Samsung will launch its latest smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3, in New Delhi on Thursday at 1:30 pm.
The expected price, as predicted by RTN yesterday, is Rs 42,000.
PRICE UPDATE from press conference – It’s Rs 43,000 (yes, that’s for 1 phone!)
You can watch the launch, which will give further details of the pricing, on the live webcast of the event starting from 1:30 pm by clicking on this link
The New Delhi event, happening in a prominent hotel in front of the media, is part of the worldwide Samsung Galaxy SIII roadshow.
The Galaxy S3 is arguably the most advanced smartphone in the world today. However, it is also likely to be one of the most expensive, at a price of Rs 42,000.
Though there are three variants, 16 GB to 64 GB, the price difference between the different S3s is not likely to be much as the only difference is in in-built storage memory, which is only a small part of the overall package.
In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S2 was priced at just about Rs 33,000 when launched a year ago. However, if the rupee had remained at the same level (around Rs 45-46 per dollar) as last year, the price of the Samsung Galaxy S3 would have been only Rs 34,400.
In other words, the phone has become costlier by more than 20% because of the fall in the value of the rupee.
The Samsung Galaxy S3’s biggest competition in India is the HTC One X, priced at Rs 36,000.
Both the Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X have Android 4, 8 megapixel cameras, shoots ful HD 1080p video, 1 GB of RAM, HD display (1280*720 pixels), quad-core processors, 21 Mbps 3G and weigh around 130 gm.
The two models differ in display size and type, processor speed, graphics processor type, front-camera resolution, availability of memory card option, battery capacity.
In nearly all these cases, the comparison is in favor of the Galaxy SIII. For example, the S3 has a MALI graphics processor which also powers the Galaxy Tab 680 and Galaxy Tab 2. The processor, from ARM, is widely seen as among the most powerful mobile graphics engine out there.
HTC One X is powered by Nvidia’s GeForce graphics unit.
The S3 also has a 4.8 inch display, which has a surface area of 9.84 inches, which is 4.3% more than that of the HTC One X.
The front camera on the Galaxy S3 is a 1.9 megapixel unit, compared to the 1.3 megapixel one on the HTC One X.
Similarly, the Galaxy S III supports up to 64 GB of external memory in the form of a micro SD card slot. HTC One X does not support external memory card. The S3 has a bigger battery and uses a different a different display technology.
The S3 also comes with eye-tracking software, direct call software for dialling numbers automatically and also comes with a voice assistant, like the iPhone’s Siri, called S-Voice. This allows you to control your phone through voice, eg to turn up the volume, and to ask it questions.