[The Faceless Master]

I hope that continued pressure from Apple and now the Lumia 800/900 have made Samsung step up their design game.

continued pressure from a 2 year old flawed and fragile design or continued pressure from a 2 year old child's toy inspired design? i hope they feel continued pressure from a consumer base that wants user addressable removable media and batteries.

Galaxy Nexus is still the best android phone IMO, updates will always be on time and its sanctioned by google. I have no clue why people buy any other android phone.

funny, people have been complaining about the lack of that from Google with the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus...

[pseudocaesar]

Has potential but those specs dont seem better than the HTC One X

[Paradoxal_Utopia]

continued pressure from a 2 year old flawed and fragile design or continued pressure from a 2 year old child's toy inspired design? i hope they feel continued pressure from a consumer base that wants user addressable removable media and batteries. funny, people have been complaining about the lack of that from Google with the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus...

One of the most idiotic posts I've ever read. Consumer base that demands 'user addressable removable media batteries'? On what planet is that, dare I ask? Certainly not this one. It's ok if you acknowledge the fact that what YOU personally want is not what the 'consumer base' wants. The past few years has made it explicitly clear, time and time again, that most people couldn't give 2 shits about what you just mentioned. It's why almost all flagship, highest-end phones of the major players DON'T have those things- even if they once did. That argument may have worked in 2007, but now it's just down right stupidity.

And somehow, this 'flawed and fragile' design is the most successful phone in history- oh wait, 2 generations of phones actually. Maybe it's your horrible lack of objectivity that's flawed, and your inability to see beyond your own personal, niche desires. With all due respect if you came out of whatever cave you lived in you'd realize your perception of consumer demands (which I guess is limited to tech blogs) is way off base.

[Cipherr]

It's why almost all flagship, highest-end phones of the major players DON'T have those things- even if they once did. That argument may have worked in 2007, but now it's just down right stupidity.

Care to name those?

[Boogalogist]

I want a GSIII. GSII does everything I need it to and I've only had it 8 months or something. must resist...

This...I got S2 for a year plus....and I'm totally in love in with it. I must resist the S3 lure!

[Paradoxal_Utopia]

Care to name those?

The iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus (which I think is the flagship Android phone as far as Google is concerned) and Lumia 900 all have no removable media. 2/3 also don't have a removable battery. The just released HTC one X, also one of the highest end and best reviewed Android phones to date, also has neither of those. Satisfied? You could have looked up this shit yourself instead of trying to make me look stupid by acting sarcastic and failing. Its safe to say the average consumer couldn't give 2 shits about removable batteries. I'm more tech inclined than anyone I know in real life, and not once have I had the desire/need for either of those 2 'features'. Removable storage is becoming less and less common, as are removable batteries, all due to different factors like more wireless transfer options, widespread data/internet, the cloud, bigger and better batteries, desire to make thinner/lighter phones, etc.

[tfur]

Prediction: carrier begging in this thread will be ENDLESS

Prediction: your gadget addiction will lead you to post pictures of your new SIII. :P

[SquiddyCracker]

Oh, and I hope it does have removable media.
Would be sucky if it didn't have an SD-card slot.

[The Faceless Master]

The iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus (which I think is the flagship Android phone as far as Google is concerned) and Lumia 900 all have no removable media. 2/3 also don't have a removable battery. The just released HTC one X, also one of the highest end and best reviewed Android phones to date, also has neither of those. Satisfied? You could have looked up this shit yourself instead of trying to make me look stupid by acting sarcastic and failing. Its safe to say the average consumer couldn't give 2 shits about removable batteries. I'm more tech inclined than anyone I know in real life, and not once have I had the desire/need for either of those 2 'features'. Removable storage is becoming less and less common, as are removable batteries, all due to different factors like more wireless transfer options, widespread data/internet, the cloud, bigger and better batteries, desire to make thinner/lighter phones, etc.

we're calling the Lumia 900 a high end phone now?

