Samsung is hoping to consolidate the success it achieved with Galaxy S II by enhancing some of its most popular features in this latest device. Galaxy S III comes with a 4.8 inch (12.2cm) screen, an increase on the 4.3 inch screen of its predecessor, and much bigger than the 3.5in display on the iPhone 4S. It is one of the largest screens on smartphones ever.

The arrival of the phone on Nigeria’s shores put paid to speculations as to when mobile phone users in the country can have access to the smartphone which has enjoyed rave reviews across the world.

It would be recalled that Samsung Electronics overtook Apple Inc. in the last quarter of last year to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor amid a widening technology and legal battle between the two companies.

During the period, Samsung shipped 27.8 million smartphones, taking 23.8 percent of the market, according to the United Kingdom- based renowned research consultancy, Strategy Analytics. Apple’s 17.1 million shipments, comprising 14.6 percent of the market, pushed the Apple to second place, the firm said, adding that Nokia maintained its third position.

Apple, which released its iPhone 4S in the last quarter of 2011, held the top spot for only one quarter after dislodging Nokia earlier in the year. Samsung’s adoption of Google’s Android software has proved very useful to boost sales of its Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers.

The company has also managed to incorporate a number of features that proved popular with phone users.

Some other new features that the mobile phone maker believes will make Galaxy S3 an instant hit with mobile phone users across the world include a mix of intelligent camera features and face recognition technology that ensures that the phone never goes dim or locks, so long as the owner is looking at it.

To facilitate this, a 1.9 megapixel camera was incorporated into the front of the device to track user’s eyes. The second camera on the back of the device packs more power at 8 megapixel resolution, making carrying a separate digital camera or camcorder superfluous.

While the Bluetooth technology revolutionised the concept of sharing, a new feature on this latest Smartphone from Samsung makes it even more convenient for phone users to share.

Tagged S-Beam, the feature makes it possible for owners of Galaxy S 3 to transfer files, documents, videos and other content from one phone to the other, just by placing them side by side. Allshare Cast feature lets users see the content of their device in other places, while yet another feature, dubbed Allshare, allows the owner of a Galaxy S III to play and see the content of his device on a larger screen, such as a television screen without the use of any wire.

The phone also uses what is described as a “natural language user interface” dubbed S Voice. Samsung says it is a major improvement on the voice control features it included on earlier models.

The facility can be used to command the phone to play songs, adjust the volume, send text messages or emails and take photographs, among many other features.

Source: Business Day