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Flame Malware Ignites Cyber War Potentials

5:20 AM Lecor Martineau


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The "Flame" virus, the most complex computer bug ever discovered, has been lurking for years inside Iranian government computers, spying on the country's officials.

Publicly unveiled this week, the bug is one of the most potent cyber weapons ever spotted in the wild. Security professionals say it marks a new milestone in the escalating digital espionage battle.

Flame's complexity and power "exceed[s] those of all other cyber menaces known to date," research firm Kaspersky Lab wrote in a dispatch about its investigation into Flame.

In a statement posted on its website on Monday, the Iranian National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) said it discovered Flame after "multiple investigations" over the past few months.


The stealthy malware has been in the wild for at least two years, the CERT team said, evading detection by security software.

It's a spy bug that's capable of, among other things, capturing what's on a user's screen, turning on a computer's microphone to record conversations, detecting who and what is on a network, collecting lists of vulnerable passwords, and transferring a user's computer files to another server.

The attack worked. Flame was likely responsible for recent incidents of "mass data loss" in the government, Iran's CERT team said in its terse announcement.

Patrik Runald, director of research at Websense Security Labs, said Flame is "potentially the most advanced malware to date, at least in terms of functionality combined with ability to stay hidden over a long period of time."
Flame is an unusually giant piece of malware: At 20 megabytes, it's about 20 to 30 times larger than typical computer bugs.

Yet it remained undetected in Iran's government computer systems dating back to at least 2010, and it was not discovered by any of the 43 antivirus programs the CERT team tested on it.

Now that Flame has been exposed, Iran is taking defensive measures. Iran's CERT said it developed a Flame detector over the past few weeks and it is spreading around a removal tool to rid the government's systems of the virus.
Computer viruses don't stay where you put them, and Iran probably isn't the only victim.

A Hungarian research lab that has been doing its own analysis said it has found traces of the bug in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. The lab, which began studying the virus this month, estimates that it may have been active "for as long as five to eight years."

So if Flame was spying, who was it spying for?
The Iranian CERT team said it believes there is a "close relation" between Flame two previous cyber attacks on Iran, known as the Stuxnet and Duqu computer worms.

"Stuxnet" is a word that sends a shiver of fear through cybersecurity pros.

In an extensive feature on the virus, Vanity Fair calls it "one of the great technical blockbusters in malware history." The bug targets "industrial control systems" -- that's jargon for critical national infrastructure -- and it had the unprecedented ability to sabotage its target and then cover its tracks.

Stuxnet was used to attack Iran's nuclear program in 2010. The virus caused centrifuges in a targeted facility to spin out of control, ultimately destroying it.

A related bug, Duqu, also targeted Iran's nuclear program. It was discovered last year and shows evidence of having been developed by engineers with access to Stuxnet's source code.

Who are those engineers? The widespread industry belief is that Stuxnet was created by the United States, Israel, or through the collaboration of both.

"Israel is blessed to be a nation possessing superior technology," Moshe Yaalon, Israel's minister of strategic affairs, said Tuesday in an interview with Israeli Army radio. "In that respect our achievements open up all sorts of opportunities for us."

But cyber war isn't a one-sided affair. If Flame was a targeted cyber attack carried out by United States or Israel, the same code could be reverse-engineered by Iran and sent back our way.

"It's important to understand that such cyber weapons can easily be used against any country," Kaspersky said about Flame. "Unlike with conventional warfare, the more developed countries are actually the most vulnerable in this case."

This isn't traditional war. The Internet has leveled the playing field, allowing governments that would never launch military attacks on one another to target one another in cyberspace.

"In warfare, when a bomb goes off it detonates; in cyberwarfare, malware keeps going and gets proliferated," said Roger Cressey, senior vice president at security consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, at a Bloomberg cybersecurity conference held in New York last month.

"Once a piece of malware is launched in wild, what happens to that code and its capability?" he added. "Things like Stuxnet are being reverse-engineered."
Once it's out there, the code get also get into the hands of citizens or terrorists with a sophisticated knowledge of software coding. That's why some cybersecurity advocates are calling on the U.S. government to better protect itself against an all-out "code war" that some see as inevitable.

"The terrifying thing is that governments no longer have a monopoly on this capability," said Tom Kellerman, former commissioner of President Obama's cyber security council, at the Bloomberg conference. "There is code out there that puts it in anyone's hands."

