Galaxy S III to Retain Singular Home Button; Samsung Maintains Apple-Like Design Secrecy

According to the latest leak surrounding the much anticipated and hyped third-generation Samsung flagship Android smartphone, there’s now news that the Galaxy S III will retain Samsung’s traditional home button, which is often missing on the U.S. versions of the phone but is a keen Samsung design element for international models. The home button, similar to Apple’s home button on the iPhone, is flanked on each side by a back and a menu button on past iterations of Samsung’s smartphones, including the international edition of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II, and that same button will reportedly be making its way to the Galaxy S III.

As Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich incorporates many of the buttons into the software and so buttons can be placed on the screen, it’s unclear if Samsung will also retain the menu and back buttons on the Galaxy S III–the Galaxy Nexus debuted with a button-less design.

It’s also unclear how the adoption of a singular button on the front fascia of the phone will affect Samsung’s ongoing lawsuits with Apple. Apple had made allegations of various Samsung products in the past illegally borrowing its designs, and with a single home button, Apple may contend that users may mistaken Samsung’s products with an iPhone or iPod Touch at a cursory glance.

Additionally, according to Unwired View, the Galaxy S III will maintain a 5-column arrangement of icons on its home screen and application screens, rather than a 4-column arrangement. The 5-column arrangement first debuted on the Galaxy Note, which not only came with a high resolution screen, but also a wider screen aspect ratio than other 720p HD displays–the Galaxy Note has a resolution of 1280 X 800. The Galaxy Nexus has a 4-button arrangement and that device has a narrower screen with a 1280 X 720 resolution. It’s unclear then if the Galaxy S III will employ a slightly wider screen like the Note or if it will stick with a traditional 720p HD 16:9 aspect ratio format that’s more common on HD smartphone displays today.

Interestingly, it seems that Samsung is able to achieve Apple-like levels of secrecy behind the design of the Galaxy S III smartphone as to date we haven’t yet seen a reliable Galaxy S III render or image of the device leaked. How is Samsung able to achieve all that? Samsung basically stuffed all the components of the smartphone are packaged into a nondescript casing to avoid leaks of the finalized design.