Samsung Galaxy S III coming to C Spire 'later this year'

And then there were six. With US Cellular breaking the barrier of regional carriers getting a flagship device at the same time as its national rivals, C Spire (formerly Cellular South) wants to join the cause by announcing that it will carry the Samsung Galaxy S III -- and we doubt it will be the last to hop on board, given that MetroPCS was listed on the US sign-up page alongside these other six carriers. The company wasn't so keen on providing exact details of pricing or availability, so all we know is that it's on track for a release "later this year" and we'll get more information in the coming weeks. If we were the gambling sort, we'd bet that C Spire is aiming to push this as its inaugural LTE device when the network is deployed this coming September. Judging by the picture alone, we're not expecting any major surprises with this particular flavor, but that shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone who has been following the GS3 news on the US front. Welcome to the party, pal.

[Thanks, Fred]

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Samsung Galaxy S III Coming Soon On Nation's First Personalized Network

Iconic 4G LTE smartphone design and premium content sharing experience will be combined with C Spire Wireless' exclusive suite of personalized services

Ridgeland, Miss. (June 12, 2012) – C Spire Wireless announced plans today to introduce the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S® III, optimized for peak performance on the nation's only personalized 4G LTE® network, later this year. Exact pricing and retail availability will be announced in the coming weeks.

"We're excited that the Galaxy S III will be among the first 4G LTE devices launched on the nation's only personalized network optimized for the next generation of high-speed data services," said Kevin Hankins, chief operating officer for C Spire Wireless.

The company's initial launch of 4G LTE mobile broadband services in 20 Mississippi markets beginning in September will cover 2,700 square miles, a population of 1.2 million and more than 360 cell sites. The new service will provide four out of every 10 consumers and businesses in Mississippi with wireless data speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, allowing C Spire to be the first provider to make these services widely available in the state.

Powerful Performance

The lightweight and powerful Samsung Galaxy S III weighs 4.7 ounces and is 8.6 millimeters thin, making it lighter and sleeker than other leading smartphones. The brilliant 4.8 inch display extends to an ultra-thin bezel to maximize the viewing area. The Galaxy S III delivers impressive processing power to allow more applications to be accessible simultaneously.

The Galaxy S III includes Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with TouchWiz enhancements, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual core CPU and 2GB of internal RAM to provide high-speed performance enabling efficient and seamless multi-tasking. The dual-core processor offers competitive speeds and performance as leading quad-core processors without sacrificing valuable battery life. The brilliant 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED™ touchscreen display brings content to life, without compromising the device's true portability. The expansive display is protected by Gorilla Glass® 2.0 to guard against cracks and scratches and provide enhanced touchscreen responsiveness.

The device, which comes in Marble White and Pebble Blue, is powered by a removable 2100 mAh battery for extended use on a single charge. Users can store large libraries of photos, videos and music onboard the Galaxy S III with expandable memory up to 64GB to compliment the standard 16GB onboard storage.

Sharing Made Simple

Hankins said Samsung has introduced several new elements of technological innovation and device sharing capabilities on the Galaxy S III. "This device goes far beyond content consumption to content sharing," he said, adding that Samsung simplifies how users share content and control their device with a single touch, through enhanced gesture technology or the simple eye movements.

The content sharing experience on the Galaxy S III addresses the sharing needs of consumers, whether it's sharing and editing a presentation with a large group in real-time, sending digital images to several other smartphones at the same time or transferring large files within seconds from one phone to another. Further, these sharing experiences are simple and require little, if any, set-up.

Sharing With Multiple Devices

The Galaxy S III introduces the next evolution of Samsung's content sharing service with AllShare® Play. This service automatically notifies the Galaxy S III to Samsung HDTVs, mobile tablets, laptops and other consumer electronic devices on the same network that are ready to receive video files. Users can also remotely access files from devices on other networks.

Sharing with Groups

With AllShare Group Cast on the Galaxy S III and a Wi-Fi network, users can share and collaborate on documents, presentations or images in real-time with multiple friends or co-workers' without loading the file separately.
With Share Shot, become the official photographer for a group of friends. There's no need to send photos and video via email, MMS or a USB drive. Users can quickly and seamlessly share pictures taken with the Galaxy S III's 8 megapixel camera to other phones from up to 200 feet away. Once the Galaxy S III is synched with chosen devices, the pictures are automatically shared.

Sharing Smartphone to Smartphone

S-Beam is an industry first, providing fast, easy transfer of large files, such as videos and documents, with a single touch of the Galaxy S III without needing a Wi-Fi connection or cell signal. A 1GB movie file can be shared as quickly as three minutes and a 10MB music file can be transferred in seconds by simply touching another GALAXY S III phone.

Smartphone Simplicity

The S-Voice™ feature on the Galaxy S III offers much more than just asking and answering questions. S-Voice allows users to control the applications and services used most with words instead of touch. Use S-Voice to turn the volume up or down on the music player, answer or reject incoming calls, shut off or choose to snooze the alarm clock, or take a picture by saying "smile" or "cheese."
Smart Stay puts the "smart" in smartphones. With Smart Stay, the Galaxy S III tracks the user's eye to ensure the device screen is always on while you're looking at it. By knowing when you are looking at the screen, it doesn't dim the backlight or timeout to an idle screen.
Motion simplifies and short cuts many common functions including converting a text message to a call by simply raising the phone to the ear, tapping the top of the phone to go to the top of an email and list of emails or contacts, and alerting to missed call or text message.
The capabilities of the Galaxy S III's 8 megapixel camera are far beyond point and shoot. Burst Shot captures still pictures at a rapid-fire pace at three images per second with zero shutter lag; and Best Shot recommends the best picture to keep based on colors, lighting and clarity. The Galaxy S III shoots and plays back 1080p HD quality video with a backside illuminated sensor that improves performance in low light environments, and provides the ability to capture a photo during videoing.
Watching video while downloading a large file or service is seamless with Pop Up Play. Pop Up Play allows you to watch any side-loaded video content while operating any application in full-screen, background view at the same time. Video running on Pop Up Play can be moved anywhere on top of the full screen, much like picture-in-picture capabilities on large screen TVs.

Samsung Galaxy S III and other C Spire devices and services, go to www.cspire.com. For more information about C Spire's 4G LTE plans, go to www.cspire.com/4G.