Samsung’s website possibly reveals dual-SIM Galaxy S9 for Europe

Samsung does release dual-SIM variants of its flagship smartphones but they’re only released in select markets and Europe hasn’t always been one of them. However, a support page has been spotted on Samsung Germany’s website which suggests that the dual-SIM Galaxy S9 might be launched in Europe. It’s unclear if the company will offer the dual-SIM Galaxy S9+ in Europe as well.

Dual-SIM Galaxy S9 for Europe

Samsung released the dual-SIM Galaxy S8+ in select markets by May last year and later brought it to the United Kingdom. It was also released in markets like Germany and the Netherlands by June 2017.

The company only offered a dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy S8+ and not the Galaxy S8. However, the support page that has now been spotted on Samsung Germany’s website is for a dual-SIM Galaxy S9 bearing model number SM-G960F/DS. The “DS” here denotes that this is a dual-SIM variant.

It remains to be seen if Samsung is going to offer both the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ in dual-SIM flavor or if it’s just going to be limited to the smaller model this year.

Don’t be too sure about this even though a listing has surfaced on Samsung’s own website. A similar listing was spotted on another Samsung website six months ago which suggests that the dual-SIM Galaxy Note 8 (SM-N950F/DS) would be officially released in Europe.

Samsung is going to unveil the Galaxy S9 officially on February 25. A recent report suggests that the new flagship will be released on March 16.

The post Samsung’s website possibly reveals dual-SIM Galaxy S9 for Europe appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2DFv5ld
via IFTTT

Galaxy S9 may combine Face Unlock and Iris Scanner to offer an ‘Intelligent Scan’ feature

As the official unveiling of the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ inches closer, more and more leaks are surfacing on the internet. After the alleged press renders of the upcoming devices leaked online, now a new Galaxy S9 feature called ‘Intelligent Scan’ has been outed.

APK teardown reveals a new Galaxy S9 feature

In an APK teardown of the Settings app in the latest unreleased Android Oreo beta for the Galaxy Note 8, a senior XDA member ‘mweinbach’ has found few strings relating to ‘Intelligent Scan’. Since neither the Galaxy S8 nor the Galaxy Note 8 offers any such feature currently, it is believed that the strings found in the APK teardown belong to a new feature in the Samsung Galaxy S9 series. The same XDA member has also uploaded what appears to be a Samsung help graphic for the user on how the feature works.

The brief graphic doesn’t explain much other than showing the ‘Intelligent Scan’ feature working in different lighting conditions. The feature reportedly combines face and iris scanning to improve accuracy and security even in challenging lighting conditions. It is not yet clear if this is a new authentication system altogether or an improvement to the existing Iris scan option.

The Galaxy S8 line-up already features an iris scanner for authentication. Although iris scanning is secure, it is not as quick as other authentication mechanisms already available in the market. Previous reports have suggested that the Galaxy S9 might feature a 3D sensor-equipped front camera to improve facial recognition on the handset. Perhaps this new feature will rely on the improved hardware to speed things up.

Unfortunately, there is one major drawback in manufacturer-specific authentication systems. Unlike a fingerprint reader which uses the standard Android API, Samsung-specific authentication systems have to rely on their own APIs and implementations. This means that app developers must specifically support these authentication systems to work in their apps. If the developer support for the iris scanner in the Galaxy S8 duo and the Galaxy Note 8 is an indication, it is safe to say developers are not exactly flocking to support any Samsung-specific authentication system.

The post Galaxy S9 may combine Face Unlock and Iris Scanner to offer an ‘Intelligent Scan’ feature appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2GlnIkB
via IFTTT