Pressure-sensitive displays are practically essential for new flagships nowadays, so it’s not at all surprising to hear that Samsung will be adding the technology to the Galaxy S7, but what is surprising is the rumor that the company might add an iris scanner to the smartphone as well. Iris scanners are nothing new, even for Samsung, but the technology hasn’t caught on in nearly the same way fingerprint scanning has, which is why most companies haven’t felt the need to equip an iris scanner on their smartphones. It’s important to note that this is only a rumor, and the rumor only claims that there might be an iris scanner on one of the Galaxy S7 versions, of which there are expected to be as many as four.
Samsung Electronics Co. will add a pressure-sensitive display and a new high-speed charging port to its coming line of flagship smartphones slated to be launched in March, according to people familiar with the matter. The South Korean technology company is also considering adding a retina scanner to some versions of the flagship device, though with three months to go, these people said that features could change. The improvements to the new Galaxy S7 smartphone, as the new device will be called, aren’t a major departure from its predecessor, the Galaxy S6. Like this year’s flagship device, the new smartphone will be offered alongside a premium curved-screen version, called the Galaxy S7 Edge, the people said. A spokesman for Samsung declined to comment. The success of the new phone will be an early test for Samsung’s new mobile chief, D.J. Koh, whom Samsung recently promoted in hopes that new leadership can revive the fortunes of the world’s biggest smartphone maker after two years of disappointing sales. As part of a broader annual reshuffle at Samsung earlier this month, Mr. Koh, Samsung’s former head of mobile research and development, took over from longtime mobile chief J.K. Shin, and will now oversee mobile R&D, product planning, design, manufacturing and sales and marketing.
