The branding of the flagship Android phone that Samsung is introducing next week in London to replace the venerable Galaxy S II has been a closely-guarded secret — "Galaxy S III" had been the obvious choice, but our sources tell us that even the final name has been under lock and key. That secrecy appeared as though it may have been cracking yesterday with the release of the so-called Samsung Unpacked 2012 app in the Google Play store, which was tagged with "galaxy s3" — a possible switch from Roman to Arabic numerals, yes, but otherwise a safe and conservative choice for a phone that Samsung will be counting on to sell by the tens of millions around the globe.
More evidence of the name "Galaxy S3" comes by way of SamMobile today, which notes that two phones by that name can now be found in some versions of Kies, Samsung's PC-based smartphone companion software. The two handsets in Kies have model numbers GT-i9300 and GT-i9300T; i9300 is already widely believed to be the S3's correct model number, and the "T" would indicate a variant with different frequency support, just as it does in the Galaxy S II range. SamMobile notes that the phones seem to have placeholder images, not the real thing — and considering that the company has gone to the trouble of enclosing existing prototypes in fake shells, that should come as little surprise. Leaks aside, we're not expecting to have the full story until Samsung's May 3rd event.