The Samsung Galaxy S3 arrives

The wait is finally over, folks. We’ve been given a look at the Samsung Galaxy S3 – the latest smartphone from tech giant Samsung.

Like many other tech journalists, I’ve been thinking and writing about the S3 for what seems like years – what it’s going to feature, what it’s not going to feature, how long we’ll have to wait to see it.

But all that is over now, as Samsung launched the eagerly awaited device at a press event in London last night. After the success of the Galaxy S2, the S3’s predecessor, Samsung really had to deliver something good.

But there was no cause for concern – if there’s any company that can deliver a cutting edge device, even with the ‘difficult second album’ pressure, it’s Samsung.

We had been getting a number of image leaks in recent weeks, which showed a device very similar to the Galaxy S2 – a large screen, physical home button, and dark colour.

But the device itself was something far better. With a design even sleeker than that of the S2 (if that was possible), the S3 has retained the lightweight plastic build of its predecessor.

One key area to change was the screen. The S3 has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen, delivering 1280 x 720, giving us an HD display that makes the iPhone 4S’s retina display look positively tiny.

A full half-inch bigger than the S2’s screen, the S3’s display delivers, crisp, vibrant colours that make the screen its key selling point.

In terms of specifications under the bonnet, there were few surprises to be had. I feel like I’ve covered every specs possibility under the sun for this device, so some of them were bound to come true.

As expected, the S3 comes with a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor – which Samsung claims gives a better performance than previous CPUs, but uses 20% less power.

Other neat features include ‘S Voice’, eye-tracking sensors and even face recognition.

So Samsung has finally shown its hand for the smartphone battle with Apple that lies ahead. With the S3 set for release at the end of this month (but with no official price yet), Apple is going to have to go all out to outdo this fantastic device.