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Facebook Planning to Make Their Own Smartphone

10:55 PM Lecor Martineau


FACEBOOK is pushing ahead with its top-secret project to build a smartphone, according to The New York Times - and it is recruiting experts who worked on Apple's iPhone and iPad to help in its quest. 

The plan is driven by founder Mark Zuckerberg's insistence that the social networking giant does not get left behind in the lucrative and growing area of mobile development.

Facebook's recent launch as a public company has made the need for new sources of revenue even starker.

"Mark is worried that if he doesn't create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms," a Facebook employee told the New York Times.

A former Apple iPhone engineer said Zuckerberg peppered him with intricate questions about smartphone workings at a meeting.

Last year AllThingsD reported that Facebook had tapped Taiwanese cell phone maker HTC to build a smartphone that has the social network integrated at the core of its being. The device would be called "Buffy" and run on a modified version of Google's Android.

An earlier bid to build a smartphone failed when Facebook bosses decided the challenges were too big, TechCrunch reported in 2010.

The Times' report on Facebook's latest moves comes less than a week after Google announced that it had completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings.

Facebook did not deny or confirm it is exploring the creation of a smartphone, referring the Times - which speculated that Zuckerberg's company could also buy an existing smartphone maker, such as struggling BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion - to a statement it gave to AllThingsD last November.

"Our mobile strategy is simple," the statement said.

"We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. We're working across the entire mobile industry - with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers and application developers - to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.

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Nokia Lumia 900: Review

10:30 PM Lecor Martineau



The Nokia Lumia 900 is the biggest Lumia Windows Phone to date, sporting a 4.3in display that tops the Nokia Lumia 800's 3.7in screen. The Lumia 900 doesn't come cheap: at around £500 SIM free or from around £30 a month over two years, we're firmly in Samsung Galaxy S3 or iPhone 4S territory. So the question is - Nokia Lumia 900: good buy or goodbye?

The answer is straightforward and complicated: if you are a Windows Phone fan, this is the phone for you. If you dislike or are simply amibvalent toward Windows on a smartphone, step away now. Because the Nokia Lumia 900 is not only the biggest Windows Phone we've seen, it's the most Windowsy.



Nokia Lumia 900: display

There's no getting away from the Lumia 900's screen. The extra real estate in the 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display is bright and colourful - at times too colourful - with good contrast. It looks attractive even when viewed outside in sunlight. It's not the sharpest screen we've seen, but at 480x800 pixels it's certainly not a bad display on which to view photos and video. Unlike, say, Samsung Galaxy phones, there's a reasonable amount of blue plastic surrounding the screen, as well as a sizeable bezel. It's far from an edge-to-edge touchscreen, and this is far from a small phone.

As with most Windows Phones, the Nokia Lumia 900's touchscreen feels super responsive, and you can zip around the OS with the faintest of swipes and taps. Windows Phone looks good, too, and is to our mind the most visually attractive of the major mobile platforms.


Nokia Lumia 900: build quality and design

We really like the feel of the Lumia 900. Although the finish is plastic to the touch, the device feels solid and smooth in the hand. It's big (did we mention that?) but lightweight and designed in such a way that it feels slim, even at 11.5mm thick. Like a skyscraper the Lumia 900 is built to flex a little, and we carried it around in our pocket for days with nary a scratch on it.

Its bright blue casing - other colours are available - is another love-it-or-hate-it factor in the Lumia 900's makeup. It's certainly striking, and no-one will mistake this phone for an iPhone, which may be the point. The volume, camera and power buttons are disappointingly plastic and cheap feeling, and the top-loading SIM tray rattled around a bit in its slightly too big tray. Odd let downs in an otherwise nicely finished device.

Like the iPhone, you can neither swap out the battery or add in storage. This is either disappointingly inflexible, or protective and simple, depending on your viewpoint. But in use as a full multimedia device, we reckon the 16GB of onboard storage will fill up fast, so Microsoft's offer of 25GB in cloud storage is welcome, if not entirely satisfactory in broken broadband Britain.

In a brand new device, anyway, we found we could get a full day's moderate use out of the Lumia 900's 1,830mAh battery, which is about what you'd expect for a high-end smartphone. Nokia claims up to seven hours or talk time or eight hours of video playback. And it doesn't take overlong to charge.

There's a 3.5mm jack at the top left, and a micro USB port in the middle of the top side, for charging and synching.


