Samsung Galaxy S3 in Singapore

Samsung Galaxy S3 (SIII), world's top-selling mobile phone maker Samsung's new Android smartphone, is now in Singapore and sold by all three telcos of Singapore (SingTel, StarHub and M1) with almost similar prices. The launch was met with queues where some buyers has started waiting from as early as 10 AM. The new Samsung Galaxy has a 4.8-inch (12.2-cm) screen which is 22 per cent larger than the previous S2 and comes with a more powerful processor, voice recognition software, multi-tasking capabilities and a new cool eye movements detector which can override the automatic shutdown if the user is looking at the screen.

Samsung has unveiled Samsung Galaxy S3 in London earlier this month and it will start selling itin 28 countries from Tuesday the phone will be available in 145 nations by July via 296 wireless carriers[1]. Samsung introduced its first Galaxy in 2010, three years after the iPhone's debut, to counter Apple's roaring success in smart phones when the troubles of bigger rivals Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion had started.[2]

Samsung Galaxy S3 was announced to be available in 2 colors, white marble and pebble blue but due to manufacturing issues there will be considerably less blue versions available on launch day, with most customers having to settle for the white clad Galaxy S3 for the time being.Samsung's GALAXY S III Pebble Blue version comes with a newly invented blue colour and special hyperglaze material according to Samsung.  [3] .

Samsung sold 44.5 million smartphones in January-March - equal to nearly 21,000 every hour - giving it 30.6 per cent market share. Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones, taking 24.1 per cent market share.

Singtel Samsung Galaxy S3 price plans starts from 3G Flexi Lite for 39.9 SGD per month and 498 SGD for the phone and ranges up to iThree Plus for 192.9 SGD per month and 198 SGD for the phone.

Singtel Samsung Galaxy S3
Price Plans	Monthly Subscription	Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Price
3G Flexi Lite	$39.90	$498
3G Flexi Value	$59.90	$348
3G Flexi Plus	$99.90	$198
3G Flexi Premium	$205.00	$198
iOne Super Value	$15.00	$748
iOne Plus	$25.68	$648
iTwo Value	$48.15	$498
iTwo Plus	$82.93	$348
iThree Plus	$192.60	$198

M1 Samsung Galaxy S3 2 years price plan starts from Value Surf for 39 SGD per month and 498 SGD for the phone and ranges up to SunMax Plus for 195.81 SGD per month and 198 SGD for the phone.

M1 Samsung Galaxy S3
Price Plans	Monthly Subscription	Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Price
Take3 – Pay nothing for phone	on mobile plan from  $82.93 per month
ValueSurf	$39.00	$498
LiteSurf	$55.00	$348
ExtremeSurf	$95.00	$198
SunSaver	$25.68	$648
SunSaver Plus	$48.15	$498
SunMax	$82.93	$348
SunMax Plus	$195.81	$198

StarHub Samsung Galaxy S3 price plans starts from PowerValue 100 for 25.48 SGD per month and 648 SGD for the phone and ranges up to SmartSurf Unlimited Plus for 205 SGD per month and 198 SGD for the phone.

Starhub Samsung Galaxy S3
Price Plans	Monthly Subscription	Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Price
PowerValue 100	$25.68	$648
PowerValue 300	$48.15	$498
PowerValue 700	$82.93	$348
SmartSurf 100	$38.00	$498
SmartSurf 300	$58.00	$348
SmartSurf 700	$98.00	$198
SmartSurf Unlimited	$205.00	$198

Singapore consumers queuing for Samsung Galaxy S3 in front of M1 shop in Paragon - Source : CNet Asia

In an article in today's Today (First look at the Galaxy S III) Peter Yeo takes a look at Samsung Galaxy S3 to understand that much-hyped device worth the buzz or not. The device's Super AMOLED screen is quite huge but this does not make it any more unwieldy than its competitors with smaller displays. He notes that the layout of the phone is clean, with few buttons:

"Its much talked about Smart Stay feature, which senses when you are looking at the screen and keeps it lit, worked well except for a couple of occasions when it dimmed before detecting my presence and brightened up. Also important to me was the ability to create a personal hotspot, as we need to be on hand to report news at all times, and the GS3 did not disappoint. Connectivity via tethering stayed strong despite moving around. 

Jumping on the voice control wagon, the GS3’s S-Voice crashed whenever I asked if it loved me and could not find contacts I wanted to text. But I have never liked the idea of asking a phone for favours in public anyway. 

The Pop Up Play feature, which lets you multi-task while playing a video “picture-in-picture”, was impressive.  

The contract for my current phone will run out in October. If nothing better comes along, the GS3 might be my next smartphone of choice."

[1] - Samsung to start selling Galaxy S3 in 28 nations
[2] - Samsung Galaxy S3 gets head start on rival iPhone
[3] - Pebble blue Samsung Galaxy S3 delayed