Samsung is already the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer, and the Galaxy SII is still up there with the latest iPhone and Android devices – but it appears that their next-gen device, the Galaxy SIII, is about to be announced.

Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin, who has a habit of being right about device information, is claiming to have received an S3 today and is saying that the device runs Android 4.0 with software tweaks (TouchWiz?), is powered by a 1.5-1.6 GHz quad-core processor (eg. Exynos 4412), offers an HD Super AMOLED Plus display as well as a 12MP camera. Design-wise it is similar to its predecessor the SII.

Now these specs are hardly surprising – Samsung has a history of jam-packing their Galaxy devices with all the latest tech, but there is no doubting that if right this smartphone looks like it will be selling as well if not better than the SII and will be giving Apple something to catch up to with the iPhone 5.

All reports indicate that the phone will be formally announced at the Mobile World Congress in February and then released in April – so watch this space!

Find out the best phones available in the UK in our 2012 Smartphone Guide