Here at Android Community, we’re big fans of Samsung’s Galaxy S II – we liked it enough to name it our favorite Android device of 2011, over such worthy contenders as the Galaxy Nexus and the Transformer Prime. Apparently we aren’t alone: Samsung announced that they’ve shipped a whopping 20 million Galaxy S II phones since the international launch in May, matching the sales of the original Galaxy S so far for a combined total of 40 million. With around 300 million Android devices in the wild, that makes the Galaxy S family easily the most popular section of Android devices on the planet.

And it is a family: just in the United States, there’s three variants for three major carriers, plus a new U.S. Cellular version and the Galaxy S II Skyrocket on AT&T. Internationally you’ve got the standard version on both HSPA+ and CDMA, an LTE version, a 720p HD version, the “X” variant that has a slightly larger 4.5-inch screen… and all of that doesn’t even include the myriad of different colors, including pink. The prize for the worst branding goes to The Now Network, who christened their version the “Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch“, a title that must have frustrated TV announcers to no end.

Of course Android keeps marching forward, and the Galaxy S III is the subject of much rumor and speculation. About the only thing we know for sure is that it won’t be coming to Mobile World Congress, since Sammy has scheduled their own even sometime later. A bigger, hi-definition screen, faster processor, Ice Cream Sandwich – all are likely, none are confirmed. The popular wisdom is that Samsung is waiting for a big reveal to better position the device against the iPhone 5′s launch in the fall.

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