Although Samsung's Galaxy S III won't appear at Mobile World Congress at the end of February, the device is expected to hit shelves in the first half of 2012. According to South Korea's Electronic Times News, the next-generation Galaxy S will be one of the thinnest smartphones to date and it'll supposedly arrive in May – later than the previously-speculated April launch and more in line with the Galaxy S II's anniversary.
If the rumored info is accurate, Samsung's upcoming flagship will measure a mere 7mm thick, roughly 1.5mm thinner than the Galaxy S II, 2.3mm thinner than Apple's iPhone 4S and a hair slimmer than the Droid Razr. To achieve such a trim profile, the company is reportedly using components that are 10 to 20% thinner than standard parts, including the printed circuit board, connectors and miscellaneous chips.
Inside its diminutive shell, the handset will pack a quad-core processor – a first for Samsung – along with 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera and support for LTE networks. It'll also have a HD Super AMOLED Plus display and it'll run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Separate rumors from late January suggest the Galaxy S III will carry a 12MP camera and 64GB of storage.
ET News notes that if the Galaxy S III's camera is as thick as its predecessor's, it will likely protrude from the phone. If we understand the translation right, Samsung hopes to ship 30 million of its next-gen device and its primary goal is to defeat the iPhone 5. Not only does Samsung want its highest-end Galaxy S III to outshine Apple's upcoming handset, it wants to offer more variety with up to seven iterations.