In an unusual twist on the usual leaked image story, a picture emerged online last week which did not showcase the new Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone but was, instead, alleged to have been taken using the camera attached to a prototype of this exciting new handset.
PocketNow acquired an image from which it was possible to extrapolate details, suggesting that it was shot using a Samsung GT-19500 mobile, believed to be the code name for the SIII.
Cynics are suggesting that Samsung has deliberately floated the image online to drum up interest in its fresh new Galaxy model. If this is indeed the case, then it has certainly succeeded.
As well as the fairly innocuous digital photograph being rooted out last week, the release date and more detailed specification for the sequel to the Samsung Galaxy SII were also unearthed, to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Information published by BGR, suggests, unsurprisingly, that the Galaxy SIII will make its first official appearance in the spotlight during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) early this year, ahead of a release date at some point in February.
Perhaps more interesting is the news that it will apparently feature a quad-core processor with a currently unknown clock speed. Just a few weeks ago it was thought that Samsung would use a dual core processor running at 2GHz for the Galaxy SIII, which would certainly be a step up from the 1.2GHz dual core chip found in its predecessor, but doubling the physical cores was not always anticipated.
Another tasty morsel of information is that the Galaxy SIII will reportedly follow the LG Optimus 3D in having stereoscopic capabilities. However, while its display will not be 3D ready, it will be able to hook up to a 3D TV and playback media with that added degree of depth that early adopters will love.
The screen of the Galaxy SIII itself will use Super AMOLED Plus technology and have a high resolution of 1280×720, just like that of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which the manufacturer launched in partnership with Google towards the end of 2011.
2GB of RAM will go hand in hand with the other hardware components, allowing the Galaxy SIII to maximise its ability to use Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung will also doubtlessly integrate the latest version of its TouchWiz user interface to further extend Android.
It is worth pointing out that all of this information should be treated like any rumour and not taken as a guaranteed fact about the upcoming Galaxy SIII. It should be just a few weeks until the truth is known, so there is not long to hold on.
What is clear is that Samsung has a lot to live up to with the Galaxy SIII. Last year the Galaxy SII was a real hit, selling three million units in under three months and representing for many the best alternative to Apple’s iPhone, for anyone who wanted to see what Android could really do.