Nokia Lumia 900: Windows Phone 7.5 'Mango'

Which brings us to the heart of the matter: the Lumia 900's Windows OS. The Nokia runs Microsoft Windows Phone 7, or 'Mango'. Windows Phone is, well, different. Its cascading tiles and 3D transitions are a feast for the eyes, and the typography makes Gmail beautiful. I'm serious.

Windows is a great platform for social media users - which is pretty much everyone, these days. Once you've signed in to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, updates and photos appear all over the Lumia 900. Its kind of how Android is supposed to work, and it looks fantastic.

Typing on the onscreen keyboard is a nice experience: we found that we made fewer errors than on the Android equivalent, and the way predicted words appear in a bar above the keyboard is nicely intuitive.

But it's not all fun and games: the lack of customisation makes the iPhone look like a tweaker's dream. The Windows Phone is laid out as Microsoft intended, and you can't personalise or change it. At all. That may be no bad thing, depending on your viewpoint.

There's also no Flash support, which dampens the web-browsing experience further. It's more noticeable with the Lumia 900 than it is with, say, the iPhone, as Apple's device has access to myriad apps that play video. Don't be fooled by the YouTube 'app': it's merely a link to the mobile website, which is pretty useless on a phone that doesn't do Flash.

Indeed, paucity of apps is a problem for Windows Phone devices. It's not that there aren't any, there are 80,000 or more. But that pales into insignificance next to Google Play and the iTunes App Store. You know how you look for apps on iTunes and they are just there? Not in this case. Windows Phone's app world is growing, but you'll find odd omissions. You do get Nokia Maps, which is a nice addition to the Lumia 900.

As with all Windows handsets, there is no word on whether the Lumia 900 will be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 when that appears later this year.

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Samsung VS Apple: Who Will Win the Patent Battle?

8:33 PM Lecor Martineau



Apple and Samsung's companies' top executives are meeting in court-ordered settlement talks over patent infringements, but recent rulings against Motorola and HTC may scare Samsung into submission.

What's Happening: Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung executive Gee-Sung Choi will meet with Judge Joseph Spero in San Francisco to discuss the patent infringement cases Apple has against Samsung and try to work out a solution.

Since the court ordered mediation in April, Samsung execs discussed their willingness to cross-license, which demonstrates the South Korean powerhouse may want to avoid a trial.


What's Really Happening: Samsung's Choi may be on his best behavior at the meetings, because Apple's most recent patent infringement case against fellow Android phonemaker HTC ended up getting HTC's lauded handsets banned in the U.S. Some of HTC's phones are now just starting to stream into the U.S. after being held up by the International Trade Commission in customs over patent issues, but the delay likely slowed momentum for HTC's big push into the market.

Similarly, Motorola Mobility saw some of its Android handsets banned after losing in a patent battle with Microsoft. Both Motorola and HTC will likely see their bottom lines substantially damaged by the bans, and Samsung may try to avoid a similar fate by trying to reach a compromise.

What's Next: Samsung will likely be receptive to some talk of compromise, but will Apple? The company is in an advantageous position, as its aggressive patent stance against Android phone makers is starting to pay off.

Apple's robust patent portfolio will help the tech giant attack Samsung, and Apple may use the verdict against HTC to prove that Samsung committed a similar infringement. It may also draw on its patent victories against Samsung in Germany to bolster its place in the U.S. talks.

President Obama may still overturn the HTC and Motorola bans, if he decides the prohibition damages competition and hurts the market. If that happens, then the tables may turn, as Samsung could argue banning its phones would similarly stymie competition.

The Takeaway: Samsung may defy these predictions and show up to the meetings with a bellicose, devil-may-care attitude, or Apple may act with uncharacteristic mercy towards its rival -- but, with the ITC's willingness to ban handsets for copyright infringement, that scenario is simply not likely.

Samsung is Apple's biggest competitor, and though Tim Cook has not vocalized disdain for the South Korean company with the vigor of Steve Jobs, getting Samsung phones banned would be a huge win for Apple. Although Cook is more diplomatic than Jobs, he is likely to take a firm stance bolstered by the precedent-setting bans and wait for Samsung to agree.

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Redesigned Wii U Controller Leaked on Twitter

7:56 PM Lecor Martineau



A revamped version of Nintendo's tablet-esque Wii U controller was leaked to the net recently by a QA tester from LEGO series developer Traveller's Tales.

The tweet revealing an image of the new Wii U controller design has since been removed, but not before the image itself circulated the web, offering ample room to analyze the changes.The most obvious alteration is the controller's sticks, which actually are analog sticks now.