[njean777]

continued pressure from a 2 year old flawed and fragile design or continued pressure from a 2 year old child's toy inspired design? i hope they feel continued pressure from a consumer base that wants user addressable removable media and batteries. funny, people have been complaining about the lack of that from Google with the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus...

Still the only phones to have ICS before anybody else. Heck we are just know receiving ICS phones.

Because you can buy phones with better hardware and just throw CM9 on it which is better than Stock ICS.

I am in the camp of not having to root/flash new roms. I want something vanilla and just as it is suppose to be. I mean sure CM9 may be better, but I shouldnt have to go to that when I buy something.

[Davidion]

Hope it's a big departure from the norm.

That's really the big thing. The OEMs needs to put out something that's not a me-too piece of hardware. Samsung's moves with the Note are encouraging; here's to hoping they continue moving in a more innovative direction.

[Cipherr]

The iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus (which I think is the flagship Android phone as far as Google is concerned) and Lumia 900 all have no removable media.

Thats 3 phones, covering Google Apple and Nokia. The S2 is a flagship, as was the Rezound, and the Photon, and the newly debuted LG Optimus 4X HD, and the Xperia S. You never said one manufacturer, you said all manufacturers, And Im seeing more of an even split and not one dominating the other.

[The Faceless Master]

One of the most idiotic posts I've ever read. Consumer base that demands 'user addressable removable media batteries'? On what planet is that, dare I ask? Certainly not this one. It's ok if you acknowledge the fact that what YOU personally want is not what the 'consumer base' wants. The past few years has made it explicitly clear, time and time again, that most people couldn't give 2 shits about what you just mentioned. It's why almost all flagship, highest-end phones of the major players DON'T have those things- even if they once did. That argument may have worked in 2007, but now it's just down right stupidity. And somehow, this 'flawed and fragile' design is the most successful phone in history- oh wait, 2 generations of phones actually. Maybe it's your horrible lack of objectivity that's flawed, and your inability to see beyond your own personal, niche desires. With all due respect if you came out of whatever cave you lived in you'd realize your perception of consumer demands (which I guess is limited to tech blogs) is way off base.

pretty sure the most successful phone in history is an old nokia candybar phone. and it has a removable battery.

[cartoon_soldier]

And it won't come to US at launch :(

[Cipherr]

Satisfied? You could have looked up this shit yourself instead of trying to make me look stupid by acting sarcastic and failing.

Whoa whoa young man, actually what I was trying to do was show you that in fact the split is even, and not leaning towards one. So no I'm not satisfied. I also didn't have to look it up because I knew you were wrong. And also the OneX has a Sprint variant that has removable battery and microSD. The lean is much more towards removable batteries and expandable memory than it is towards the opposite.

Dont get all bent out of shape because you said something stupid, from the major carriers among flagships removable memory and micro SD expansion is all but equal as of the last 6 months or so, with the S3 and Huwaeis flagships carrying the swing votes, and if we expand to all smartphones period, expandable memory and removable batteries take the lead comfortably. We all get it by now, you get salty as shit anytime someone says something remotely negative about Apple, but don't get me started here. You clearly know very little about what you claim to be so informed on. Go take your strawmen, sensitive feelings and anecdotes about all the people you know and get lost, stop hovering over the thread, waiting for someone to say something about Apple so you can call them cavemen, ramble on and run away. The rest of us are here to talk about this upcoming phone. No hissy fits and hurt feelings allowed.

[The Faceless Master]

Still the only phones to have ICS before anybody else. Heck we are just know receiving ICS phones.

pretty sure there are still Nexus phones on 4.0.2 while some 3rd party phones are on 4.0.3 and even my GS1 has CM9 based on 4.0.4 on it.

is it really a Nexus when 3rd parties like the CyanogenMod team can compile and support devices before Google, who WROTE THE SOURCE CODE!?

[Stefan™]

[Divvy]

I'm actually going to be disappointed if it isn't blue now.

