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Samsung Galaxy S3 software preview
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I had a quick hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S3 earlier today. Hit play on the video above to see a close-up on some of the software features of this exciting new phone. Here’s what I saw:
First off is the lock screen, which casts a pleasing ripple effect across the screen as you swipe your finger over to unlock it.
Next is the video player. While watching a full screen video you push a button in the corner to make the video pop up and float over something else, like a web page or a text message. You can carry on with your non-video task while the video quite happily plays and doesn’t stutter. When you’ve finished with your task, then just double tap to make the video full screen again.
S Beam is a feature which allows you place two Galaxy S3s up against each other to send a file wirelessly. It actually uses NFC to get the pairing between the two phones sorted, then Wi-Fi direct to actually send the file. It’ll even work if you’re watching a video and want to send it to a friend, which is cool.
In an SMS text message, you can dial the contact you are texting simply by lifting the phone to your ear, which saves a button push.
S Voice is Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Siri. To activate it, you say ‘Hi Galaxy’ or one of four other wake-up commands. Then ask it something like ‘What’s the weather like today’ and it will go and find it out.
Flipboard is pre-loaded on the Samsung S3. Until now only available for Apple’s iPhone, the app creates a magazine-like experience of all the stuff that’s been shared with your social networks. It looks pretty similar to the iPhone experience, and Samsung says it will be exclusive to the Galaxy S3 for a time.
The home screens have various widgets pre-loaded and ready to go, such as Flipboard, a weather widget, a video hub to help you get at your media quicker and something called S Suggest which recommends apps for you to download.
The camera can take up to 20 shots in burst mode, just choose the right mode from the menu bar and hold down the shutter button until you run out of pictures. You can then review the results on a slidey bar.
When you change to best photo mode, the camera takes up to eight photos and recommends the best with a little thumbs up, you can discard the rest. Also on the camera, if you want to focus on someone in particular when framing a shot, tap their face to zoom in on them.
When shooting video, you can take a 6-megapixel still picture at the same time and see the results once you’ve finished the video.
Finally, with Smart Stay, the phone uses the front camera to stop the screen from dimming or turning off while you’re looking at it, although you can turn this off if you don’t like it.
What do you think of the Samsung Galaxy S3? Let me know in the comments below or on our Facebook wall.
