On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Samsung officially announced the UK release date of the Galaxy S3 Mini, the smaller version of the Galaxy S3 smartphone. The Galaxy S3 Mini made its debut in Germany in October this year, and now Samsung has confirmed that the smartphone will release in the UK market on Nov. 8.

"Samsung Mobile UK today announced that the Galaxy S III Mini, a compact version of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, will be available in the UK from Thursday 8th November with free content, including The Sims 3 and Bejewelled 2," stated the Samsung press release.

The Galaxy S3 Mini sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED WVGA display with 800 x 480 pixels resolution at 223ppi. The smartphone measures 4.8 x 2.48 x 0.39 inches and weighs 4.23oz. The Galaxy S3 Mini has a 1GHz dual-core processor and will come in both 8GB and 16GB of internal storage options and has 1GB of RAM. The device will come pre-loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The smartphone also packs in a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing VGA camera.

"Our latest addition to the Galaxy portfolio, the Galaxy S III Mini brings the high performance, intuitive ease-of-use and nature-inspired design of the Galaxy S III in a new elegant yet compact form. Following the massive success and popularity of the Galaxy S III and all its features, we are confident customers will enjoy the Galaxy SIII Mini when it hits the shelves on the 8th November," said Simon Stanford, Vice President, Telecommunications & Networks, Samsung UK and Ireland.

Previously, retailer Clove had revealed that it would be retailing the SIM-free 8GB versions of the handset in blue and white for £249 (not including VAT). Phones4U had also indicated that the Galaxy S3 Mini would be released on Nov. 8 and consumers could pre-order the device on-contract with O2, Orange, or Vodafone for a Nov. 8 delivery for plans that varied between £25 to £36 per month. Carphone Warehouse also has the Galaxy S3 Mini up for pre-order on-contract for plans that range from £25 to £31 per month.

"The S3 Mini will be selling in the UK between £220-£250 for just the handset. If you want news of a great tariff deal on O2 then check back here for more information about what great deals you could get when you buy an O2 Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini," indicates the O2 store webpage.

Samsung is yet to disclose the pricing of the Galaxy S3 Mini, but mentioned that the Galaxy S3 Mini would be available for purchase "across all major networks, key high street and out of town electrical retailers and online retailers" in the UK post Nov. 8.