Photos of what could be the Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere III appeared online from an anonymous source on Wednesday, though if this phone is the Stratosphere III, fans of previous versions may be disappointed.
That's because unlike the Galaxy Stratosphere II, which featured a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the device in these images, posted by Engadget, features no physical keyboard whatsoever.
Word of Samsung's codename "Godiva," thought to be the Stratosphere successor, first arrived through a benchmark test on Monday.
And while we like the chocolate-inspired name, there's good reason to suspect that the unannounced device is secretly the Stratosphere III.
The codename game
One of the blurry images that leaked showed the device's model number, and it matches the phone that appeared on earlier this week.
When the Samsung device carrying the codename "Godiva" popped up on GLBenchmark on Monday, it seemed rather likely that the mysterious phone was really the Stratosphere III.
Its model number - SCH-I425 - fits perfectly with the Stratosphere and Stratosphere II, or the SCH-I405 and SCH-I415.
The lack of a physical keyboard in the device shown in the newly leaked images casts a shadow of doubt on that theory, since Samsung's Galaxy Stratosphere II launched in the fall with a sliding QWERTY keyboard.
But it won't be enough to squash it entirely, and we can't know for sure until Samsung or Verizon makes an official announcement.
Stratosphere III 'Godiva' specs
Monday's surprise benchmark revealed that Samsung's codename Godiva phone packs a Qualcomm 1.4GHz Snapdragon MSM8960 chip and Adreno 305 graphics, a 1,280 x 720 display, and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
In addition, Wednesday's leaked images reveal NFC support behind the back cover.
Whatever the mystery phone winds up being called, it will head to Verizon eventually, so keep an eye out.
