The way a lot of high end Android phones being released has always been a head ache for most consumers. There’s so many factors that lead to the eventual release of Android handsets from the carrier and from even the manufacturer. Last years Galaxy SII launch I felt was the worst I’ve ever seen. The European SII came out during the Spring of 2011 and it didn’t see a US release till almost half a year later! And what made it even worse was that the T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T versions all looked different and had different names. While all of these were SII’s, they had so much variation within each device whether it came down to screen size and even processors.

I’m ecstatic to see that Samsung realized what a huge flaw that really was and decided to change the way they released their flagship device this time around. The 5 month gap between the initial release of the international SII and US SII had to go, and I’m glad to see that Samsung has finally taken control of their phone and release them all in relatively the same time. While the international version has been out for a couple of weeks now, all 5 of US’s major cell phone carriers have already released their launch dates for their respective SIII’s and what’s even better is that they all look and are named the same! No more useless names like the Skyrocket or Epic 4G Touch. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and US Cellular will all keep the Galaxy SIII name. I think this is great as it will cause much less confusion and differentiation between them for customers. And as for me, the best part about this will definitely be the accessories! I have a GSM Galaxy Nexus now and I love the fact that accessories such as cases are at an abundance since the whole world virtually has the same form factor Galaxy Nexus. And now we can all say the same for the Galaxy SIII. Docks, cases and other accessories should be universal now and relatively easier to find for the consumer.

While many of us have complained about the SIII and how Samsung chose the way they designed it, we definitely have to commend Samsung for taking this right direction in how a phone release should be handled. Now I really hope HTC will follow in these footsteps. HTC had a perfect opportunity to do the same with their One lineup and I felt like they really dropped the ball on this one. Only time shall tell if more companies will follow suit on this, but we can only hope that this will be a trend that will soon to be followed.