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Yesterday marked the launch of the highly anticipated Galaxy S3 mobile device. The hype is the result of the success of its predessesor, the S2, which sold around 20 million handsets and propelled Samsung to become the world’s largest maker of mobile phones overtaking Finnish giant Nokia last month.

Samsung’s new born is a healthy 133g, with a 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm frame. Below is a quick rundown of what we believe are the niftiest features the new handset offers to consumers.

4.8” (12.2cm) HD Super AMOLED Display

The biggest display out there (aside from the Galaxy Note). The display is 22% larger than the S2’s while the device is only 16% bigger, due to Samsung slimming out the edges around the screen. Interesting to note though is that Samsung is marketing the device as an HD Super AMOLED display, the Verge and one disgruntled reviewer however were quick to note that it appears to be using a Pentile AMOLED display.

Picture and caption courtesy of The Verge:

“(…)check out our macro shot below for some definitive confirmation (the signal strength indicator is supposed to be white).”

8MP Camera

The camera has zero shutter lag, and takes less than a second to get back to camera mode after shooting. It can also take up to 20 images in a burst shot. Additionally, it boasts the Best Photo feature which automatically chooses the best picture out of a burst of 8. Certainly interesting specs and features but not as impressive as the time bending Scalado Rewind (video below) that will ship on the BlackBerry 10.

Smart Stay - The Galaxy S3 uses eye tracking technology to keep the display from dimming or the phone from locking itself as long as you’re looking at it.

Direct Call - A clever trick, the phone will dial the contact shown on your screen automatically by lifting the device to your ear, for example for when you’ve reading a message you received from a friend.

Smart Alert – The next evolutionary step for the notification light, the phone will notify users of any pending notifications (missed calls or unread messages) by vibrating when picked up after being left idle for a while.

S-Beam - High speed data transfer, up to 300Mbps, by placing 2 handsets back to back.

S-Voice – Samsung’s answer to Siri, which begs the question about Google Majel's fate, but aside from that the S-Voice is a promising contender. The feature can be used to wake the device up using the default “Hello Galaxy” command (“Hello Moto” lawsuit anytime soon?), answer calls, take photos, snooze, etc.

Pop up Play - This was probably made to parade the new 1.4 GHz Exynos quad-core chip’s prowess. Using Pop up Play you can now watch HD videos as you email or text.

Are you impressed? Let us know what you think in the poll below or share your thoughts in the comments section.