We’re only a day from the official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S III, but that doesn’t mean the leaks are done. One of our contacts sent us a photo of the Samsung Galaxy S III’s boot screen as it is turning on, but wouldn’t allow us to post photos of the actual device. Maybe next time! Samsung is set to unveil the highly anticipated Galaxy S III during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

We received a photo of what looks like it could be Samsung’s upcoming flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S3. Although it isn’t confirmed at this point, this is one of the most compelling images we have seen so far. We’ll know in a couple days if this is the real deal but compared to all the decoys we’ve seen, we definitely hope the flagship smartphone Samsung unveils next week ends up looking like this instead. This phone also matches up exactly with what we have reported, something many people have continued to miss — the Galaxy S3 will have a physical button in the center beneath the display.

UPDATE: Looks like this image was sent to a few different sites around 3:00 a.m. this morning…

We have been informed by a trusted source that HTC’s One X, one of the best smartphones ever to come out of Taiwan, will be available on AT&T as early as this week. We have also been told that AT&T may announce availability details tomorrow, and that the handset’s release should follow within five to seven days of the carrier’s announcement. AT&T’s version of the HTC One X swaps out the quad-core Tegra 3 processor for a dual-core Snapdragon CPU in order to accommodate 4G LTE connectivity, but unlike the complete redesign we saw on Sprint’s EVO 4G LTE, the AT&T version should be nearly identical to the international model.

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus has been available around the world for quite some time after officially making it’s debut on Verizon Wireless in December. Sprint’s version of the handset, which supports the company’s brand new LTE network, is currently slated for an April 22nd release according to one of our sources, which is in line with earlier rumors. Stores should be receiving merchandising materials shortly, and sales are set to start soon after. Whether you’ll actually be able to get an LTE signal, however, depends on if you’re a 1%-er — Sprint’s LTE network has gone live in a few regions during testing, but isn’t set to go live in launch markets until June. Sprint also plans to launch the LG Viper 4G LTE on April 22nd.

Samsung still isn’t done trotting out new variants of the Galaxy S line, but the big one is coming. Samsung publicly stated that we wouldn’t see the Samsung Galaxy S III announced at Mobile World Congress this year, and one of the major reasons was an effort to shorten the gap between announcing the flagship smartphone and launching it around the world. This time around, we’ve heard from a trusted source that Samsung is going to launch the Samsung Galaxy S III in over 50 “markets or cities” simultaneously. The real news, however, is the fact that we’ll be seeing a supersized display (and you know how we feel about those) that will measure 4.8-inches. We weren’t told the type of display, though other rumors talked about something ridiculous like a Super AMOLED Plus HD screen. Also, instead of cheap, glossy plastic, we’re told the entire back of the smartphone will be ceramic — a pretty interesting choice of materials. Other previously rumored specs include a quad-core processor, Android 4.0, 4G LTE, great cameras and other competitive specifications. We’ll keep our ears to the ground, so stay tuned for more!

Information has been appearing in dribs and drabs about Nokia’s last Symbian smartphone, the Nokia 803, but a trusted source of ours has come through with some details that vary a bit from earlier reports. For starters, the Nokia 803 will run Symbian Belle and serve it up on a 4-inch AMOLED display instead of the smaller 3.5-inch screen that had been reported. An HDMI-out port, microSIM support and NFC are all a go as well. We have also been told that the Nokia 803 will feature one of the largest camera sensors — if not the largest camera sensor — ever seen on a mobile phone. The Nokia 803 is currently expected to be released in the May timeframe.

BGR has learned from a trusted source that Samsung is set to launch an 11.6-inch tablet running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich next year, and it will most likely be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February. Even though the tablet features a larger display than Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, we’re told that the tablet is “barely larger” due to the fact the slate will have a thinner bezel with a whopping 2560 x 1600 resolution, 11.6-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The tablet will use a dual-core Exynos 5250 CPU clocked at 2GHz. We have also heard that Apple’s new A6 CPU will be very similar to the Samsung CPU, which is a dual-core Cortex A15 chip. Samsung’s tablet will also feature Android Beam for easy syncing of media with a Galaxy Nexus, and a special wireless docking mode for gaming on HDTVs that will help Samsung compete with Apple TV, AirPlay and more. Samsung had no comment.

While information about Apple’s new iOS app and retail plans have leaked out in various forms over the past few weeks, we now have the whole story thanks to a trusted source. On Thursday, Apple’s new retail store app for iOS will launch, and it will bring two major features with it. First, it will enable online ordering with retail store pick up. This has already started happening in a few stores in California and New York City Apple stores as well, and more stores will go live on Thursday. Hit the jump for details on what happens when you place an order through the app to pick up in a retail store nearby.

• If a customer orders an in-stock product, pick up will be available approximately 12 minutes after completing the order. Why 12 minutes? Well, the order goes through the system to the designated Apple Store in about 3 minutes. Apple’s back-of-house employees have 2 minutes to set all of the products aside on a shelf from the minute it was ordered. There is then a 7-minute grace period for employees to get everything else in order. Around 12 minutes after purchasing, customers will be able to walk into the Apple Store, skip lines, skip registers, get their products, sign for them and leave. We’re told Apple is really excited about this, and it’s something customers have been seeking for a while.
• If a customer orders something that a retail store does not have in-stock, like a custom-configured machine, an accessory the store does not carry, or something like an engraved or gift-wrapped device, the customer will be a given a pick-up date right after the purchase is completed. Everything will have free shipping when sent to an Apple retail store. Once the order arrives at the Apple Store and is available for pickup, a push notification will be sent to the customer through the Apple Store app, letting him or her know the order is ready. We’re told the same 12-minute timeframe applies here as well: 12 minutes from the time the push notification is received, the customer’s order should be waiting to be signed for.
• We have been told customers who opt to purchase online or through the app will be given priority when they walk into the store over a customer waiting for a retail specialist, and that Apple expects the majority of customers over the next few years to use the in-store pick up option as their default method of buying products. This will help with foot traffic in retail stores while also reducing the cost of shipping for Apple, and possibly even reducing the number of stores Apple needs to open to accommodate sales.
• Apple will offer customers the ability to return items purchased online to retail stores.
• Lastly, we’re told that Apple will be attributing revenue from items purchased in this manner to the retail store where the items are delivered and retrieved. This should help create new job opportunities since hiring at Apple Stores is based on sales. Apple is reportedly expecting a 30% increase in sales at retail stores from this program, and it will only be available in the U.S. for now.

