Samsung, the number two smartphone manufacturer in the world is getting ready to release their latest mobile phone, number 7 in the Galaxy S series.
Amongst all the exciting news, the most interesting are the announcement that two attractive features which were removed from the Galaxy S series in previous models are set to make a comeback.
The Galaxy S7 is set to launch two new versions, one with a 5.1-inch screen and the second with a 5.5-inch screen, no doubt to target fans which prefer the larger iPhone Plus models.
Features of the new Galaxy S7
Some interesting new additions to the Galaxy S7 are curved screens which are water resistant, along with expandable internal memory.
Not stopping at these features alone, a hybrid auto-focusing camera technology has also been included, along with a much anticipated larger battery and water cooling functionality.
Samsung in an exciting move anticipated by both amateur and professional photographers alike is the new smartphone camera capture functionality which allows 360-degree videos or photos to be connected to headsets for VR viewing.
As quoted by Prasad Gokhale, Samsung Australia mobile vice-president. “The company regretted removing water resistance and memory card slots from its Galaxy S6 smartphones last year and only did so due to technical limitations in upgrading their bodies from plastic to metal and glass.”
Both long time fans of the Samsung Galaxy S series and the smartphone manufacturer themselves were not happy with this and had since rectified this for the upcoming S7 release.
“At that time, with technology limitations, we had to forego the IP67 (water resistance) and the memory card insert. Over the last year, we have figured out a way, a very innovative way, to bring in IP68 and also bring in the extra memory card slot.” – Prasad Gokhale, Samsung Australia mobile vice-president.
New technologies introduced
Both the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are water resistant and unlike previous generations can be fully submerged in water for up to 30 minutes each time.
The Galaxy S7 has also been fitted out with a hybrid Micro DC and SIM card port, which will allow for the devices to contain as much as 200GB of internal memory, 72GB more than the S6.
Another new feature introduced to the next generation S7 model is a new camera lens, allowing increased light to be captured by a slight drop in megapixels.
A dual pixel sensor has been included as a core component, a feature which has commonly only been seen before in dedicated digital cameras.
While previous S6 users might be disappointed to learn about the drop in megapixels, a Samsung spokesperson was quoted as saying, “The trick is now how the megapixels are used but how the auto focus happens, how does the light exposure happen. If you look at the GS7, we are delivering world’s first.”
New notifications display screen
The new mobile phone will also include a new feature known as “always on display”, allowing users of the Samsung S7 always to display the time, calendar or other pre-determined notifications.
Always in display mode works in standby mode, enabling users to enjoy increased functionality at all times, rather than the familiar black screen mode.
When it comes to size, both the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are 1mm bigger than previous versions and slightly heavier, although this is due to the waterproofing and a larger battery needing extra space.
The phones’ batteries, at 3000mAh and 3600mAh respectively, are significantly larger than their predecessors, and 1.7x times bigger than the equivalent Apple iPhone.
Samsung has not reintroduced the removable battery of the Galaxy S5 with these phones, however.
The company, which is rumoured to be delivering its new phones with Gear VR headsets, will also launch its first 360-degree camera for virtual reality content.
Samsung Gear 360 introduction
Known as the Gear 360, golf ball shaped in style and with two 15 megapixel cameras on either side, allows the Galaxy S7 user to take the point and shoot photos of 180-degree views.
Once you have captured a stunning 180-degree photo using the Gear 360, it can be connected to the Galaxy S7, allowing the footage or image to be edited and uploaded to YouTube.
It has been said that the Gear 360 camera would allow for the rapid growth in user generated virtual reality videos.
“There would be a lot of people who would be outside of the Samsung world and perhaps in other ecosystems. We are now in a position where we will ask people to reconsider, reappraise their position, not just from a device perspective but all the other technology.” – Prasad Gokhale, Samsung Australia mobile vice-president.
In Summary
Competition is fierce between Apple and Samsung, so both companies need to rely on innovation to retain users in each of their respective ecosystems.
Recent studies have shown that Samsung holds a 22 percent share of the global smartphone market, compared to Apple’s 15 percent market share.
The Samsung Galaxy range of next generation smartphones are constantly increasing in functionality and are enabling users to upload seamlessly their video and image content to the internet.
Social media is a large part of people’s lives these days, allowing the integration of new tech such as the Samsung Gear 360 into this, will allow for the increase of the Samsung user base, a plan no doubt hatched by Samsung corporate to try and wrestle market share away from Apple.