Android Circuit: Huge Galaxy X Leak, Samsung Galaxy S9's Hidden Feature, Nintendo's Android Surprise
and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).
Putting A Finger On The Galaxy S9 Design
Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is expected to be announced in February or March next year, but leaks and rumors around the design are already building up a picture of the South Korean flagship. One question that remains to be answered, but could be a key point in the marketing, is the location of the fingerprint reader.
The six-monthly cycle of flagship handsets from the South Korean company will shortly return to the Galaxy S smartphones, and the question of the fingerprint location will come up once more. With consumers highlighting the awkwardly placed sensor at the rear, the best solution would be to bring the sensor to the front, preferably under the screen. With that option still not satisfactory, Samsung may be looking to life Apple’s controversial solution to mounting biometric sensors.
Samsung has the option to bring its own notch to the Galaxy design in 2018.
More on the biometric sensor here on Forbes.
Folding The Flip
Evidence for Samsung’s potential folding smartphone - the presumptively named Galaxy X - continues to build. This week saw the reveal of a patent for a flip phone with a single screen that curves around the internal surfaces. Could this be the design of South Korean X? Ilse Jurrien has more.
We have discovered a series of new sketches, which Samsung Electronics submitted a few days ago to the Korean Intellectual Property Office. No device name is called, it is literal; Flexible Electronic Device.
On the sketch it is clear that the Galaxy X will be folded inwards. In fact, the Galaxy X is a modern flip phone (also known as clamshell or flip-phone), which, in addition, does not consist of one screen and one numeric keypad. No, the device gets one full-screen touchscreen display, consisting of two displays. One of these two displays is flexible, the other is not. As the device folds in, the display stays well protected when the smartphone is not in use. Because not all components are flexible, the device can be "folded" only one side.
A man looks at Google's new Pixel 2 phones at a New York City pop-up shop on October 19, 2017. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A Rash Of Pixel 2 Problems
Google is facing a number of awkward problems with its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones, especially in the display. From poor viewing angles and inaccurate colors to strange clicks and screen burn-in issues, it has not been a smooth launch. Gordon Kelly has more on each issue, starting with the screen burn-in:
Google is “actively investigating” several reports that the Pixel 2 XL display is leaving screen ‘burn in’. This happens when a particular element of the image on the display remains fixed for long periods of time - the back, home and multitasking buttons here - and a shadow of them remains after they have disappeared (such as when watching a full screen video).
I can confirm my Pixel 2 XL review unit does not suffer from burn-in, at least not yet (it tends to take weeks or months) but the fact it has already impacted devices which are only weeks old raises significant concern.
How The Pixel 2 XL Issues Damage Google
What may be more worrying in regards the Pixel 2 XL issues is the damage that it will do to Google and Android. The Pixel smartphone brand is relatively new and Google promotes it heavily. To have the second wave of handsets tapering to be fundamentally flowed could lead to some tricky issues down the line. Vlad Savov examines the issue:
">Google’s hardware business right now is in the reputation-building stage of development. We all know the Google name and the rainbow-colored logo, but we’re not used to seeing that branding on an actual piece of hardware. So this is the time when many of us will be forming opinions about how much we can trust Google with physical devices. It’s a lot like encountering the Nike logo on watches or the Adidas brand on bottles of aftershave: a familiar name in an unusual context.
My biggest worry about the Pixel 2 XL display drama is how it will filter out to the wider public. Interested Android fans will read up on the subject and they’ll know the exact issues of a blue tint when viewed off-axis, muted colors, and potential screen burn-in, and they can then make a reasonably informed decision about whether they can live with them.
Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes new Galaxy X leaks, Galaxy S9 design details, Pixel 2 XL problems, Google’s Pixel headache, Nokia 2 pricing, Android Oreo for Nokia 8, a review of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and Nintendo’s secret weapon.
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week (and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).
Putting A Finger On The Galaxy S9 Design
Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is expected to be announced in February or March next year, but leaks and rumors around the design are already building up a picture of the South Korean flagship. One question that remains to be answered, but could be a key point in the marketing, is the location of the fingerprint reader.
The six-monthly cycle of flagship handsets from the South Korean company will shortly return to the Galaxy S smartphones, and the question of the fingerprint location will come up once more. With consumers highlighting the awkwardly placed sensor at the rear, the best solution would be to bring the sensor to the front, preferably under the screen. With that option still not satisfactory, Samsung may be looking to life Apple’s controversial solution to mounting biometric sensors.
Samsung has the option to bring its own notch to the Galaxy design in 2018.
More on the biometric sensor here on Forbes.
Folding The Flip
Evidence for Samsung’s potential folding smartphone - the presumptively named Galaxy X - continues to build. This week saw the reveal of a patent for a flip phone with a single screen that curves around the internal surfaces. Could this be the design of South Korean X? Ilse Jurrien has more.
We have discovered a series of new sketches, which Samsung Electronics submitted a few days ago to the Korean Intellectual Property Office. No device name is called, it is literal; Flexible Electronic Device.
On the sketch it is clear that the Galaxy X will be folded inwards. In fact, the Galaxy X is a modern flip phone (also known as clamshell or flip-phone), which, in addition, does not consist of one screen and one numeric keypad. No, the device gets one full-screen touchscreen display, consisting of two displays. One of these two displays is flexible, the other is not. As the device folds in, the display stays well protected when the smartphone is not in use. Because not all components are flexible, the device can be "folded" only one side.
A man looks at Google's new Pixel 2 phones at a New York City pop-up shop on October 19, 2017. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A Rash Of Pixel 2 Problems
Google is facing a number of awkward problems with its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones, especially in the display. From poor viewing angles and inaccurate colors to strange clicks and screen burn-in issues, it has not been a smooth launch. Gordon Kelly has more on each issue, starting with the screen burn-in:
Google is “actively investigating” several reports that the Pixel 2 XL display is leaving screen ‘burn in’. This happens when a particular element of the image on the display remains fixed for long periods of time - the back, home and multitasking buttons here - and a shadow of them remains after they have disappeared (such as when watching a full screen video).
I can confirm my Pixel 2 XL review unit does not suffer from burn-in, at least not yet (it tends to take weeks or months) but the fact it has already impacted devices which are only weeks old raises significant concern.
How The Pixel 2 XL Issues Damage Google
What may be more worrying in regards the Pixel 2 XL issues is the damage that it will do to Google and Android. The Pixel smartphone brand is relatively new and Google promotes it heavily. To have the second wave of handsets tapering to be fundamentally flowed could lead to some tricky issues down the line. Vlad Savov examines the issue:
Google’s hardware business right now is in the reputation-building stage of development. We all know the Google name and the rainbow-colored logo, but we’re not used to seeing that branding on an actual piece of hardware. So this is the time when many of us will be forming opinions about how much we can trust Google with physical devices. It’s a lot like encountering the Nike logo on watches or the Adidas brand on bottles of aftershave: a familiar name in an unusual context.
My biggest worry about the Pixel 2 XL display drama is how it will filter out to the wider public. Interested Android fans will read up on the subject and they’ll know the exact issues of a blue tint when viewed off-axis, muted colors, and potential screen burn-in, and they can then make a reasonably informed decision about whether they can live with them.
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