Samsung's new Galaxy Note 7 largely incremental, except for iris scanner
Samsung on Tuesday took the wraps off of its Galaxy Note 7 phablet, featuring identical internals to the company's Galaxy S7 smartphone, with the exception of a new iris scanner -- a feature rumored to make an appearance in next year's iPhone [updated].
The U.S. Galaxy Note 7 is a 5.7-inch device with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, and is powered by the Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, with 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU. The international model will have a different processor.
Default storage is 64 gigabytes, with MicroSD card expansion possible, up to 256 gigabytes.
The rear shooter is a 12-megapixel "DualPixel" camera, the same as in the Galaxy S7. A standard headphone jack is included, as is a USB Type C port.
Samsung has also made improvements to the smart pen, with waterproofing and a change to the tip of the stylus to better mimic a ballpoint pen.
The highlight feature of the device is further biometric identification beyond just a fingerprint detector, with the inclusion of an iris sensor through the 5-megapixel front-shooting camera. Beside just device unlocking, Samsung has implemented a secure folder in Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow" allowing users to segregate applications and documents beyond just passcode security.
While not yet fully implemented in the operating system, Samsung's iris scan technology will ultimately be used for Samsung Pay authentication.
Samsung has protected the device to IP68 standards, meaning that the phone is sealed against dust intrusion, as well as protected from immersion in water to a depth of 1.5 meters or submersion for up to 30 minutes.
Update: The Galaxy Note 7 weighs 169 grams. Samsung's initial press release stated a different weight, and this story has since been corrected with the accurate weight.
In comparison, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s weighs 143 grams, with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s plus coming in at 192 grams. An iPad mini with a 7.9-inch screen weighs 304 grams.
Rumors have suggested Apple could introduce an iris scanner to next year's iPhone revamp. The 2017 revision, potentially commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone, is said to feature an all-glass chassis with components such as a Touch ID sensor, and front-facing camera which would be used for an iris scanner, obscured underneath an OLED display.
Other reports, however, have suggested Apple may not roll out iris scanning technology in the iPhone until 2018.
The Galaxy Note 7, meanwhile, will ship this month, on August 19.
Apple is expected to unveil this year's iPhone upgrade a few weeks later, in September. Reports have suggested that preorders could begin on Sept. 9, ahead of a launch later in the month.
The U.S. Galaxy Note 7 is a 5.7-inch device with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, and is powered by the Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, with 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU. The international model will have a different processor.
Default storage is 64 gigabytes, with MicroSD card expansion possible, up to 256 gigabytes.
The rear shooter is a 12-megapixel "DualPixel" camera, the same as in the Galaxy S7. A standard headphone jack is included, as is a USB Type C port.
Samsung has also made improvements to the smart pen, with waterproofing and a change to the tip of the stylus to better mimic a ballpoint pen.
The highlight feature of the device is further biometric identification beyond just a fingerprint detector, with the inclusion of an iris sensor through the 5-megapixel front-shooting camera. Beside just device unlocking, Samsung has implemented a secure folder in Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow" allowing users to segregate applications and documents beyond just passcode security.
While not yet fully implemented in the operating system, Samsung's iris scan technology will ultimately be used for Samsung Pay authentication.
Samsung has protected the device to IP68 standards, meaning that the phone is sealed against dust intrusion, as well as protected from immersion in water to a depth of 1.5 meters or submersion for up to 30 minutes.
Update: The Galaxy Note 7 weighs 169 grams. Samsung's initial press release stated a different weight, and this story has since been corrected with the accurate weight.
In comparison, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s weighs 143 grams, with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s plus coming in at 192 grams. An iPad mini with a 7.9-inch screen weighs 304 grams.
Rumors have suggested Apple could introduce an iris scanner to next year's iPhone revamp. The 2017 revision, potentially commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone, is said to feature an all-glass chassis with components such as a Touch ID sensor, and front-facing camera which would be used for an iris scanner, obscured underneath an OLED display.
Other reports, however, have suggested Apple may not roll out iris scanning technology in the iPhone until 2018.
The Galaxy Note 7, meanwhile, will ship this month, on August 19.
Apple is expected to unveil this year's iPhone upgrade a few weeks later, in September. Reports have suggested that preorders could begin on Sept. 9, ahead of a launch later in the month.
Comments
I called it on the secure folder, though I made a joke of it implying that you can put your super-secret stuff in an Iris unlocked portion of your phone.
I can see it now, watching some idiot holding the phone camera up to your eye to unlock it an pay. Yeah it is going to pure entertainment in the check out lines.
Just last week I had to wait as some Android user try to go through all the steps to pull up his frequent buyer card and get the cashier to scan it then going through the steps to pay, it was an ordeal to say the least. Then I walk up popup apple wallet and scanned my card, then paid with my watch in a matter of a few seconds. People just do not really know how easy Apple made this process. People are still amazed how quickly I do things with the phone and watch.
As for this so called "iris scanner", it is most likely another cheap Samsung gimmick that won't function properly, and the world will have to wait until Apple does it properly, just like with everything else.
Maybe I'll be the guy who makes a dumbass out of themselves, when trying to use it for the first time.
I do have a few cards registered with Apple Pay, but the stores that I frequent most often, like my neighborhood grocery store, does not do Apple Pay I believe.
Maybe I'll try it just for fun, the next time I happen to walk by a McDonalds or something.
The process went something like this, pull the phone out, turn it on, unlock the phone, then proceed to find the correct app, then sorting through the app to find the correct loyalty card, hand it to cashier which had no idea what he was trying to do, tried scanning it with barcode laser scanner then realize that will not work, so used the hand held photo scan to read the bar code on the phone screen. Hands the phone back to the person, they put the phone back in the pocket. Cashier complete transaction, person pull phone out of pocket, turns it on, unlook the phone again locate payment app, (not sure if they were using a Samsung or what it had a case so I could not tell) then proceed to get the reader to read the phone.
Me on the other hand, turn on phone it open to apple wallet, can pulled up loyal card hand it to cashier (this time the cashier knew exactly what to do, thanks to the guy in front of me) gave me back the phone, put it in my pocket, cashier completes transaction, I double click the home button on the watch and paid with my credit card. Done no drama.
I agree most of it has to do with the user, but that has been my experience most Android users really do not know how to use these apps and they do not work all that seamlessly.
All NFC payment's are great as I've used them all and work the same. There are still some major growing pains and it'll take a while before NFC payment's get mass adoption. Sit down restaurants being the last to get it.
BTW, you have the weight of the N7 listed as 345 grams, where It should be at 169. Big difference there.
Poor guy, can't afford iPhone so you settled for a knockoff. Tough. The biggest laugh for me is how Sammy claims it works just like a stripe and you hold the iKnockoff up to the terminal, yet they wanna add iris scanning? What a clusterf*** and must look silly for knockoff users. Imagine?
Apple wasn't the first to include a fingerprint reader on their phones, but they were the only ones to get it right. All fingerprint readers before that point were garbage, before Apple came along and did it right.
If I were in Vegas, and if I were able to wager on this Samsung Iris scanner, I'd put my money against it, since all evidence and past history tells me that it's most likely a joke.
I wonder if it is anything like the US Govt's Secure Social Security Lockbox that protects all the funds collected from your paychecks -- so that when you retire ...