Samsung Galaxy S8 fires first salvo against Apple's 'iPhone 8' with 'Infinity' display, AR...

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Samsung on Wednesday confirmed a multitude of rumors by announcing its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8 -- a device with an OLED "Infinity" display and no physical home button, much like Apple's rumored "iPhone 8."

Image Credit: The Verge
Image Credit: The Verge


Two models will be available, the S8 and the S8 Plus, Samsung said at a press event in New York City. The first has a 5.8-inch, 2960-by-1440-pixel screen, while the Plus increases screen size to 6.2 inches. The two also differ in their battery capacity, with the regular S8 using a 3,000 milliamp-hour supply and the Plus a beefier 3,500.

Both phones will have 12-megapixel rear cameras with optical image stabilization and an f/1.7 aperture, for better low-light shooting. Their front-facing cameras are rated at 8 megapixels, losing stabilization, but retaining the same aperture.




The S8 line will run Android Nougat, and include USB-C and 3.5-millimeter ports, in addition to supporting wireless charging and Bluetooth 5.0 -- the latter enabling streaming to two devices simultaneously. Security includes fingerprint, iris, and face recognition.

Another centerpiece is Bixby, Samsung new AI assistant. The technology can be triggered through a dedicated physical button, and offers contextual awareness along with more direct control of apps and hardware. Via a camera app, it even offers limited augmented reality functions, suggesting Web results based on identified objects. Samsung is currently partnering with companies like Amazon and Pinterest, but not Google.

Preorders will start March 30 with a U.S. ship date on Apr. 21, Samsung said. Pricing will be set by carriers, but should typically start at $750 for the regular S8 and $850 for the Plus. Color options will include black, gray, and silver in the U.S., and gold and blue in some other markets. Another international difference is that while most countries will get a Samsung Exynos octa-core processor, U.S. buyers will get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, also octa-core.




In addition to ditching a physical home button, the S8 also appears to be preempting the "iPhone 8" through its facial scanning and augmented reality support.

Samsung may have plenty to prove with the new phone, its first flagship since the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7. The company is working to rebuild its reputation, and will likely come under extra scrutiny for any safety incidents.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 92
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member
    I still don't understand the appeal of bezel-less displays.  Your fingers are going to constantly be blocking the view of the content and possibly touching the screen.  Cases have nothing to attach to and the camera/sensors up top looked crammed in a way that is not esthetically pleasing.  In all.. I'd say this is pretty "meh".
    edited March 2017 anomealbegarcjahbladeMetriacanthosaurusthe3rdpartymacseekerFatmanmagman1979RacerhomieXsuddenly newton
  • Reply 2 of 92
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Though it remains to be seen how effective iris/facial recognition technology is for security, moving the fingerprint scanner to the rear of the phone makes sense if the former is not only reliable, but better security (all of which remains to be seen), as it encourages users to use it rather than fumble around on the back of the phone to unlock it the old way, yet still gives them the option as a failsafe.
  • Reply 3 of 92
    Yawn.
    SpamSandwichRacerhomieXwatto_cobraGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 4 of 92
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    I am waiting for the jokes on the tall phones like the iPhone 5. Nope. Won't happen.

    That said, looks like a solid handset with some really design put in. I am still wondering why the high screen DPI is needed even being Pentile.




    xzuRacerhomieXai46ravnorodom
  • Reply 5 of 92
    A solid device I must say
    KawhiUCONNking editor the grate
  • Reply 6 of 92
    All I know is I am ready for an OLED iPhone. I carry an S7 Edge for work just to have a toe in the Android world and the screen is miles better. Granted the OS is bloated, the apps are usually cheap imitations and the phone easily gets hot when being used. However, the screen is fantastic and the form factor is much better than iPhone 7+. 

    If the rumors are true, the iPhone 8/X/Edition will only have 5.15 inches of usable screen space. That would be a major bummer for those of us who really like the big screen form factor. 
    calialbegarcTlemieux72
  • Reply 7 of 92
    freeperfreeper Posts: 77member
    "In addition to ditching a physical home button, the S8 also appears to be preempting the "iPhone 8" through its facial scanning and augmented reality support."

    Please guys, tell the truth. The Galaxy Note 7 had iris scanning. Further, Android phones have had iris scanning as far back as 2015 when Qualcomm first began building the capability into their chips.

    Second, augmented reality support was built into Android thanks to Google and Qualcomm in Android 7. So thank Google's Project Tango for AR support, and Google announced Project Tango in 2014. The first device to fully support Project Tango was the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro released in 2016. And as Project Tango is supported at the hardware layer with the Qualcomm SOC, every Android phone that has the Snapdragon 835 and Android 7 will fully support AR, and also will fully support VR because Android 7 and the Snapdragon 835 support the Daydream VR platform too (although you will not hear Samsung mention that, as Samsung's Gear VR is on the competing Oculus platform). In fact, as the Snapdragon 821 also supports both Tango and Daydream, the LG G6 and the $499 Asus ZenFone AR - the best Android device for the money as the thing even has 8 GB of RAM! - also have AR and VR support.