The original controller design shown at last year's E3 featured analog circle pads like those found on Nintendo's 3DS handheld.

The shift to analog sticks is presumably to facilitate clicking the sticks in as buttons, which would facilitate easy adaptation of Xbox 360 and PS3 controls to Nintendo's controller.

However, click-able sticks were never a feature on any past Nintendo controller.

The other big change comes from the start and select buttons, which have moved from under the controller's screen to a much easier to reach location under the controller's primary face buttons.

Two mystery buttons

Perhaps the most intriguing change are two white squares etched into the controller - one underneath the D-pad and another next to the power button.
The squares look like they could be buttons of some sort, though they sit flush with the controller's face and in awkward locations to reach, making them ill-suited to regular use.

One theory is that they toggle between a game that displays on the TV screen and the screen built into the controller.

When Wii U was first introduced one of the proposed uses was for a child to continue playing a game on the Wii U screen while their parents change the channel on the TV.

A button on the controller could be used to switch between those display options.

Another theory is that the squares could mark the location of the Wii U's NFC chips, a feature that would allow the system to read data from cards and figurines similar to last year's breakout hit Skylander's Spyro's Adventure.

What's in a name

The final major alteration is that the new controller design features Nintendo's official Wii U logo. A company putting the system's logo on its controller typically wouldn't be news, if not for the recent rumors that Nintendo was considering a name change.

It's unclear exactly where the name change rumors started, though each rumor pointed to the Wii brand name being weak with core gamers, as well as potential confusion whether Wii U was a new console or simply a new controller to use with the existing Wii.

Nintendo didn't seem to take much heed of the rumors though, with the Wii U name emblazoned on the latest controller design.

With E3 just around the corner, we're about to get a much closer look at the revised Wii U design.

The system is expected to launch in time for the holidays this year, so expect a more thorough breakdown of the final hardware and its launch lineup of games from E3 in June.

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Apple and Samsung CEOs at San Francisco Federal Court Tomorrow

10:11 PM Lecor Martineau


The companies' chief executives and general counsels will meet as part of a court-ordered settlement conference to try to resolve some of the patent litigation against each other.

The chief executives of Apple and Samsung are expected to meet tomorrow in a San Francisco federal court to try to work out their patent dispute, according to a Reuters report.


Apple's Tim Cook and Samsung's Choi Gee-sung, as well as their general counsels, were ordered in April to attend the magistrate judge settlement conference by Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. After the referral was ordered, the companies said in a joint court filing that "as directed by the court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate" in the discussions.

Koh has expressed a desire for the companies to try to settle some of their differences out of court. Earlier this month, Koh ordered the companies to pare down the number of claims each plans to make in their intellectual-property lawsuits against each other. The case is scheduled to go to trial on July 30, but Koh suggested that if the companies don't present a more workable set of claims, the trial start date could be delayed until next year.

Their legal confrontation began in April 2011 when Apple filed a lawsuit in California accusing Samsung of copying "the look and feel" of its iPad tablet and iPhone smartphone. "Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smartphone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface, and innovative style in these infringing products," Apple complained.

Samsung quickly responded with a countersuit against Apple, taking the fight overseas to South Korea, Japan, and Germany.

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Transparent HDTV: The Future Trend of TV Design

12:41 AM Lecor Martineau



Does your HDTV just not seem as sleek and sexy as it once was? If the allure of having a flat-panel display mounted to your wall just isn't enough anymore, the completely see-through Loewe Invisio might be just what you're looking for. Designed by Michael Friebe, the transparent television made a big splash in the 2011 iF Concept Design competition, and if we're lucky we may soon see it in our own homes.

Loewe is well known in Europe for its high-end televisions and audio hardware. In fact, the company is said to be in talks with Apple about a possible acquisition. This would give Apple a huge head start if the company decides to release a long-rumored Apple-branded HDTV, and would mean products like the futuristic Invisio could arrive stateside sooner rather than later.


The Invsio looks absolutely stunning — well, as stunning as a see-through television can look. The clear LCD technology allows the display to pop to life when you hit the power button, but then disappear the instant you shut it off. The bottom portion of the set houses all the important bits, and the entire unit can be mounted on a wall if you're not a fan of the shiny silver tabletop stand.

Without a border or frame of any kind, the screen is meant to blend in seamlessly with its surroundings when not in use. The Invisio is clearly meant for TV lovers who want their living rooms to have an air of sophistication on nights when must-see-TV isn't a priority. Of course, if the rear of your entertainment center is littered with cords, you're going to want to clean them up before showing off a new transparent TV.


