Samsung is at the forefront of the record books yet again, having made an announcement that concerns the first Voice over LTE (VoLTE) smartphone in the world (at least this is what they claim, and we do know that MetroPCS, of all the mobile carriers in the US, have announced the first VoLTE service in the US recently), and this particular smartphone will be available to the masses with their flagship model, the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE spearheading this particular niche market.
Samsung is said to be supporting VoLTE with the Galaxy S3 LTE model in Korea sometime from this month onwards, and this will be followed up by the availability of this particular smartphone across global LTE markets, making sure that Samsung will remain at the forefront of the LTE market as well as mobile communications technology. Good luck to them, and I do hope that this venture will be able to take off, as Samsung already has plenty on their hands at the moment, especially with the high profile court case against Apple that is happening in the US right now.
For the uninitiated, just what is VoLTE? Well, VoLTE basically relies on an IP packet-based service for both voice and data, which will pave the way for new multimedia services to be introduced, including the ability to convert from voice call to video call. Not only that, with VoLTE, it also delivers more than double the voice frequency of 3G and HD-level audio codec (AMR-WB), which in turn translates to delivering high quality voice calls that can be compared to having a direct conversation with someone in person – I suppose this is one claim that I will need to hear it to believe it, how about you?
It is said that the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE smartphones can receive an upgrade to support VoLTE services through a software update, all without having to go through the hassle of adding in more communication chips.
[ Samsung Galaxy S3 Voice over LTE smartphone prepared copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Good news international Samsung Galaxy S3 owners, if you were one of the few that has been experiencing the “cell standby” battery drain issue, you should have received a notification today that informed you that you have an update. In case you didn’t receive the notification just yet or have yet to check your phone, this is a tiny OTA update that should be about under 1MB in size. Dubbed as a “stability improvement” patch, this update will reportedly bump your baseband version up to XXLH1 which we assume will fix some of the issues there might be with the phone’s radio firmware. However since we don’t have the Galaxy S3, we can’t confirm if this OTA update will address any radio issues you have with your phone, but if you have updated and notice improvements, let us know in the comments below! In the meantime for those who have yet to update, you can try manually pulling it by going to your phone’s Settings > About device > Software updates.
We looked at how MetroPCS proudly claimed to be the 
Google’s latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update is said to make its way towards the Samsung Galaxy S3 sometime in the third quarter of this year, and there are also whispers in the street that this particular operating system update will also be on its way to appear on the Samsung Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2 (which was recently announced officially). Right now, the Galaxy S3 undergoing the testing phase for its firmware, and a public version of the first Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3 is in the pipeline.
Just the other day we 
If you’re waiting for the official Samsung Galaxy S3 wireless charging kit, chances are that you still have about a month to go before the accessory is available. However if wireless charging is a must for you and you’re wondering if there are any other solutions available, Zens has recently announced their own wireless charging kit (pictured above) which will be compatible with the Galaxy S3. Included in the charging kit is a cover that will make the device compatible with the charging pad and will come in either blue or white to match the Galaxy S3’s available color choices. Even better news is that the Zens wireless charging kit will also play nice with other devices that can charge wirelessly as long as it meets the Qi standard. This particular kit will priced at €69 (~$85) and is expected to go on sale in September. No word on how much the official wireless charging kit will cost for the Galaxy S3, so for all we know, Zens’ solution could either be more expensive or could be cheaper. Either way we’ll keep an eye out but for now, you could probably mark the Zens wireless charging kit down as an alternative.
One of the more unique features of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is its “Smart Stay” feature. In case you’re new to the Galaxy S3, this basically relies on the phone’s front-facing camera to determine whether the screen should remain active or if it should be turned off to conserve battery. This is extremely useful for those times when you’re reading long articles and you don’t want the phone’s display to switch off halfway. The good news is that this feature can be had even if you don’t own a Samsung Galaxy S3, thanks to XDA senior member, elnoxvie who came up with the SmartStay EX which essentially is the same thing but now available on non-Galaxy S3 phones. Of course not every single Android phone out there is compatible, so if you’d like to have this feature on your phone, head on over to the 
If you’re a fan of collector’s edition or special edition devices, then you might be interested to learn that Samsung has announced the London 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3 in the spirit of the London Olympics. As you can see in the photos above, the handset has been decked out in the union jack and looking pretty spiffy! Needless to say the specs of this particular edition of the Galaxy S3 remains the same as its regular counterpart, which means that you can expect a 4.8” Super AMOLED HD display, a quad-core processor, an 8MP rear-facing camera with 1080p Full HD video recording capabilities. Now if you’re going to be in the UK for the Olympic games, the Olympic themed Galaxy S3 will be available starting on the 1st of August at Carphone Warehouse at £28 a month with a contract. No word if it will be available for purchase off-contract, but they will be available both online and at Carphone Warehouse’s retail outlets.