    So please folks, stop claiming that ideas that Samsung - and a host of other Android OEMs - implemented first, and in some cases YEARS FIRST - are attempts to copy Apple. Even the physical home button ... less an attempt to copy Apple than an attempt to maximize the screen to bezel ratio. Physical home button support was never in base Android but was added by Samsung into TouchWiz. Samsung - and LG - are adopting a design similar to 2014's Sharp Aquos Crystal. So, unless Apple emulates Samsung with a curved OLED screen, the iPhone 8 will be a derivative of this guy ... which also does not have a physical home button.

    http://www.sharpusa.com/ForHome/Mobile/Models/AQUOSCRYSTAL-306SH.aspx

    KawhiUCONNmazda 3scalialbegarcdoozydozenroundaboutnowsphericgatorguy
  • Reply 8 of 92
    wonkothesanewonkothesane Posts: 1,717member
    I wonder what features the phone would have in generation 8 if there would be no iPhone. And no iPhone rumours, of course :)

    Interesting, that the marriage with google appears to be not a happy one.

    Apart from that, every time I read the name of android versions, I just feel I cannot take something serious that's called like some chocolate. 


    edited March 2017 caliRacerhomieXlolliverjbdragonirelandwatto_cobradamn_its_hot
  • Reply 9 of 92
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    No, we are not copying Apple in the naming.  We named the larger version the "Plus", because it is obvious there is no other name it could be called.  All trolls everywhere immediately began vehemently nodding their heads.
    calipatchythepirateretrogustoRacerhomieXStrangeDaysdoozydozenlolliverjbdragonpscooter63jony0
  • Reply 10 of 92
    BluntBlunt Posts: 224member
    I don't like the look of it. Terrible font by the way. Needs spacing. At least their ugly logo is moved to the back.
    doozydozenlolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 92
    BluntBlunt Posts: 224member
    freeper said:
    and the $499 Asus ZenFone AR - the best Android device for the money as the thing even has 8 GB of RAM! 


    And still iOS runs smoother with 3 GB maybe 16 GB will do the trick.
    calijkichlineStrangeDaysdoozydozenspliff monkeylolliverirelandwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 92
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Not mentioned is the 10 sec fuse. 
    macseekercaliStrangeDaysdoozydozenlolliverpscooter63irelandwatto_cobraGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 13 of 92
    That infinity display looks like it ends on all 4 corners.....
    kiltedgreendoozydozenlolliverpscooter63irelandwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 92
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    mac_128 said:
    Though it remains to be seen how effective iris/facial recognition technology is for security, moving the fingerprint scanner to the rear of the phone makes sense if the former is not only reliable, but better security (all of which remains to be seen), as it encourages users to use it rather than fumble around on the back of the phone to unlock it the old way, yet still gives them the option as a failsafe.
    Samsung said the face unlock feature is more about convenience than security. Regardless, having the fingerprint scanner on the rear is terrible. It's too close to the camera lens so I'm sure many people will be touching the camera lens by mistake. 
    Fatmanbb-15jkichlineStrangeDaysdoozydozenlolliverirelandwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 92
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    This is not a full screen touch smartphone.  Many pixels around the edges are insensitive to touch.  With more than 2 to 1 ration the screen area of the 5.8 inches S8 is not much bigger than iPhone 7 Plus.  This is a trick TV makers have been used to fool consumers for years.  
    doozydozenlolliverpscooter63iqatedoireland
  • Reply 16 of 92
    freeperfreeper Posts: 77member
    Blunt said:
    freeper said:
    and the $499 Asus ZenFone AR - the best Android device for the money as the thing even has 8 GB of RAM! 


    And still iOS runs smoother with 3 GB maybe 16 GB will do the trick.
    Arguments from 4 years ago are beneath you. No one talks about stutter and lag on Android devices anymore. Even cheap devices like the Moto G run smooth. Also, Apple's even going to 3 GB of RAM in the first place was a major concession. For years Apple claimed that the only reason why Android needed more than 1 GB of RAM (which the iPhone had as recently as the iPhone 6) and 2 CPU cores was because of bad design, lack of vertical integration and the Java JVM. Android advocates claimed that it was because Android did more ... things that Apple claimed were gimmicks that made the devices more difficult and confusing to use whereas Apple promoted simplicity. But lo and behold ... as Apple began adding features that were previously on Samsung and other Android phones starting with the iPhone 6 (meaning bigger and higher resolution screen, multi-window/multi-tasking etc.) Apple "discovered" that more cores and more RAM was needed also. So Apple is now on 3 GB of RAM, that is the same amount of RAM that the Galaxy S6 and Note 6 had.
    caliRoger_Fingassingularitydoozydozengatorguy
  • Reply 17 of 92
    I'm not sure why I would ever want a permanently rounded display edge. That looks absolutely terrible. So every photo and video will have the corners cropped out? No thanks.

    Nor do I understand why I would want the display to creep under the part of the phone that I hold with my hand.
    edited March 2017 Fatmansuddenly newtondoozydozenlolliverSpamSandwichirelandwatto_cobramike54
  • Reply 18 of 92
    They didn't have the courage to remove the headphone jack. Cowards.
    Fatmancaliretrogustohmurchisondoozydozenlolliverwatto_cobramike54GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 19 of 92
    lwiolwio Posts: 109member
    Comes with the latest Android os, which will be same os on it in 3 years.
    FatmancaliretrogustoalbegarcjkichlineStrangeDaysdoozydozenlolliverirelandwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 92
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,090member
    It's still putting lipstick on a pig.

    After watching Scamsung's announcement video, they're making the testing of the phone sound like some kind of marketing ploy to make it look like they're at the top of their game.

    The entire world is going to put Samsung under a microscope.  If their new phone farts upwind, I hope they come down crashing.

    Scam of a company.  Explosive phones, president was thrown in jail, etc... stay classy Samsung.
    ericthehalfbeeStrangeDaysdoozydozenlolliveralbegarcAkaminepscooter63iqatedoirelandwatto_cobra
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