Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Is it time for Nexus to Step Down and Give Way to Galaxy S3? Reuters

Samsung may have triggered tough competition in the smartphone arena by rolling out the first Ice Cream Sandwich phone - Samsung Galaxy Nexus - in 2011. But that hasn't stopped the Korean-based software titan from raising the bar even higher. The company is reportedly gearing up to release another speed demon - Samsung Galaxy S3.

Samsung's third generation Galaxy S3, which is expected to be released in the first half of the year, has already received an overwhelming amount of attention despite the mystery shrouding the widely-anticipated smartphone.

But how well will this forthcoming device fare against the Google-totting Galaxy Nexus, which by the way, got standing ovations for its lightning-fast processor and is a prime rival to Apple's iPhone 4S?

While keeping the Galaxy S3's leaked details in mind, here's a roundup of its specifications in comparison with Galaxy Nexus.

Display: Samsung Galaxy S3 is rumored to sport the same 4.6-inch HD Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch-screen and 720x1280 pixel resolution as the Galaxy Nexus. However, some reports claim the Galaxy S3 will have a 3D display with TouchWiz 5.0 UI and Gorilla Glass fronting in addition.

Camera: According to reports, Galaxy S3 is expected to arrive with a primary 12 megapixel 4000x3000 pixels LED camera with HD video capabilities of 1080p. Other features the S3 is rumored to include are geo-tagging, touch-focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization and a front-facing 2 megapixel camera. Galaxy Nexus, on the other hand, sports a fairly standard 5-megapixel camera on its rear but lacks image-stabilization for video.

Processor: Galaxy Nexus runs on a dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, TI-OMAP 4460 chipset with 1GB RAM. Rumor has it that Galaxy S3 will feature a quad-core Exynos 4212/ Exyos 5250 chipset that's clocked to a massive 1.8GHz with 2GB RAM.

Operating System: Galaxy Nexus is notably popular for its Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS, which makes it likely that Galaxy S3 will launch on the same platform. ICS with its advanced interface and user-friendly features is best of Honeycomb and Gingerbread combined in one unit.

Memory: According to the rumors, Galaxy S3 may come in 16/32/64GB variants with an external microSD card expandable up to 64GB. Galaxy Nexus, however, has a fixed 16 / 32GB of internal storage.

Connectivity/Bluetooth/USB: Galaxy Nexus supports Bluetooth 3.0 version with A2DP along with microUSB 2.0 version, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA with Wi-Fi hotspot. The Nexus connects at HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps and comes along with NFC and 4G LTE support. Galaxy S3 is expected to arrive with more or less the same specifications.

If the rumored features of Galaxy S3 hold true, it could undoubtedly be a huge success when it is launched. It could be another potential challenger to the mighty iPhone.