Samsung Electronics was expected to -- but did not -- tout the Galaxy S III at the Mobile World Congress 2012. The Korean device maker unveiled the Galaxy S 2, its best-selling smartphone ever, at last year's MWC. This year, Samsung is rumored to unveil the Galaxy S 3 on May 22.

Galaxy S II's Successor

An interesting report says that the Galaxy S II's sequel is already in the market. Samsung unveiled in October the Galaxy Note, a smartphone/tablet hybrid that has a 5.3-inch screen.

"The evolution in S2 is already here, it's there, it's Galaxy Note and that is a really strong device for Samsung, globally as well as in the UK," Simon Stanford, VP of Samsung Telecommunications and Networks for Samsung UK and Ireland told CNET in an exclusive interview.

Still, the real and highly awaited successor to the Galaxy S 2 is expected in May or June.

Samsung in March told the technology website The Verge that the successor to Galaxy S2 would be launched in the first half of 2012. "The successor to the GALAXY S II smartphone will be unveiled in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product... We cannot confirm the detailed information at the moment," said the company.

No 3D Screen

Unconfirmed reports previously said that that the Galaxy S 3 will have a super-bright AMOLED 3D screen. LG Corp. released last year the LG Optimus 3D (the first smartphone with a glasses-free 3D display) and Nintendo has the 3DS -- but these devices show that 3D technology is still limited. But it has been confirmed that the Galaxy S 3 won't be the phone that would revolutionize 3D.

"Although Samsung Electronics is constantly exploring new technologies for our mobile devices, we have no immediate plan to include displays featuring 3D technology in our upcoming smartphones," the company said.

But 3D technology is still in its infancy, there are very few 3D apps, and the display is underwhelming when viewed at he wrong angles. The Patently Apple website spotted an Apple patent filing for a 3D imaging camera that would apply to both still images and videos on iOS devices. Last year, Apple filed a patent application for "Systems and Methods for an Imaging System Using Multiple Image Sensors," which would combine several elements to create one three-dimensional image. Although that it's not impossible, it would still be unlikely that the sixth generation iPhone would show 3D images and have a 3D camera given that technology is still limited.

Home Button

The Galaxy Nexus, the first Android phone running on the Ice Cream Sandwich platform, has no physical buttons on the front, but instead features on-screen soft keys embedded into the system software. The phone co-developed by Google Inc.k, has been praised for its sleek design and gorgeous 4.65-inch display.

But it appears like the Galaxy S3 won't have a Galaxy Nexus-like design.

According to Korean Digital Daily, Samsung at the last moment has decided to keep the physical "Home" button on S3. And the device will now go with a 5 column Note like UI layout, compared to the 4 columns we have on Galaxy Nexus and other Android flagships.

May 22 Release Date?

IT Portal notes that intriguing picture has surfaced the web, claiming a May 22 release date in London and an aluminum-clad design for the Galaxy S 3.

Samsung has not confirmed the authenticity of the invite and has not posted the invite in its Web site, but here's a copy:

10 Million Units

Samsung shipped over 40 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2012. The figures include the Galaxy S 2, the Galaxy Note (4 million units in three months), the Galaxy Nexus, some Bada phones, Windows phones, mid-range and low-end smartphones.

Now, Mobile-Review.com's Eldar Murtazin said via Twitter that channel partners have already pre-ordered 10 million units of the Samsung Galaxy S3.

While the buzz about the Galaxy S3 appears to be reaching iPhonesque-proportions, it remains to be seen if a single Samsung device can reach iPhone levels.

Apple in October sold 4 million units of the iPhone 4s in the first three days despite criticisms of the device's lack of new design, lack of 4G support, and its small 3.5-inch screen. Apple, which unveils only one new iPhone every year, sold 72.3 million iPhone units in its fiscal 2011.

Samsung sold 3 million units of the Galaxy S 2 in 55 days and reached 10 million units after 5 months. For newer devices, Samsung sold more than 5 million units of the Galaxy Note since launching in October until March. Around 1.7 million units of the Galaxy Nexus were sold in December, based on some ICS data provided by Google.

Unconfirmed Specs

Based on data gathered from the rumor mill, here are the complete -- but take note, UNCONFIRMED -- specs of the Galaxy S3:

* Design: Slimmer and bigger than 4.3-inch Galaxy S2.

* Measurement: 131 mm height x 64 mm width x 8 mm depth. As the Galaxy S II is already thin at 8.5 mm, a 8 mm thin Galaxy S 3 would make the device among the thinnest in the market place.

* Weight: Around 125 grams.

* Display: 720p or 1080P resolution display with 16:9 aspect ratio.

* Screen: 4.7 or 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD screen.

* Processor: 1.5 or 1.8 GHz quad-core Exynos CPU.

* Memory 1 or 2 GB RAM.

* Camera: a 10MP or 12MP rear camera.

* Platform: 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system plus

upgraded TouchWiz software

* Connectivity: 4G LTE network support, optional Near Field Communication (NFC), microUSB version 3.0, assisted GPS with GLONASS, Bluetooth version 4.0, Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Direct plus hotspot functionality and dedicated microHDMI port.

To contact the author, e-mail: c.fernandez@ibtimes.com.au