But don't start saving for this futuristic display just yet — the Invisio isn't yet a Loewe's retail offering, and because it's still considered a concept, it may never be. Of course, one look at the company's plans for other future products — including a TV with two screens and a mirror with built-in social displays (pictured below) — should be enough to tell you that the Invisio may very well see the light of day.

If the Inviso concept sounds like something out of science fiction, don't forget that transparent LCD technology has been around for a while now. Samsung has already shown off its own see-through "Smart Window" technology which allows users to interact with apps, or even pull down a set of virtual shades to dim the daylight. The Invisio would likely work in a similar fashion, though without the addition of touchscreen controls.

Regardless of whether or not it ever becomes a reality, the fact that we have the technology available to make see-through televisions is enough to make us feel like we're living in the future. And if the rumored Apple acquisition does indeed take place, who knows what other ridiculously cool concepts could eventually emerge from the deal.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Quad Core Smartphone Showdown

10:53 PM Lecor Martineau



Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S III, its awaited flagship smartphone. The firm is resting its hopes on the phone describing it as the ‘best in class smartphone in the world’. 

One of its biggest Android rivals is HTC’s One X so we’ve put this review together to compare the two side-by-side.



Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Dimensions
The two handsets are extremely similar in terms of their size and weight. The One X is marginally smaller at 70 x 134 compared to 71 x 137. The couple of millimetres difference is neither here nor there.
Samsung’s Galaxy S3 is thinner than the One X but slightly heavier. It measures in at 8.6mm and 133g while the HTC One X is 8.9mm and 130g. The figures are so similar the two phones can be considered the same size and weight.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Screen
The screen is another area where the pair are very similar. The Galaxy S3 has a Super AMOLED 4.8-inch display while the HTC One X has a minutely smaller Super IPS 4.7-inch one.
Both screens use a 720 x 1280 resolution with intense ‘Retina’ quality pixel densities. The HTC One X has a pixel density of 312ppi. The Galaxy S3 has slightly lower pixel density of 306ppi because of the larger screen size.
The small difference in indistinguishable to the human eye and both screens are very high quality.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Processor
The processor is an important element to a smartphone. The HTC One X uses an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.5GHz chip. Samsung uses its own Exynos 4 Quad 1.4GHz chip for the Galaxy S3 which is unsurprisingly quad-core.
On paper, the One X’s is more powerful but this doesn’t automatically mean the performance is superior. Look out for more details when we’ve done a full review of Samsung’s flagship phone.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Storage
The Galaxy S III comes in three storage options, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The phone also offers expansion possible via a microSD card slot. In comparison the HTC One X is quite restrictive when it comes to storage with only a 32GB model and no microSD card slot.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Cameras
On paper the two rear cameras are tied for specification. They are both rated at 8Mp with the ability to record video in full HD 1080p quality. The Galaxy S3 does have a higher resolution front facing camera, though at 1.9Mp compared to the HTC’s 1.3Mp shooter.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Connectivity
Both smartphones have the same list of connectivity features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, near-field communications (NFC) and digital living network alliance (DLNA). One thing to note is that Samsung will be launching a 4G version of the Galaxy S3 later in the year, which the One X doesn’t offer.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Software
Once again, software is a category where the Galaxy S3 and One X are alike. Both run Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich although slightly different versions. The Galaxy S III runs version 4.0.4 while the One X has 4.0.3.
The main difference in the area is the user interface overlay because neither uses vanilla Android. Samsung uses its TouchWiz interface and HTC has its Sense overlay.


Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X: Battery
Samsung hints at good battery life for its flagship phone with a 2100mAh battery. HTC has equipped the One X with a less powerful 1800mAh battery.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S Comparison Review

11:13 PM Lecor Martineau



Samsung has finally revealed the Galaxy S III, the highly-anticipated successor to the popular Galaxy S II. We put it up against the Apple iPhone 4S, exploring the differences.



Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S: Dimensions
The two handsets differ greatly in terms of their size and weight. The iPhone is much smaller at 59 x 115 compared to 71 x 137. The Galaxy S III is a considerably larger smartphone.
However, Samsung’s flagship device is both thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4S. It measures in at 8.6mm and 133g while the Apple rival is 9.3mm and 140g.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S: Screen
The main reason the phones vary so much in size is the screen. The Galaxy S3 has a 4.8-inch display while the iPhone 4S has a comparatively tiny 3.5-inch one.
Both screens are high resolution with intense ‘Retina’ quality pixel densities. The iPhone 4S has a resolution of 640 x 960 and a pixel density of 326ppi. The Galaxy S3 has a higher resolution of 720 x 1280 but spread over the larger screen means a slightly lower pixel density of 306.
They are equally impressive with neither allowing the user to distinguish one pixel from the next.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S: Processor
The processor is an important element to a smartphone. The iPhone 4S has a A5 dual-core chip based on ARM Cortex A9. Samsung uses its own Exynos 4 Quad chip for the Galaxy S3 which is, er, quad-core and clocked at 1.4GHz.
On paper, the Galaxy S3’s is more powerful but this doesn’t necessarily mean the performance is better. Check back for more details when we’ve done a full review of Samsung’s flagship phone.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S: Storage
Storage is an area where the two rivals are very similar. They both come with three storage options, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. However, the Galaxy S III offers and additional microSD card slot for expansion which the iPhone 4S doesn’t have.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S: Cameras
On paper the two rear cameras are equally matched for specification. They are both rated at 8Mp with the ability to record video in full HD 1080p quality. The Galaxy S3 does have a higher resolution front facing camera, though at 1.9Mp compared to the iPhone’s VGA quality shooter.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 4S: Software
This is an area where the two phones are extremely different. Apple’s iPhone 4S runs its own iOS software while Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has Google’s Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and a TouchWiz overlay.

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Samsung Galaxy S3: Truth Behind Rumors

7:52 PM Lecor Martineau


Samsung is announcing what many have dubbed as one of the most anticipated gadgets in 2012 – the Samsung Galaxy S3, and as with most major announcements, the rumours are flying around the Internet. Find out what can be expect from the new smartphone.


Rumour: The Galaxy S3 will be called the Next Galaxy.
Fact: It is official the new Samsung Galaxy phone will be called the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Rumour: The Samsung Galaxy S3 will use the Exynos 4 Quad chip.
Fact: Yes, it uses that exact CPU.

Rumour: The new Galaxy will be packing 2GB of RAM.
Fact: The Galaxy S3 will use only 1GB or RAM.

Rumour: It will use a rounded and flexible display with a boasting a resolution of 300 pixels per inch, putting it on a par with the iPhone 4S.
Fact: The Galaxy S3 offers a screen resolution of 1280 x 720.

Rumour: The new Galaxy will use a 12MP flush mounted camera, a 2MP front-facing camera and include NFC technology.
Fact: It uses an 8MP rear facing camera and a 1.9MP front facing one. NFC capabilities are also built into the phone.

Rumour: The Samsung Galaxy S3 will run the Android 4 or Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.
Fact: It will run Android 4 with the Samsung TouchWiz skin on top of it.

Rumour: The new Galaxy S3 will be waterproof.
Fact: No mention of the smartphone being waterproof was made at the launch, but a variety of scratch, dust and water resistant covers will be made by 3rd party vendors.

Rumour: Customers will be able to choose between a 16GB and 32GB version.
Fact: A 16, 32 and 64GB version of the Galaxy S3 will be available.

Rumour: It will use an edge-to-edge Super AMOLED 4.6" HD display.
Fact: The Samsung Galaxy will use 4.8" Super AMOLED screen.

Rumour: It will uses a 1 800mAh non-removable battery and won’t include an SD card slot.
Fact: The new Galaxy S3 will use a 1 200mAh battery.

Rumour: It will be able to charge wirelessly.
Fact: Yes, it charge wirelessly.

Rumour: The Galaxy S3 will be only 7mm thick due to the use of printed circuit boards.
Fact: It is 8.6mm thick.

Rumour: It will offer LTE connectivity.
Fact: The Galaxy S3 will first be available in 3G and then later in 4G.

Rumour: It is voice controlled.
Fact: The Samsung Galaxy S3 recognises your voice using S-Voice and lets you take pictures using your voice. It understands up to eight lanuages.

Rumour: It copies your moods.
Fact: The SmartStay feature stays awake when you are, falls asleep when you do.

Rumour: The Samsung Galaxy switches on by you just looking at it.
Fact: The front facing camera activates the phone when you look at it.

Rumour: The Samsung Galaxy S3 will be Bluetooth 4 capable.
Fact: Yes, the phone will support Bluetooth 4.

After the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S3, it announced its media hub, which allows you to download 17-million songs and hundreds of high-definition videos.

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