GT-I9300
Latest
WiFi Alliance certificate teases Tizen flavored Samsung Galaxy S III
Ever wondered what Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III phone might be like, if it ran another OS? Okay, arguably something along those lines is already under way, but if a curious WiFi Alliance certification entry is to be understood, Tizen might have made its way on to the phone already. The hook here is the product name. The GS III also goes by the less snappy moniker of GT-I9300, and it's the appearance of GT-I9300_TIZEN in the certification list that has got chins wagging. Of course, a stamp from the WiFI Alliance means little out here in the real world, where everything is still looking rather Android, but it doesn't hurt to imagine the Koreans experimenting with idea, and it wouldn't be the first time either.
Samsung announces Drive Link, a car-friendly app with MirrorLink integration
Until self-driving cars become mainstream, it's best to keep eyes on roads and hands off phones. With this in mind, Samsung's debuting Drive Link, an app that balances in-car essentials with driver safety, complete with approval from the no-nonsense Japanese Automotive Manufacturers Association. It's all about the bare essentials -- navigation, hands-free calling and audiotainment from your phone-based files or TuneIn. Destinations can be pulled from S Calendar appointments or texts without trouble, and the text-to-speech feature means you won't miss a message, email or social media update. The best bit is that via MirrorLink, all these goodies can be fed through compatible dash screens and speaker systems. Drive Link is available now through Sammy's app store for Europeans sporting an international Galaxy S III, and will be coming to other ICS handsets "in the near future."
Samsung Galaxy S III recovers universal search box in OTA update to European handsets
Samsung promised -- and it's already delivered. Galaxy S III-toting Brits should wake up to yet another OTA update for their smartphone, which throws in some stability improvements alongside the returning universal search feature that polls your phone's entire contents for results. Users can check their settings menu for the lightweight 5MB download now.
Samsung: Galaxy S III's universal search function 'inadvertently removed', will return to UK models in the next few days
After being unceremoniously stripped in a recent OTA update, Samsung has told TechRadar that the Galaxy S III's universal search function will return -- at least in the UK. A spokesperson for Samsung said that the "inadvertent removal" will be remedied in the "correct software upgrade" over the next few days. It sends a mixed message on why the feature was removed in the first place -- and makes us wonder whether the search box will ever return to the Sprint iteration any time soon. Still, it's good news for anyone that's having trouble keeping tabs on all those Angry Birds iterations. Gotta finish 'em all.
Samsung Galaxy S III update sheds universal search feature on international model
The Sprint flavor of Samsung's latest flagship isn't the only one to feel the gentle tug of patent warfare. According to Android Central (and several XDA Developers forum members), the latest OTA update for the international (i9300) version also does away with the universal search function, which browses your phone's contacts and apps for results -- and drew Apple's ire. The new search box now offers web-only results, with the 27MB update also tinkering with the default browser layout. You may also find yourself back using Samsung's homemade keyboard UI after resetting -- though this can be quickly remedied in settings. Reduced functionality aside, if you like your smartphones legally sound, the update can be grabbed through the phone or Samsung's Kies software.
Samsung posts Galaxy S III source code, modders start their engines
That was fast: just a few days after the Galaxy S III reached buyers' eager hands, Samsung has posted the phone's source code. Its dutiful clinging to Google's Android guidelines opens the floodgates to custom ROMs as well as a better sense of what makes Samsung's Android 4.0 variant tick. As you'd anticipate, the code is only valid for the international GT-i9300 version. North American models, for the time being, are left out. Still, the source is useful for most anyone that wants to tinker with what should be the most ubiquitous Google-powered phone of the year, so get to downloading if that sounds like you.
Alleged Galaxy S III pops up again, with rounded glass and GT-I9300 branding
Well, the leaks and rumors just won't stop coming and, while we were initially pretty dismissive of the rounded glass design it just keeps cropping back up. We're still note entirely convinced this is, in fact, the Galaxy S III (or the Next Galaxy) but the consistency of the leaks is making us slightly (but only slightly) less skeptical. SamMobile scored a pair of shots from Mr. Blurrycam's cousin, Sir Softfocus, that look quite similar to the photos we've seen circulating for the past few weeks. What's more, the site has an image of the settings page which labels this rather interesting looking handset as the GT-I9300. We've still got some concerns, though, that lead us to believe this is, most likely, a prototype device. Chief among those issues is the physical home button, flanked by a capacitive menu and back key. We'd say it's a pretty safe bet that we're looking at three entirely software-based buttons in the final product, just like the version spotted in the Vietnamese video. One more image after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Samsung: We're still not into 3D smartphones
By now you may have already seen a handful of "leaks" on Samsung's imminent Galaxy S III, but if you ask us, they all smell like a cruel prank on anticipating fans. As far as we're concerned, the only reliable tidbits so far are the GT-i9300 and GT-i9308 codenames (the latter likely a TD-SCDMA variant for China Mobile) on Samsung's support page; along with murmurs from executives about a certain quad-core chipset and a release date. Funnily enough, we just received the following statement from Sammy who's probably not too happy about some of the speculations out there: Although Samsung Electronics is constantly exploring new technologies for our mobile devices, we have no immediate plan to include displays featuring 3D technology in our upcoming smartphones.So there you have it: the upcoming Galaxy S III, along with its new siblings, definitely won't feature a 3D display; and you can certainly forget that 4-inch 3D handset we heard about last February. Unless, of course, LG can convince its Korean buddy to think otherwise.
Samsung's GT-i9300 is probably not the Galaxy S III, as revealed by its low-res screen
Straight from the Dana Scully school of debunking, Android Community has poured cold water on the notion that the GT-i9300 is the quasi-mythical Galaxy S III. Having happened upon the user agent profile of the device bearing that codename, the stats reveal a lackluster 1024 x 600 resolution display that's easily beaten by the Galaxies Nexus and Note. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled at Mobile World Congress and hope that Samsung isn't planning to ruin the pedigree of the handsets that have previously born that code: the i9200 i9100 was the Galaxy S II and the i9250 was the Galaxy Nexus, after all.
Did the Galaxy S III just pop up on Samsung's support site?
Seriously, we can't caveat this one enough -- there is no way of knowing if this is in fact the Galaxy S III or, if it is, when it might come to market -- but, it looks like Samsung's "next big smartphone" just made a cameo on the company's support pages. Listed as the GT-i9300, the mystery device reared its head over at the Global Download Center of the United Arab Emerites site. If Sammy is to keep with its naming scheme i93XX would be a flagship device -- the i90XX line was the Galaxy S, i91XX represents the S2 series, while the i9250 and i9220 are the Nexus and Note respectively. As we warned before though, this could be some mid-range device and Samsung could be changing its naming conventions. Or, perhaps, its yet another variation of an existing model. Still, we'll take this as a good sign that Seoul squad has something interesting brewing.
