Samsung galaxy S3 launched in India

After launching it in UK, Middle East and Europe, Samsung Electronics has launched its much-awaited galaxy S3 phone in India. The gizmo, which has helped the South Korean company topple Apple as the world's top smartphone maker, is priced at Rs 43,180.

The phone, running on Google's android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), boasts of a 4.8-inch screen, one of the largest on smartphones ever.

Going by its tagline which says, ‘designed for humans', the phone comes with features which makes us feel that the phone knows you are using it. For instance, it has the ‘smart stay‘ feature that makes use of the front facing camera and detects user movements and keeps the screen from going off. Then there's 'smart alert' that can sense when you've picked up your phone and alerts you about the notifications through vibrations. This feature allows you to control your phone through voice.

It also has another feature called 'S beam' that enables to share HD videos by just touching the phone with another handset.

"The Galaxy S3 is inspired by nature and human capabilities. It is effortlessly smart and intuitively simple by design. It is a fascinating example of how design and technology can be combined with intelligence and imagination to create innovative products," said B D Park, president and CEO, South west Asia, Samsung Electronics.

Speaking at the launch, which was spiced up by the presence of Bollywood beauty Nargis Fakhri, H C Ryu, VP, sales and marketing, Samsung electronics, said, " The Galaxy S3 is being launched in India at the same time as it is being launched in other markets. Through the launch, we will create fresh excitement I the Indian market and stimulate demand."

Samsung, which sold 44.5 million smartphones in January-March, giving it 30.6 % market share, is offering only the 16 GB device in India but it provides scope for memory expansion via microSDX support for up to 64 GB. It has also tied up with Vodafone to provide 3GB of data for free for two months.