The Galaxy S3, a new model in Samsung Electronics' hit smartphone series, will be unveiled in London on May 3, a spokesman said Monday. The Korean electronics giant sent out invites to distributors and journalists in Europe, asking them to "come and meet the next Galaxy."

There has been some buzz from the global IT industry since the earlier Galaxy models have achieved combined sales of more than 40 million units and the upcoming Galaxy S3 is designed to rival Apple's iPhone 5, likely to be launched in June.

The Galaxy S3 is to feature the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," Google's newest operating system, and has a 4-inch AMOLED display. It comes in two versions, 3G and 4G LTE models.

Samsung is expected to release the LTE model through Korea’s three mobile service providers as early as June. It will release the 3G model in Europe and the LTE version in the U.S. and Japan.

The press release said detailed specifications and the exact release date of the Galaxy S3 will be announced during the event on May 3.