If you’ve been looking at your options for a new phone, and have been considering a Galaxy S3 Mini, chances are you noticed the lack of NFC support in the current model. Later this month, however, that will change, and Samsung is launching an NFC-capable version in the UK this month.

Aside from NFC, we’re looking at a 4-inch device with a WVGA (800×480) SuperAMOLED display, a 1GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and TouchWiz’d Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Pricing isn’t available yet, but Samsung says we should be seeing the new device on major UK carriers at the end of January. Full press release below.

SAMSUNG ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF GALAXY S III MINI WITH NFC
New NFC variant set to hit shops at end of January

21st January 2013, London, UK – Samsung Mobile UK today announced that an NFC-enabled version of the Galaxy S III Mini smartphone will be available to buy in the UK from the end of January.

Owners of the new Galaxy S III Mini will be able to share content, such as photos, videos and music, much faster and more easily. Its S Beam feature allows a 10MB music file to be shared in just two seconds by simply tapping on another S Beam-enabled device, such as the Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note II, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. By combining NFC and Wi-Fi Direct, S Beam is capable of sending larger files between phones, such as images, videos and music tracks.

The Galaxy S III Mini is powered by Android™ 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and packed with many of the same features available on the Galaxy S III, including S Voice which people can use to tell the phone to wake up, answer an incoming call, or even take a photo, and Direct Call which allows customers to automatically call someone they’ve just received a text by simply lifting the phone to their ear.

Simon Stanford, Vice President, Telecommunications & Networks, Samsung UK and Ireland said:

“NFC technology and the digital wallet started to gain significant traction in 2012, particularly in the run up to the Olympics. It’s an exciting time in the mobile market watching the next phase of its evolution take shape, so we’re happy to announce that we are bringing these new experiences to our customers through our growing number of NFC-enabled devices.”

The Galaxy S III Mini will be available to buy in the UK across all major networks, key high street and out of town electrical retailers and online retailers from the end of January.