launch of Samsung’s latest flagship product, the sign is yet to be explained.
Other Samsung that might be worthy of that much effort and attention could be the new Galaxy Note, Galaxy Tab as well as the Galaxy Beam that comes with a projector but all those devices unlike the Samsung Galaxy S3 are not touted for release until later in the year. It seems like the teaser worked and the interweb forums are in frenzy but it looks like we might have to wait until Friday to find out.
According to Eurodroid, the speculation that the sign might be pointing to the S3 might not be very far off-base due to the fact that Phones 4U was the official sales partner in the UK for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Could it be that the High Street mobile retailer has got its hands on another Samsung exclusive dealing? The Samsung Galaxy S3 is easily the most anticipated Android device as its predecessor was voted the Phone of the Year at T3 Gadget Awards 2011.
Reports suggest the latest instalment of the flagship product could come with a 2GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage with expansion options with a microSD card, a 12MP camera, 4.8” display with full 1080p resolution and other sources have stated that the device could be a wafer-thin 7mm thick. It is said to come loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich.
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?