While Apple's iPhone has dominated the smartphone industry for many years, Samsung's Galaxy S3 is indeed closing that gap on the tech world giant.

According to research done by CNET for its "100 biggest tech stories of the year," the Galaxy S3 beat out the iPhone 5 in its latest contest while the Google Nexus 7 finished third and Apple's other product, the iPad, came up fourth.

Although Apple has led the pack in terms of technology for many years the consistent growth of Android software along with the increasing popularity surrounding Samsung products is what's ultimately helping the Korean company thrive.

While the iPhone was the runner-up in CNET's evaluation, Value Walk suspects that the drop-off can be attributed to Apple's weaker Maps app. Unlike Google's Android, the GPS on the smartphone doesn't possess advantages such as turn-by-turn navigation and Fly Over.

Astonishingly, Samsung is still continuing to build upon an already appealing product. Hence, its phone owners that already have the Jelly Bean upgrade will now get the added benefit of the Samsung Premium Suite along with a slew of other upgrades.

The device's menu can now be switched to list the applications in terms of preference rather than in alphabetical order.

One additional perk that Samsung introduced is the multi-window support allowing the user to simultaneously run two apps on the screen.  Already seen on the Galaxy Note 2, the respective feature is beneficial for those who want to check their email, surf the web or view a You Tube clip at the same time.  With the Galaxy S3's fairly large screen, its users can clearly utilize the perk.

In terms of its specs, the Samsung Galaxy S3 sports an admirable display and a massive amount of power.  The product was also the best-selling handset in the third quarter of 2012.