We first heard rumors of the existence of a Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini in August, and news today continues to suggest the Korea-based company is ready to drop an iPhone 5 competing device. Samsung will hold an event in Germany on Oct. 11 likely to release the Galaxy SIII mini, according to German tech site mobiflip.
Apparently the Korea-based tech giant has begun sending out invitations for an event that will be held in Frankfurt, Germany on Oct. 11 at a Samsung Mobile retail store. While we don't speak, let alone read German, the invites don't explicitly say "Galaxy S III Mini," and Google spits out a dada-esque translation of "as large and small can be so small can be big," we're inclined to believe there's enough of winking and nudging going on here to indicate the event is being held to debut the new phone.
Unwiredview suggests the heading on the invite is closer to "Something small can be so great" or "get ready for a little sensation."
Though there's no specific mention of a "Mini" smartphone, the center "S" certainly suggests an S-series smartphone.
Developers who programmed applications for Google's mobile operating system believe that reports of the rumored Galaxy S III Mini are accurate. "We spoke to 3 Android developers, and they think that the above rumor that Samsung is going to Launch Galaxy S3 mini is accurate," Trip Chowdhry, Managing Director of Equity Research at Global Equities Research, wrote in an e-mail update to NASDAQ Thursday morning. "'Looking at the source code of Jelly Bean, a small screen size support looks very plausible, was the converged view we got."
Chowdhry continued that developers expect to see additional Android devices during the first week of November.
The rumor about a Galaxy S3 Mini first broke on the tech website Sammobile.
Galaxy SIII Mini specs
In comparison to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Mini will not stray too far from the norm except in terms of size and computing power. The S III boasts a 4.8-inch screen, while the Mini will likely come equipped with a simple 480 x 800 4-inch Super AMOLED screen with WVGA resolution, a dual-core processor, and a 5 megapixel rear camera. And while there's no official comment, it seems most likely the smartphone will run Android's latest 4.1 operating system, the Jelly Bean OS.
As for the pricing, mobiflip suggests its around 250 euros, as compared to the iPhone 5 at 650 euros. At the same time, Samsung will launch a Galaxy S3 Plus, which will come with a 300-400 euro price tag. If this is true then Samsung is definitely planning to undercut iPhone on pricing.
Samsung has yet to comment on the matter, and has not elaborated on what we can expect for onboard storage, and whether or not the device will feature a second camera.
Apple iPhone 5 Specs
Height: 4.87 inches, Width: 2.31 inches, Depth: 0.30 inch, Weight: 3.95 ounces.
4-inch (diagonal) Retina display, 1136-by-640 resolution, 326 ppi, GSM model: GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, CDMA model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n; 802.11n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and GLONASS, 1GB RAM, SoC: A6 Chip, Nano-SIM, three-axis gyro, dual-mic noise suppression, assisted GPS and GLONASS.
Front and back facing cameras:
Front: 1.2MP photos, 720p HD video, Backside illumination sensor;
Back: 8 megapixel Autofocus Tap to focus, LED flash, Backside illumination sensor, Five-element lens, Face detection, Hybrid IR filter, ƒ/2.4 aperture, Panorama,
Video: 1080p HD video recording, 30 fps, Tap to focus while recording, LED light, Improved video stabilization, Take still photos while recording video, Face detection,