The current reports say that the various marketing companies that Samsung uses in countries around the world are “gearing up” for an event in March, and then the Galaxy S III superphone itself will become available through retailers and carriers in April. As with the first Galaxy S and its Galaxy S II successor, we imagine there will be a few different versions of the S III floating around.

Samsung apparently hopes to capitalize on the Summer Olympic Games in London, using the event as a platform to market the Galaxy S III to an international audience. By launching a couple months ahead of time, they can hit the ground running when the torch is lit and the games commence. We’ve got all kinds of rumors about the S III, from edge-to-edge displays to quad core processors, and it all sounds good.

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The list of banned items includes not only firearms, ammunition, explosives and illegal drugs, but also liquids in containers of greater than 100ml in size, umbrellas, horns, whistles, drums, rattles, or any other devices that in the opinion of Locog may disturb a session. This includes mobile phones.

The more bizarre items on the list include umbrellas and large quantities of coins.

I get the ban on firearms, ammunition and explosives. But cellphones? For me, getting separated at a game in a giant stadium would be frightening. I don’t know how people went out before cellphones. My cellphone feels like an extension to my hand, and it brings a sense of comfort and security. I’m always connected and always in touch.

And umbrellas? I understand if your umbrella is one of those with the sharp point at the end of it – a jab in the butt would be pretty painful. Or you could lose an eye. But would someone really get kicked out for bringing a good old-fashioned umbrella with a rounded tip? Is it considered a potential weapon, with the ability to bludgeon everything in its path? Maybe I’m overreacting – it’s not like it ever rains in London. And the large quantities of coins? Could be I’m just naive. It’s true the bag of coins would hurt if someone swung them at you. Though it sounds more like a weapon used in a a mobster movie than a tennis match.  Perhaps there are coin shooting umbrellas we’re not aware of.

Food and drink are also banned, just like at the movie theatre where you’re not suppossed to bring your own Twizzlers because the theatre wants you to buy from them for three times the price. The difference is that at the movie theatre, there are no armed security guards making your stuff go through an airport-style X-ray.

LOCOG insisted that free water would be available to everyone, and that there are no plans to capitalize on thirsty Olympic spectators.

The 2008 Olympic Games were held by a communist country with a pretty similar list of banned items. Understandably, Beijing banned guns, grenades, gun powder and explosives. They also banned glass bottles, hot water thermoses, coolers, whistles, horns, radios, walkie-talkies, speakers, drums and sticks.

But Beijing didn’t ban cellphones. They did have a rule for transport of cellphones throughout the city for repair – the cellphone and battery had to arrive in separate packages.

No final decision has been made on the list of banned items for the 2012 games. There is a good chance a mobile phone ban would only be enforced in areas where silence is required during the event, like in gymnastics and archery. That’s understandable – a Lady Gaga ringtone would disturb anyone from concentration.

if the ban does carry out, umbrella-carrying Brits attached to their cellphones might want to skip the games, before they get shaken down for the sunscreen they snagged for their kids.

[Telegraph]

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To help you, with the help of the Washington Post, we have put together some info so your laptop or smartphone can get you all the Olympic 2010 events that you want to see when they are broadcast, not just when your station has time to televise it.

In Canada, you can basically just turn your TV on to CTV or CBC and you will see Olympic coverage but that’s not where you will be able to grab a stream. In the US it’s NBC that has the broadcast rights; you can access that from the NBCOlympics.com website.  Make sure that your computer has the most recent versions of AdobeFlash and Microsoft Silverlight or you will be scrambling during your broadcast.  NBC also included a BOSS button to pull up a Windows desktop screen (blank spreadsheet included) for those private viewing events at work.  The NBCOlympics.com has tons of extras to offer to keep your interest. There are many different Olympics RSS feeds arranged by topic, sport, country, or nation, and give the option of SMS or e-mail alerts.  You also receive local Olympic TV listings that have been sorted according to the providers.  If a smartphone is your choice to cover the action, you will enjoy an upcoming mobile-optimized version of the NBCOlympics site available for iPhone’s and BlackBerry’s.  There will also be live streaming video available at Olympics 2Go.

Canada’s best international coverage is CTVOlympics.ca (English) and RDSolympiques.ca (French).  Both will have 14 live streams from Canadian TV networks.  They will also provide live coverage of each sport from beginning to end. BBC is offering live BBC Two streams, four Web-only streams from the BBC Sport Web site and there is mobile streaming on BBC Mobile.

BBC, CTV and NBC have specific contracts with the International Olympics Committee for broadcast rights to their specific geographical regions. For you to watch direct-from-the-source international streams, you’re going to have to do some searching for VPN service located in your area. For some free but ad supported VPN services try TheFreeVPN.com site.  It has a free Canadian VPN server but its only allows 250 users.  A paid VPN services does offer higher bandwidth and a better connection and only about $5-$15 monthly.  Just make sure that your choice doesn’t have a bandwidth limit.  Usage can reach its limit quickly when playing streaming videos.

Your only other choice may be independent, fan generated feeds.  SopCast (app installation is required), is a good for sports coverage in general, and Ustream and Justin.tv which allow you to stream on the web.  There is also TVU Networks, it offers a Web interface  and requires a TVU plugin, the TVUPlayer iPhone app is a Mac/Windows app and gives access to  900 channels worldwide. Pricetag of 4.99.

And there is always Twitter.  Providing and excellent alternative to video streaming.  Get the latest results without overloading your inboxes.

NBC has Olympic Pulse page; with tweets from athletes and analysts.  That one is very US based but over at @NBCOlympicZone, they are offering a list of athletes, organized by region to get coverage from the Twitter client of your choosing. Since Twitter is not bound by broadcasting regulations there will be many other TV networks with Twitter coverage of their own.  @CTVOlympics has all Canadian broadcasters covered, and detailed lists for Canadian athletes, international athletes and organizations. The International Olympics Committee is sending their tweets from @Olympics.  And over on @OlympicHealth, they are providing info on how the different Olympians have been training.

Take note that no one is willing to comment or guarantee how the systems are going to handle the video streaming traffic.

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