[Cipherr]

is it really a Nexus when 3rd parties like the CyanogenMod team can compile and support devices before Google, who WROTE THE SOURCE CODE!?

I dunno, I think about this sometimes. Especially early on, when you put a CM release on your phone, you tend to 'allow' for certain things. Bugs, features that dont work, and lots of other stuff that only works a little.

Honestly if Google ever put out a release like a lot of CM builds ran, with certain stuff left out, incomplete or not completely working, they would be destroyed by the media. I dont really equate these "We got it running" builds to full rollout updates. Theres a pretty big difference between the two. OTOH, Samsungs handling of the new 4.0 update is better than they have been in the past.

I could buy the S3 with a good bit of confidence that I would get 5.0 whenever it hit. Although by then I would surely be buying a new phone anyway.

[VanMardigan]

continued pressure from a 2 year old flawed and fragile design or continued pressure from a 2 year old child's toy inspired design?

Oh wow. Damn.

[Good Job Bob]

Oh wow. Damn.

That statement is pure blasphemy.

The N9/Lumia 800/900 is a damn marvel and it demands respect!

[saunderez]

I dunno, I think about this sometimes. Especially early on, when you put a CM release on your phone, you tend to 'allow' for certain things. Bugs, features that dont work, and lots of other stuff that only works a little.

Exactly. The situation reminds of all the people complaining about how long it took Samsung to release ICS for the SGS2. If you had been following the leaked ICS builds the OS was nowhere near ready for release until about a week or 2 prior to its actual release. Had Samsung released when people started clamouring for the upgrade it would have been a technical support nightmare.

[Brettison]

Going to hate on me, but I'm failing to see a huge upgrade over the HTC ONE, and unlike previous HTC phones they seem to have done really well on the design and casing. It's similar to the method used on the Nokia 900.

Samsung really better bring it IMO.

[Cipherr]

Going to hate on me, but I'm failing to see a huge upgrade over the HTC ONE, and unlike previous HTC phones they seem to have done really well on the design and casing. It's similar to the method used on the Nokia 900. Samsung really better bring it IMO.

There wont be a HUGE upgrade over the One X, not for this, not the LG's flagship either. These phones are all part of the same gen. They will be fairly close in specs, trading off in a few areas, but likely nothing major.

Another situation like the S2, where HTC and the rest shit the bed for a full year before pulling it together leaving the S2 in a nigh leapfrog position over the rest of the field isnt likely to happen again. I think thats a good thing to be honest, lol.

[Darkkn]

Would be amazing if the rumor about user having the option to choose between the touchwiz and more 'pure' launcher turned out to be true. That would be the killer differentiation to HTC models.

[childplease]

Hope it has a good battery life.

Battery life on smart phones is downright pathetic. Hate my Evo 4g.

[The Faceless Master]

Would be amazing if the rumor about user having the option to choose between the touchwiz and more 'pure' launcher turned out to be true. That would be the killer differentiation to HTC models.

what's amazing about that? the GS1 and GS2 both had the stock launcher on the device along with the TouchWiz launcher. all their other style changes and modifications would still be there.

[snacknuts]

If this thing is sufficiently impressive and doesn't have a pentile screen, I'll probably sell my 4S and go back to Android. Samsung's track record of not updating their devices makes me nervous, though.

[aznpxdd]

what's amazing about that? the GS1 and GS2 both had the stock launcher on the device along with the TouchWiz launcher. all their other style changes and modifications would still be there.

This is news to me. How do I load the stock launcher?

[effzee]

No word on which carriers yet right?

I have a Galaxy 1 with T-Mobile and I am due for an upgrade.

[SimleuqiR]

http://play.google.com/store/apps/de...unpacked2012_1


http://www.androidcentral.com/samsun...gs-ahead-event

[SirChained]

Has potential but those specs dont seem better than the HTC One X

What's wrong with that? HTC One X is a great phone.

[SirChained]

http://play.google.com/store/apps/de...unpacked2012_1 http://www.androidcentral.com/samsun...gs-ahead-event

I've never seen an app that is so polar. Either people voted it 5 stars, or 1 star.

