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Visualized: Samsung's PIN pop-up stores take London
Samsung deflated a few enthusiast tires when its "one more thing" Galaxy S III reveal turned out to be a pop-up retail plan. No matter now, as those great mobile expectations have shifted to the device's imminent launch, a debut the company's only too happy to showcase. Starting May 29th, PIN glass housings, like the one you see above, will begin to populate commercial centers in and around London, letting eager consumers gets hands-on with the ICS handset's nature-made design. Westfield's Shepherd's Bush and Old Spitalfields Market will be the first two UK locations for this temporary retail presence, with larger 7-by 7-meter versions, as well as a smattering of overseas appearances to follow in the coming months. In the meantime, check out our full review to get yourself well-acquainted with this flagship follow-up.
PSA: Samsung giving free Olympics tickets to early Galaxy S III buyers at London store, hopes you'll vault the queue
Are you a Londoner so taken with the Galaxy S III that you want to pre-order one before you've even held an in-store dummy unit? Samsung wants to give you a little something something for your eagerness: namely, Olympics tickets. The first 50 who pre-order the giant phone and pick it up at the Westfield Stratford City store on May 29th will get free passes to watch the home team run and leap its way towards a few medals. If you're hoping to claim the reward, though, be prepared to get into the kinds of lines that Samsung skewered in ads just a few months ago. Customers are being asked to show an hour ahead of the 6PM on-sale moment, and the limited slots for ticket winners could easily Samsung repeat its sale-driven Australian lineups in the northern hemisphere. There's no word yet on whether or not the promo will make the leap to Mobile Pin pop-up stores, but we wouldn't be surprised if Samsung spreads the perks around.
Samsung Galaxy S III tops UK pre-order records, shows that British love their quad-core
The British clearly didn't waste any time once pre-orders opened up for the Galaxy S III, which just broke through pre-order records for at least one carrier and one retailer in the country. Carphone Warehouse's chief commercial officer Graham Stapleton says that the quad-core, 4.8-inch flagship is the quickest-moving pre-order of the year "so far," while Vodafone UK adds that the new Galaxy is its most pre-ordered Android device to date. Without hard numbers, though, it's difficult not to couch the successes in relative terms: both are using conditional language that makes clear neither record is absolute and that they might be eclipsed by companies with a knack for building early demand. Even so, that pride in early results suggests the third time is indeed the charm and that Samsung won't have much trouble filling its own pop-up stores with customers at the end of the month.
HTC chief Peter Chou to run Olympic torch relay, invade hostile territory
The Summer Olympics in London are quickly turning into mobile-themed games: along with Samsung's official role in handling mobile payments, HTC is now stepping up with its own, if modest, contribution to the athletic get-together. CEO Peter Chou will be one of the Olympic torchbearers and carry the flame on July 6th, three weeks before the opening ceremony in Stratford. Officials say the torch run is to honor Chou's contribution to the mobile industry and the benefit he represents to Taiwan, although we can imagine that Chou wouldn't mind crashing a Samsung party with a torch in one hand and a One X in the other. He may just want to steer clear of Samsung's Mobile Pin stores while he's at it.
Samsung Galaxy S III to be sold in Mobile Pin pop-up stores (updated with video)
At the very tail end of its Galaxy S III event, Samsung promised one more surprise -- and what it gave us was a special retail strategy. The company will be opening Mobile Pin locations, or glass-housed pop-up stores, to help showcase its new flagship phone. We had a chance to look at examples of the stores first-hand. Those not at the launch event will get a look in the near future, with Mobile Pins appearing at several locations throughout London. The first Pins will open on May 29th, with the Pin 5 (a 5-by-5 meter indoor location) making temporary appearances at Spitalfields Market, Westfield and White City, while the 7-by-7 outdoor version (Pin 7) will pop up in the Olympic Park along with Hyde Park at a later date this year. Samsung is also planning to introduce the Pin concept abroad, with plans for two US cities currently in the works, along with a yet-unnamed country in Asia -- Korea would be our guess. We've got a gallery and video walkthrough below to explore the locations in more detail.
