On Thursday, May 3, Samsung finally took the wraps off its next-generation Galaxy phone, one of the most highly-anticipated smartphones of the year. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the successor of the wildly popular Galaxy S2 smartphone, which drove Samsung to the top as the world's biggest phone manufacturer.

Ahead of the big launch, wild rumors and speculation pointed to a mind-blowing smartphone, ready to sweep the floor with any competitors. Though not all rumors proved to be true, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is impressive nonetheless, and makes the device, should we say, future-proof.

Display

When it comes to the size of the screen, rumors have hinted correctly. The new Galaxy phone sports a whopping 4.8-inch display, a considerable jump forward from its predecessor, the Galaxy S2, which featured a 4.3-inch screen. On the other hand, the Galaxy S2 features an AMOLED Plus display, while the new-generation Galaxy phone features a Super AMOLED screen, which means it may be less vivid.

The Galaxy S3's 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED 720p display is impressive. It has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and a pixel density of 306 pixels-per-inch (ppi). It may not quite as "resolutionary" as Apple's Retina Display, which has a pixel density of 326 ppi, but it's still more than decent.

Wireless Charging

The Samsung Galaxy S3 not only comes with a more powerful battery, the biggest battery Samsung used for a smartphone, but it also supports wireless charging. If you are tired of cables and wires for everything, you can now enjoy the convenience of a wireless charging kit, which allows you to juice up your phone without hooking it up to the socket.

S Voice

One of the most attractive features on the Galaxy S3 is S Voice, Samsung's response to Apple's popular voice assistant, Siri. Voice integration in itself is not really a new feature for Android users, but S Voice comes as an advanced natural language user interface, capable of listening and responding to the user's commands.

With S Voice you can make calls, inquire about the weather, wake the phone, send messages, request songs, change tracks, adjust the volume, send emails, use the calendar, and many other such functions. You can even make your alarm shut up just by saying "snooze," instead of having to reach the phone and press the snooze button. For starters, S Voice will support 8 languages, including American/British English, Korean, German and Spanish, with more languages to be added later.

Smart Stay

Another great new feature the Galaxy S3 has to offer is SmartStay, and eye-tracking function that uses the phone's front-facing camera to determine whether you are looking at the phone. With this function, the phone will detect your gaze and will not lock or blacken the display if you are looking at it. You can set your own intervals, so the function can operate according to your preferences.

According to Samsung, such built-in face-tracking, along with voice control, allow for a more "natural" control system with the Galaxy S3. The company claims the innovative SmartStay feature is a "more intelligent" lock system. Indeed, SmartStay does come in handy, especially if you're in the habit of reading everything carefully, analyzing pictures, or other functions that would normally take longer. Now you can take your time, as the phone will not time out as long as you are still looking at it.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Dave Clark)