Samsung to scrap physical home button

A Samsung Galaxy Note 7 File picture: Kim Hong-Ji

A Samsung Galaxy Note 7 File picture: Kim Hong-Ji

Published Dec 8, 2016

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Seoul  - Samsung Electronics will

create an all-screen front for the Galaxy S8 smartphones coming out next year

and scrap the physical home button, people with direct knowledge of the matter

said.

The bezel-less

displays will provide more viewing real estate while a virtual home button will

be buried in the glass in the lower section, the people said, asking not to be

identified because the details haven’t been released. The new phones will only

come with wraparound displays using organic light-emitting diode technology,

the people said.

Samsung

needs the Galaxy S8 to be a hit after suffering through the Note 7 debacle that

tarnished its brand, led to an embarrassing recall and may cost the company

more than $6 billion. The world’s biggest smartphone vendor is already under

pressure from Chinese vendors while Apple is said to be planning to adopt OLED

screens, which are thinner and use less power than liquid-crystal screens while

also offering deeper colours.

While

Samsung is targeting a March release of the S8, that could be delayed until

April, the people said. Samsung is adopting tougher testing procedures in the

wake of the Note 7 debacle that could push back the launch by about a month,

one of the people said.

Read also:  Gloom falls over Samsung

“Since the

phones have a record of burning up, it needs time for these phones to be

verified as safe. How safe the phones turn out to be is more important than any

hardware innovation,’’ said Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities

Co. “It will take about a month or two for people to actually start opening

their pockets,” he said.

Samsung

declined to comment.

Shares gain

Shares of

Samsung rose 1 percent to 1 790 000 won at the close of trade in Seoul.

For years,

manufacturers have been seeking ways to reduce the size of bezels - which frame

the screen and typically provide space for speakers, buttons and cameras -

to make smartphones smaller while increasing the size of their displays.

Samsung

isn’t the first to do away with the feature. In October, China’s Xiaomi

showed off its Mi Mix concept phone developed with designer Philippe Starck

that has a display covering 91 percent of the front.

Samsung has

built a physical home button into every previous model in the Galaxy S range.

Apple moved to a pressure-sensitive home button with the iPhone 7 that provides

a vibrating sensation when pressed instead of an actual click.

Read also:  What to do with a Samsung Note 7

Apple plans

to ship at least one iPhone using OLED next year, featuring a new look that

extends glass from the display to the device’s back and edges, a person

familiar with the plan said last month. It’s also said to plan a virtual home

button.

The changes

to Samsung’s screens will be housed in devices of a similar size to the

preceding model, the 5.1-inch S7 and 5.5-inch S7 Edge, the people said. Some of

the phones will use Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon 835 chips while others will

feature Samsung’s own Exynos processors, the people said.

Digital assistant

Samsung

also plans to introduce an upgraded digital assistant that will use voice

commands to send text messages, make phone calls and provide daily appointment

scheduling. The Suwon, South Korea-based company acquired US-based

artificial-intelligence software company Viv Labs Inc. in October and said last

month that its new S8 will come with AI-enabled features “significantly

differentiated” from those in the market. Viv was founded by the developers of

Apple’s Siri.

Read also:  Samsung kills Note 7

In the

three months ended September, Samsung reported a 17 percent slump in net income

from the impact of the Note 7 recall. The company has predicted a multibillion

dollar hit to earnings in the December and March quarters as well.

The company

is considering scrapping plans for a dual-camera on the S8 due to higher

manufacturing costs, one of the people said.

BLOOMBERG

 

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