Galaxy S III mini launched with 4-inch Super AMOLED display and NFC

It appears that Samsung has no intention of pausing their good run and has announced the Galaxy S III mini, a smaller version of the record breaking Galaxy S III smartphone, which continues to notch up outstanding sales figures. There had been rumours surrounding this handset since the past few weeks and putting all speculations to rest, Samsung has launched a handset that features all the details that were leaked in the past, which include a 4-inch screen sporting a WVGA resolution.

The size of the display has been discussed much, as 4 inches is not exactly small, but in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S III, this handset could be much easier to handle. Like previous rumours had suggested, this handset is heavily based on the Galaxy S III and this feature translates to the design of this latest model as well. As far as the technical specifications of the handset go, the Galaxy S III mini is powered by a dual core 1 GHz NovaThor U8420 processor and comes equipped with 1GB RAM. If there was any doubt about what operating system would be used in this handset since it is not exactly a high-end model, then Samsung has not held back on this front and has stated that the phone will ship with Google’s latest Android operating system 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Galaxy S III mini is now official

Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of this handset:

• 4-inch Super AMOLED display with a WVGA resolution of 480 x 800 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA support, NFC
• GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, 
• USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, LE, EDR
• 5MP camera with AF, LED flash, BSI sensor and 720p HD video recording
• VGA front facing camera for video chat
• 16/32GB Internal memory, all with all with expandable support up 32GB MicroSD card

Apart from the above mentioned features this handset comes loaded with sensors for an accelerometer, gyro, proximity and compass.  The brand has used a 1500mAh battery on this smartphone and this should be sufficient given the specifications of the device. As far as the size of this handset goes, the Galaxy S III mini measures 121.6 x 63 x 9.9mm and weighs in at 111.5g.

Commenting on the announcement of the Galaxy S III mini, JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics said, “The GALAXY S III introduced a new concept of smartphone that has proven hugely popular around the world. We're now delighted to bring its revolutionary design, intuitive usability and intelligence to the GALAXY S III mini in a more compact form. We continue to make every effort to provide extraordinary mobile experiences to meet a wide variety of user needs.”

The Galaxy S III mini is powered by Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), the latest version of the world's most popular smartphone operating system. Jelly Bean has fast, fluid and smooth graphics along with a new Google Search experience featuring Google Now.

Commenting on the design of the handset, Samsung states that its ultra-minimal curved frame delivers a natural feel, which is also seen on its nature-inspired home screen, wallpapers and ringtones.

The Galaxy S III mini is packed with technology that the brand claims is designed to make interacting with the phone incredibly natural and intuitive. S Voice, Samsung's natural language recognition software, lets a user use their voice to unlock the phone with simple customized commands, or to play their favourite songs, turn the volume up or down, organize schedules, or automatically launch the camera to start taking photos.

The Galaxy S III mini is also capable of understanding a user’s gestures to make using their phone easier and more natural. With Smart Stay, the phone's camera tracks a user’s eyes and keeps the screen lit as long as one is looking at it. When reading a text message from a friend, Direct Call enables a user to automatically dial a call by lifting the phone to their ear and Smart Alert alerts one to missed calls or messages as soon as the user picks up their phone.

Samsung claims, “Content sharing is easy and fast on the GALAXY S III mini: Its S Beam feature lets you share a 10MB music file in just two seconds by simply tapping on another S Beam-enabled device including GALAXY S III or GALAXY Note II, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. The 'Buddy photo share' function also allows photos to be easily and simultaneously shared with all your friends pictured in an image directly from the camera or the photo gallery.”

As far as availability is concerned there have been no concrete dates but the smartphone is expected to be launched by November. With Samsung’s market in India absolutely booming, one can expect this smartphone to launch here in the first batch. As of now there is no pricing attached to the handset, but stay tuned.

With the Galaxy S III mini featuring the same size display as the iPhone 5, the competition between the two brands is just getting hotter and only time will tell which brand manages to stay on top for a sustained period of time.

Do share your thoughts on the latest smartphone from Samsung in the comments below.