Samsung Electronics clearly hopes its next star is as bright as the others in its smartphone galaxy.
Samsung, which just took over the title of world's largest handset maker, is expected to unveil its latest flagship phone, widely expected to be called the Galaxy S III, at a media event today in London. Security and secrecy around the event have been tight, reminiscent of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone launches. According to a report in The Verge, which cited unnamed sources, security for the event is tighter than it has ever been for any product launch in the company's history.
There have been a few clues about what updates Samsung will make to its flagship model. Samsung has confirmed the gadget, which it has referred to only as "the next Galaxy" up until now, will have a quad-core, 1.4 GHz Exynos processor based on ARM Holdings' Cortex A9 architecture. Rumors have indicated that the device will also sport a Super AMOLED Plus display, which will likely be larger than the 4.3-inch display on the Galaxy S II.
The new device will likely sport an LTE connection, Android 4.0 and probably NFC capabilities, though none of that has been confirmed. Additionally, Samsung has confirmed that it will not be adding stereoscopic 3D to the device. "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," wrote Samsung in a note to Engadget in April.
For Samsung, it may not be enough though to simply come out with a flashy device, and analysts have speculated that Samsung will also announce a cloud-based media and content strategy. "Historically, they have revealed a new Galaxy S line at these kinds of events," NPD Connected Intelligence analyst Ross Rubin said. "At the same time they are getting more serious about building out their own ecosystem, they have their own MediaHub. Further building out the cloud strategy would certainly be consistent with what we've seen from other companies building out their ecosystems." He also said Samsung might forge a closer relationship with Dropbox, as HTC has done.
FierceWireless will be following live as the event unfolds, staring at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Click here for the latest Galaxy S III news.
For more:
- see this TIME article
- see this The Verge article
- see this Engadget article
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