Samsung will launch the Galaxy S III in April, a Samsung-affiliated marketing executive has apparently confirmed, with a UK campaign tying the much-anticipated smartphone into the 2012 Olympics tipped.

Slash Gear reports that an April release had been tipped previously, but according to ZDNet Korea the Chiel Worldwide marketing agency has confirmed that a huge promotion will kick off that month for the Android device.

According to the marketeers, Samsung is pushing ahead with an NFC payments system using the Galaxy S III as its flagship device. A collaboration between Samsung, VISA and the Olympics had already been announced, with a special “Samsung Olympic and Paralympic Games mobile handset” promised.

NFC is just one of the elements tipped for the new Galaxy S III. The smartphone is also tipped to have a 1.5GHz quadcore Exynos processor of Samsung’s own creation, along with a 4.8-inch display tipped for either 720p or 1080p HD resolution. There’s also expected to be an 8-megapixel main camera with Full HD video recording, plus a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

The whole thing is said to be wrapped up in a ceramic casing, a new material for Samsung, and an improvement over the existing plastic-bodied Galaxy S II. OS is expected to be Ice Cream Sandwich, with 4G LTE for supporting networks.