Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini: NFC-enabled Variant Announced to Come in January End

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini - the miniature variant of the Android smartphone king of the year 2012 - Galaxy S3 was loved by many, when it got launched in the UK and US market. As it came an affordable offering by the South Korean giant equipped with almost all the features of the the best-selling Android smartphone of last year.

However, Galaxy S3 Mini shrunked some of the major functionalities which existed in S3 and made it a unique phone. Near Field Communication (NFC) was one of them! However, the latest reports have confirmed that Samsung is all set to introduce a new variant of Galaxy S3 Mini in UK market, which will come packed with NFC technology.

"NFC technology and the digital wallet started to gain significant traction in 2012, particularly in the run up to the Olympics," said Simon Stanford, Samsung's vice president of telecommunications and networks in the UK and Ireland.

"It's an exciting time in the mobile market watching the next phase of its evolution take shape, so we're happy to announce that we are bringing these new experiences to our customers through our growing number of NFC-enabled devices," he added.

Specwise, Galaxy S3 Mini sports a 4 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with 800 x 400 pixel resolution, 1GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 5MP rear camera, VGA camera front camera for video calling, 8GB/16GB internal storage options, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB, 1GB RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth, NFC, micro USB 2.0 and a 1,500 mAh Li-ion battery.

Moreover, being a miniature version of Galaxy S3, the handset comes integrated with all the exclusive S features including S Voice, Smart Stay, Direct Call, Smart Stay, Buddy Photo Share and S Beam.

Further, with the incorporation of NFC, Galaxy S3 Mini will purportedly get an increase in the speed and efficiency of content transfer between compatible devices. Owners of the new Galaxy S3 Mini will be able to share content, such as photos, videos and music, much faster and more easily.

According to the company's press release, its S Beam feature allows a 10MB music file to be shared in just two seconds by simply tapping on another S Beam-enabled device, such as the Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. By combining NFC and Wi-Fi Direct, S Beam is capable of sending larger files between phones, such as images, videos and music tracks.

Meanwhile, there is no information upon, when will the mini handset by Samsung hit Indian stores, however, it is unofficially selling in the country through Tradus, an online retailer site at a price of Rs 24,349. While, on the other hand, Samsung Galaxy Grand will officially get launched in the nation tomorrow, that is, January 22.