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Samsung's international Galaxy S III is the next to lose local search

Samsung's international Galaxy S III is the next to lose local search

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An over-the-air update for Samsung's unlocked international Galaxy S III removes the local search functionality from the Google Quick Search Bar. The news follows removal of the

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Samsung Galaxy S III Pebble Blue (STOCK)
Samsung Galaxy S III Pebble Blue (STOCK)

Samsung has been disabling the local search on its US devices in recent weeks as a "precautionary measure," but apparently, that isn’t cautious enough. Android Central points out that a new OTA update is disabling local search on the unlocked international version of the phone, the GT-I9300. While we haven’t been able to check for ourselves, the 27MB update, version I9300XXLG6, has been confirmed by users on the XDA Developers forums, who verify the loss of functionality. Samsung is obviously skittish about the possibility of injunctions against its flagship phone so close to its release given the (now stayed) US ban on the Galaxy Nexus, and yesterday’s EU-wide ban on the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but that doesn’t make the news any easier to take. The bright side (if you want to call it that), is that it’s still possible to restore the functionality by installing a separate app for the old Google Quick Search Box.