The other major feature coming in Apple’s new app? Customer self check-out at retail stores. This is a huge deal and Apple is the first to be able to put it together. Here is how this will work: after you find the item you want to buy, like an accessory, you launch the Apple Store app on your iOS device and there will be an option to buy a product in the store. You scan the product with the camera on your device in the app, click purchase, and it will charge whatever credit card is associated to your Apple ID. You then just walk out of the store. Yes, we have been told that Apple will not be checking purchases which seems hard to believe, but this self check-out option will launch Thursday worldwide at all Apple retail stores.

BGR has just been given photos of the follow up to the original Motorola ATRIX 4G, the Motorola ATRIX 2, internally known as the Motorola Edison. The Motorola ATRIX 2 will not be an LTE device according to our source, though the phone will launch with a dual-core processor (either 1.2 or 1.5GHz TI OMAP, we’d assume), an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, and Android Gingerbread 2.3.5. We weren’t given a launch time-frame, though we’d expect the phone to touch down in the next few months, most likely around Thanksgiving. Check out all of the photos in our Motorola ATRIX 2 gallery!

In addition to scoring some quick intimate moments with the brand new BlackBerry Bold 9790 (Bellagio) yesterday, we were also able to check out the company’s first ever touch Blackberry Curve, the BlackBerry Curve 9380 (Orlando). The styling of the Curve 9380 is a mix of the BlackBerry Bold on the top of the handset, and it continues down into a design much like the BlackBerry Torch 9850. Around back, the phone looks more like the traditional BlackBerry Curve smartphone that we all know. As far as raw specifications, the Curve 9380 will feature an 800MHz processor, 3.25-inch display, 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture support, 1GB of built-in storage and NFC. Look for it to be released in the coming months, though a source at Telus told BGR that it could come sooner rather than later. Check out all of the photos in our gallery, which is linked below.

If the BlackBerry Bold 9900 isn’t doing it for you, there’s a version that’s based on the popular BlackBerry 9700, and yes, there’s a touchscreen and keyboard on this Bold, too. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 will feature a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of built-in storage, NFC, GPS, Wi-Fi and we believe a 1.2GHz processor. If all goes well, this device could launch before the end of the year, even as early as next month. Hit the gallery for the rest of the photos, including a size comparison with the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

Thanks to a leaked document from a Best Buy source, we have discovered that Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores are anticipating taking preorders for the iPhone 5 starting in the first week of October. What’s a tad bit more interesting, however, is the mention (and further anticipation) that Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5 at launch. Best Buy makes sure to note that Apple product introduction and launch dates are subject to change, but a preorder date changing is pretty different from a new carrier getting a phone for the first time.

UPDATE: Our source clarified that it’s actually possible presales will be starting this week with the phone arriving in the first week of October, not preorders starting in October.

Thanks, Tee!

We’ve just received a tip that OS X Lion 10.7.2, a combo update, is available for Mac developers in Apple’s developer site. While the OS isn’t available on the regular Mac portal, it’s available as a direct link within the iCloud for Lion beta section. No word on what updates or changes will be in OS X Lion 10.7.2.

Thanks, C!

We know these next-generation iPhone rumors have been out of control (aren’t they every year right before a new iPhone is slated to be released?), but we just received some new information from an incredibly solid source of ours. According to our source, Apple will indeed be launching a prepaid / lower cost iPhone this year. We are told the handset will retail for no more than $350 without contract. Ready for the really interesting part? It’s entirely possible that the low-cost iPhone will in fact be the iPhone 3GS. We reported that we were able to independently confirm that the iPhone 5 featured a radical new design, however this source of ours isn’t quite sure that will be the next iPhone. Whether it’s the iPhone 4S or 5, it will be coming out or “at least announced by the end of Summer, late August-ish.” They theorized that we’d have seen new 3rd party cases by now if the upcoming iPhone featured a different exterior, though Apple has surely been cracking down on their case specification leaks. If this turns out to be true, it will mean there would be an iPhone 4S in addition to the prepaid iPhone 3GS available within the next month to two. Let’s do one better, though. In addition to that news, we are told that Apple will continue to sell the current iPhone 4 as well, finally giving the company a full range of devices in the lower, mid, and high-end price segments. Coupled with rumored launches on Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S. alone, Apple seems prepared to once again take charge and lead in the smartphone market.

We recently caught up with singer and entertainer Sean Paul, who’s in the middle of promoting a brand new single, to check in with him about how technology influences his life and career. From his addiction to his iPad and how he uses GarageBand for music production, to Twitter, to how he recently dumped his iPhone to switch back to a BlackBerry… we covered it all. Check out the full video interview after the break.

BGR Interview is a series of interviews and conversations with executives, influencers, tastemakers and innovators, covering the mobile and consumer electronics industries.