[NomarTyme]

Man if this really blow away the E4GLTE then I might have to wait a few months.... fuck!

[The Faceless Master]

I've never seen an app that is so polar. Either people voted it 5 stars, or 1 star.

well, going by the text on reviews, it force closes on everything except some Samsung phones... it even FC's on the Galaxy Nexus!

all the 1 star reviews with text are from the GNEX, HTC and Moto phones. maybe it uses some TouchWiz calls or something?

[Brettison]

What's wrong with that? HTC One X is a great phone.

Nothing wrong with that IMO. Hard to call this the flagship Android Phone like the GSII though especially when the HTC One is releasing 1st. The GSIII is going to be a great phone, but the hype for this just seems unreal when you already have competition out there with similar specs. Maybe it's more I don't understand why the HTC One lineup isn't getting as much hype as the Samsung GSIII.

[Good Job Bob]

Nothing wrong with that IMO. Hard to call this the flagship Android Phone like the GSII though especially when the HTC One is releasing 1st. The GSIII is going to be a great phone, but the hype for this just seems unreal when you already have competition out there with similar specs. Maybe it's more I don't understand why the HTC One lineup isn't getting as much hype as the Samsung GSIII.

People are only setting themselves up for disappointment with all the hype surrounding this.

[Paradoxal_Utopia]

pretty sure the most successful phone in history is an old nokia candybar phone. and it has a removable battery.

Why do you like pretending to be thick? For kicks? Ok, I apologize, the most successful SMARTPHONE. I assumed we were talking about phones made in the last decade. But you knew that, just wanted to pick at semantics cause you have no point.

[The Faceless Master]

This is news to me. How do I load the stock launcher?

system settings -> apps -> scroll to touchwiz launcher -> clear defaults

Why do you like pretending to be thick? For kicks? Ok, I apologize, the most successful SMARTPHONE. I assumed we were talking about phones made in the last decade. But you knew that, just wanted to pick at semantics cause you have no point.

it was made in the last decade.

Nothing wrong with that IMO. Hard to call this the flagship Android Phone like the GSII though especially when the HTC One is releasing 1st. The GSIII is going to be a great phone, but the hype for this just seems unreal when you already have competition out there with similar specs. Maybe it's more I don't understand why the HTC One lineup isn't getting as much hype as the Samsung GSIII.

because it's HTC. they're known for their iconic clock widget and under-performing phones with bad battery life.

[Battersea Power Station]

Maybe it's more I don't understand why the HTC One lineup isn't getting as much hype as the Samsung GSIII.

Samsung is still much more of an established brand and they're doing much more marketing.

From a tech-savvier point of view, HTC battery life sucks and Sense is terribly bloated.

[Paradoxal_Utopia]

Whoa whoa young man, actually what I was trying to do was show you that in fact the split is even, and not leaning towards one. So no I'm not satisfied. I also didn't have to look it up because I knew you were wrong. And also the OneX has a Sprint variant that has removable battery and microSD. The lean is much more towards removable batteries and expandable memory than it is towards the opposite. Dont get all bent out of shape because you said something stupid, from the major carriers among flagships removable memory and micro SD expansion is all but equal as of the last 6 months or so, with the S3 and Huwaeis flagships carrying the swing votes, and if we expand to all smartphones period, expandable memory and removable batteries take the lead comfortably. We all get it by now, you get salty as shit anytime someone says something remotely negative about Apple, but don't get me started here. You clearly know very little about what you claim to be so informed on. Go take your strawmen, sensitive feelings and anecdotes about all the people you know and get lost, stop hovering over the thread, waiting for someone to say something about Apple so you can call them cavemen, ramble on and run away. The rest of us are here to talk about this upcoming phone. No hissy fits and hurt feelings allowed.

