I have this phone on order. Looks like I made a good decision if I go by Pogue's review. Time will tell.
Pogue writes: "More important, the S III’s designers have married hardware with software to create dozens of truly ingenious, handy features. On the iPhone, Apple would probably crow about any one of these:
¶ Smart Stay. The phone’s front-facing camera looks for your eyes. When you look away, the screen dims to save power; it brightens back up when you return your gaze. Brilliant.
¶ Buddy Shot. The Galaxy’s face recognition software knows whose face is in the scene. The first time you take a photo of someone, you can type in the subject’s name — your mom, for example. Thereafter, whenever you take her photo, one tap sends it to her without your having to fuss with entering an address.
¶ Direct Call. If a texting conversation is getting too complicated, just lift the phone to your ear. It calls your texting partner, no taps needed.
¶ Tap to top. Swat the top edge of the phone to jump to the top of a list.
¶ Tilt zooming. With two fingers on the screen, tip the phone toward you and away to zoom in and out of a photo, map or Web page.
¶ Instant muting. Mute audio and video playback by covering the screen with your hand, as though to say, “Shhhh!” Mute incoming rings and notifications by turning the phone face down on the table — in a meeting, for example. That’s just so, so smart.
¶ Palm swipe capture. Save an image of the screen by wiping the edge of your hand across it, as though you’re the scanner of a photocopying machine.
¶ Answering key. You can answer an incoming call by pressing the Home button, and hang up by pressing the on/off button. No need to look at the screen.
All of these features are optional — you turn them on in Settings."
¶ Smart Stay. The phone’s front-facing camera looks for your eyes. When you look away, the screen dims to save power; it brightens back up when you return your gaze. Brilliant.
¶ Buddy Shot. The Galaxy’s face recognition software knows whose face is in the scene. The first time you take a photo of someone, you can type in the subject’s name — your mom, for example. Thereafter, whenever you take her photo, one tap sends it to her without your having to fuss with entering an address.
¶ Direct Call. If a texting conversation is getting too complicated, just lift the phone to your ear. It calls your texting partner, no taps needed.
¶ Tap to top. Swat the top edge of the phone to jump to the top of a list.
¶ Tilt zooming. With two fingers on the screen, tip the phone toward you and away to zoom in and out of a photo, map or Web page.
¶ Instant muting. Mute audio and video playback by covering the screen with your hand, as though to say, “Shhhh!” Mute incoming rings and notifications by turning the phone face down on the table — in a meeting, for example. That’s just so, so smart.
¶ Palm swipe capture. Save an image of the screen by wiping the edge of your hand across it, as though you’re the scanner of a photocopying machine.
¶ Answering key. You can answer an incoming call by pressing the Home button, and hang up by pressing the on/off button. No need to look at the screen.
All of these features are optional — you turn them on in Settings."
