How to have my stock GS3 dialer initial screen be Recent instead of Keypad
You can use an app called xshortcut (in Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ex.chinyang.android.xshortcut )

Follow the following steps: 


Install xshortcut 2.0.x 
Open xshortcut's Editor. 
Switch to Component page
Use the following data to create the shortcut you want.

Component Package: com.android.contacts

Component Class: com.android.contacts.activities.DialtactsActivity

MIME Type: vnd.android.cursor.dir/calls