The Samsung Galaxy S III was one of the most anticipated Android smartphones this year. The first two flagship Galaxy S smartphones were considered to be among the finest Android devices of their time. With so much riding on the Galaxy S brand, Samsung had to make sure that no information regarding the Galaxy S III leaked out ahead of release. Its methods for keeping the GSIII a secret went well beyond the honor system.
According to the Samsung Tomorrow blog, a limited number of people were approved to work on the GSIII. They were forbidden from discussing anything related to the phone. Not even family members of the GSIII team were allowed to know of the phone’s existence.
YoungDoo Jin, a senior engineer who worked on the GSIII, told Samsung Tomorrow he couldn’t even tell his son he was working on the phone. The penalty for creating leaks was most likely termination.
“My eldest son is 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.” – YoungDoo Jin
In addition to the code of silence, Samsung implemented security measures such as fingerprint scanners, security cards and security boxes. The GSIII prototypes had to be placed inside these security boxes every time they were transported across the shortest distances. Samsung also had engineers create three different GSIII prototypes as if each one was going to be the final design. The engineers were forced to do redundant work, but it was all in the name of security.
Samsung may have gone above and beyond to prevent leaks, but it certainly worked.
Source: Samsung Tomorrow
