Remember all the hype surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S III before the actual May 3rd announcement? Everybody was guessing and guessing, but except for some obvious expected things (like an Exynos quad-core), nothing ever really leaked.
Samsung just posted about how they went about keeping things on the down low. Like agents from TV shows and movies, many Samsung engineers found they were living a “double life.”
“I got so many questions about the GALAXY S III from friends and family”, said Senior Engineer YoungDoo Jin (S/W R&D). “But I’d say ‘don’t ask me or you’ll get me fired.’ I told them to check it out after it was officially made public.”
Principal Engineer ByungJoon Lee (Mechanical R&D) talked about his eldest son in 6th grade; “He knew that I had worked on the GALAXY S and S II.So I guess he assumed that I’d do S III also. Every time he saw an article on the internet about the GALAXY S III he’d ask ‘Dad! You’re making the S III, right?’ But all I could say was ‘I don’t really know.’ It was really awkward.”
It wasn’t just about not spilling the beans. They had a separate lab with their own security cards and fingerprint readers. Only a few engineers actually had access. When prototypes needed to be moved, they were put into security boxes even if it was just across the hallway. This would insure that no one outside of the project could get a glimpse of the device.
When prototypes needed to be sent to 3rd parties (like accessory manufacturers), outside freight companies are generally used. That wasn’t the case with this project as they were hand delivered by only those that were part of the team, even if it meant traveling to other countries. Of course pictures were never permitted for obvious reasons.
We had heard that there were different prototypes so no one would ever know what the final product would look like. It looks like there were three different prototyopes and all had to be made like they were final products. You can imagine how much work this was because engineers had to repeat the same process for all three versions.
So in early 2013 when we see supposed leaks for the Galaxy S IV, I think it will be safe to assume that its bogus for sure. I’m sure it will get even harder to find leaks because even though things went well for the GSIII, I’m sure Samsung learned a little along the way. That means they will make improvements to their process. Do you think this will stop all the news and rumors? Hell no!!!