It's always strange to see a company directly comment on rumors about its own products, but Samsung doesn't seem to take issue with it, as a statement they made to The Verge late last night confirms.

The latest speculation Samsung has cracked down on has been in regard to the Galaxy S III, stemming from a ZDNet Korea article that indicated the device would be unveiled next month. Here's the rough Google translation of the original tweet from Samsung's Korean arm regarding the issue:

[Please note] Some known through press releases Galaxy S3 4 월 stand is not true. Once a specific launch date we will notify you via Twitter first.

And here's the official English statement made to The Verge:

The successor to the GALAXY S II smartphone will be unveiled in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product. We cannot confirm the detailed information at the moment.

The takeaway? The Galaxy S III, if Samsung calls it that, will be unveiled at some point this year before the end of June, and commercial availability will follow soon after. Of course, if you're salivating specifically for a US release timeframe, that's even more up in the air - given that the first Galaxy S II variants to land in the United States came a full 4 months after the international launch.

Let's hope Samsung and, let's not kid ourselves where the blame lies for this disparity, the "big four" carriers in the US can cut down on the release lag a bit this time around.

TheVerge, Twitter