You seem sensitive. Ignoring your paragraph of horse-shit, the point stands that's there's no evidence whatesoever that a significant percentage of consumers are clamoring for removable batteries and media. None. All metrics point otherwise. They're essentially irrelevant to a phone's success, and the phones that do have them and sell well don't sell BECAUSE of these things. This has nothing to do with Apple. I was responding to someone who is clearly utterly out of touch with what most people care about in a phone. I don't need to have every damn phone model memorized to acknowledge that, one looks at general trends. I mentioned the iPhone because its an easy example of a phone that doesnt have these things, yet is the best selling on the market, proving that these things are NOT highly demanded by regular people. Stop projecting your sensitivity onto me, and I have as much right responding in this thread as you do, so you can go fuck yourself insted of telling me to 'get lost'.

[shinshoryuken]

funny, people have been complaining about the lack of that from Google with the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus...

So true about lack of updates on the Gnex. The whole "pure ICS" experience is way overrated especially with the sub par hardware and buggy software. Like after each update there seem to be a new bug...signal issues, gps lock, etc..

I cant wait to sell mine..

bring on the GS3!

[saunderez]

From a tech-savvier point of view, HTC battery life sucks and Sense is terribly bloated.

New Sense is far less bloated than TouchWiz and the Samsung junk that comes on all Samsung phones. I'm currently using a SGSII running CM9 but am seriously considering going back to HTC come update time.

[Ashhong]

Apple is known for its design and should change the look of the iPhone this year. Galaxy SII always looked bland to me, I don't know if the new model will change that.

None of that answers the question I posed. The post that I quoted stated that Apple's designs made Samsung step up their design game from the S2 to the S3. Apple's design has not changed in 2 years, therefore, how could it have suddenly forced Samsung to change their design in the past year?

I don't really know why you responded to my question...no disrespect intended.

So true about lack of updates on the Gnex. The whole "pure ICS" experience is way overrated especially with the sub par hardware and buggy software. Like after each update there seem to be a new bug...signal issues, gps lock, etc.. I cant wait to sell mine.. bring on the GS3!

Should have stuck with the GS2.

[The Abominable Snowman]

Think this may be my first main Android phone, but with Intel Medfield on the horizon and Windows Phone 8, I hope Intel and Microsoft show some late 2012 goods early.

I don't want to miss the next great big step in mobile phones.

[F#A#Oo]

Samsung is still much more of an established brand and they're doing much more marketing. From a tech-savvier point of view, HTC battery life sucks and Sense is terribly bloated.

I like Sense...but yeah battery life does suck. HTC phones generally have 2-4 less battery life than the competition...

Desire HD in particular was just woeful...barely got 8-9 hours out of a charge before it dipped into yellow/orange.

[Mudkips]

Regarding resolution: I'll bet my favourite hat that it's 1280x720.

Hate this shit so hard.
Needs to be full 1280 on the DISPLAY not the touch screen.
And then it needs to be 1920x1080, not 1280x720.

[Ashhong]

Hate this shit so hard. Needs to be full 1280 on the DISPLAY not the touch screen. And then it needs to be 1920x1080, not 1280x720.

Huh? Are you saying the touch keys should not be counted? Even though they can at times be removed from view completely? Why not remove the pixels for the notification bar as well then? How about the dock?

[-COOLIO-]

my next phone

Hate this shit so hard. Needs to be full 1280 on the DISPLAY not the touch screen. And then it needs to be 1920x1080, not 1280x720.

1080 is such overkill, i doubt anyone would notice the difference at > 12 inches, but 720 for the display would be sweet, do the software buttons disappear when watching a movie?

Huh? Are you saying the touch keys should not be counted? Even though they can at times be removed from view completely?

they can? then perfecto!

[sangreal]

on my ics tablet, just like honeycomb before it, the touch buttons are never removed completely. When watching a movie they turn into dots, but that space still isnt usable. Not sure about on ICS, but I know on Honeycomb this wasn't something that was available for app developers to change. I also know there are some hacks out there for ICS, as well as some custom-compiled roms to hide the buttons so I'm guessing it isn't simple on ICS either