Samsung Galaxy S III: Rumor Roundup

Samsung is keeping itself in the news before it announces its next Galaxy phone by confirming a quad-core processor for the device.

It’s one of the few details that Samsung has let slip ahead of a May 3 event in London, where the company will debut its next flagship phone — possibly dubbed the Galaxy S III. Still, plenty of rumors have filled the void of official information.

Here’s what we know, and think we know about Samsung’s next Galaxy phone:

Confirmed: 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor

In a press release announcing its quad-core Exynos processor, Samsung said the chip is “scheduled to be adopted first into Samsung’s next Galaxy smartphone that will be officially announced in May.” The statement puts to rest any speculation that the next Galaxy would use a dual-core chip. Samsung claims that the new Exynos provides double the processing capability over its predecessor, with 20 percent less power consumption.

Confirmed: No 3D

Samsung squashed speculation that its next Galaxy phone would have a 3D display, telling Engadget that it’s not using the technology in its upcoming smartphones. Given the design tradeoffs that 3D phones must make, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Not Confirmed: Display

The rumor mill can’t seem to agree on the screen size of the new Galaxy phone. Boy Genius Report has maintained that the device will have a 4.8-inch, 1080p display, but a leaked video from Vietnamese site Tinhte claims that the phone will have a 4.6-inch, 720p resolution screen. A product listing from Amazon Germany split the difference, claiming a 4.7-inch, 720p display. In any case, the screen will likely be larger than that of the Galaxy S II, which ranged from 4.3 inches to 4.5 inches, depending on the wireless carrier.

Not Confirmed: Other Specs

Tinhte was right about the next Galaxy’s 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, so the site’s other claims of 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, a microSD slot and 2050 mAh battery may prove accurate as well. We’ve seen reports of either an 8-megapixel or 12-megapixel rear camera for the device, and 4G LTE support seems like a given at this point.

Not Confirmed: Look and Feel

BGR has reported that the new Galaxy phone will be encased in ceramic — an upgrade from the cheap plastic of the Galaxy S II — and speculates that we’ll see some metal on the device as well. Whether the device will use physical navigation buttons, as with previous Galaxy phones, or software buttons like those on the Galaxy Nexus is a point of contention.

Confirmed: UK Carriers, and Maybe Verizon, Too

In the United Kingdom, both Vodafone and O2 have confirmed that they will sell Samsung’s next Galaxy phone. The U.S. launch picture isn’t as clear, but a leaked Verizon Wireless roadmap lists the Galaxy S III for 2012. Exact release timing is unknown, but hopefully U.S. carriers won’t wait as long as they did for last year’s Galaxy S II.

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