SamCentral had recently done an APK (Android Package Kit) teardown of the newest Android Oreo beta for Samsung’s current flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 8, and discovered some very pretty interesting stuff about the Galaxy S9, which is expected to be unveiled less than a month from now, just in time for this year’s Mobile World Congress, which happens on February 26th until March 1st in the beautiful city of Barcelona in Spain. Which interesting stuff exactly? They include an Intelligent Scan feature that combines both facial recognition and iris scanning technology (as previously hinted), 3D stickers, and a shot tagging camera code.
There is nothing new about looking into the code of a beta version of an operating system in order to find some clues about upcoming high profile smartphone releases. Last year for instance, a leaked version of Apple’s iOS 11 had offered information about yet to be unveiled features of the iPhone 8 models more than a week before the devices were to be officially announced. This time around, SamCentral’s findings come to the fore just days after a render of the Galaxy S9 devices were leaked in the interwebs.
With the rumored Intelligent Scan feature, the Galaxy S9 may become the first to effectively marry facial detection tech with iris scanning software. This new form of biometric authentication process reportedly can work even in conditions with either very minimal lighting or with too bright settings. Apart from allowing users to unlock their device, the Intelligent Scan feature can also let people sign in to websites or apps.
As for the 3D stickers and shot tagging features, they should prove to be welcome new additions to the Galaxy S9’s arsenal. The talk is that the 3D stickers will take full advantage of the Galaxy S9’s dual camera set up in order to process depth information and then apply stickers as they fit. Shot tagging should facilitate the embedding of information (like location) unto images.
Adding more excitement is the news that Samsung’s own semiconductor division has published a web page that shows new phone camera sensors, which could make their way to the Galaxy S9. The South Korean tech giant may be the biggest smartphone vendor in the world, but some say it was rather late in joining in on the dual camera party. The new upcoming Galaxy S9 models should give the company a chance to do some catching up. For photography buffs, you might want to learn more by visiting the page directly.
