The Samsung Galaxy has launched in London at Samsung Mobile Unpacked.
JK Shin, Samsung president, launched the new smartphone that's set to take on market leading Apple iPhone. It features a 4.8" super AMOLED screen, 8 megapixel camera, and a smooth, slick nature-inspired design.
The Galaxy S3 will watch you via the front-facing camera to keep the screen awake when you are looking at it, and, as Samsung repeated, is "designed for humans". The phone will wake up using your voice alone with set commands you have entered.
Much like the iPhone's Siri, the Galaxy S3 will use artificial intelligence to share details of your day, the weather and other details verbally via a service called S-Voice.
The Galaxy S3 understands 8 languages including UK and US English, and continental and Latin American Spanish.
The new smartphone is big on sharing. It offers to share photos of your friends via MMS or email using face-recognition technology.
Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch.com, said via email: "The S3 has some commendable new features but despite its Apple-esque, near-global launch I don't think this phone is set to be an iPhone killer. S-Voice is shamelessly, if effectively, mimicking Apple's Siri, which has proved to be more of a gimmick, unless you want to know what the weather is like in London."
A do-it-all device is what Samsung is aiming for with this phone, and it allows you to view a video from the phone on a nearby larger screen, access your documents through the cloud via an "All Share Ecosystem" and a separate "All Share" dongle.
Samsung's presentation spoke of intuitive, effortless experience and not technology for technology's sake. The design looks smooth and rounded, designed to fit comfortably in the hand. It is incredibly light to hold, and the screen is rich and colourful.
Samsung's goal with this new phone is "minimal organic design" and getting back to nature. Samsung announced a donation to WWF of $100 for each person attending the Samsung launch events in the US and UK. In the UK alone, there were at least a thousand in attendance.
The new Samsung Galaxy 3 camera has no shutter lag, and shoots 3.3 shots per second. A feature called "best photo" will select the best shot out of 8, taking control of your editing, or removing your control, as you may see it.
NFC was not announced as a launch feature, but Samsung acknowledged the feature, and said they were working with partners to develop the application for payments.
The phone will be available on May 29 from phone carriers including Vodafone. It is expected to be priced below the iPhone outright and at around £30-£45 per month on contract.