Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge Price & Release Date: Is This the Smartphone's Biggest Spec Upgrade? [Rumors]
Samsung reportedly announced a new sensor that will give way to smaller and thinner smartphones without sacrificing quality.
According to Forbes, the tech giant has started mass production of a new version of its 16-megapixel imaging chip called ISOCELL S5K3P3, which is smaller in size than the ones incorporated in the Galaxy S6 flagship mobile devices. With ISOCELL technology, each pixel is reduced from 1.12 microns down to 1.0 microns, resulting to the sensor chip becoming almost 11% smaller in height and width.
Samsung said that the resulting camera module is less than 5mm in height, which is thinner than the Galaxy S6's 6.8mm. The slimmer size allows manufacturers to "smooth out those pesky camera bumps from their designs, or perhaps to design devices with even thinner bodies while maintaining their headline 16 megapixel resolution," Forbes explained.
ISOCELL technology also reduces color crosstalk between pixels, which means that the camera sensor is more light sensitive and "effectively controls the collection of photons," giving way to higher color fidelity even in conditions when there's poor lighting, TheWeatherSpace wrote.
Kyushik Hong, Samsung's Vice President and Head of S.LSI Marketing, said that the company is the first to deliver ISOCELL technology, TheWeatherSpace added. The latest S5K3P3 sensor also provides manufacturers with a "differentiated design option," Forbes noted.
Samsung's new sensor is already available for smartphone manufacturers to use in their products, TheWeatherSpace reported.
Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge Specs
There are rumors claiming that the Galaxy S7 will sport a flexible design when it rolls out in the market.
Tech Times wrote that Samsung first dabbled into the idea at CES 2011, with the first foldable prototypes showed at CES 2013. Since then, the company has stayed quiet with the scheme, but given that Samsung plans to have curved, foldable, rollable, and unbreakable design types in their roster, a smartphone with flexibility shouldn't be too far out.
In 2014, Lee Chang-hoon, Samsung Display vice president of business strategy, said that the company is aiming to launch a foldable mobile device this year, adding that they are securing "a production capacity of between 30,000 and 40,000 flexible displays per month by the end of 2015," Tech Times added.
We previously reported from various sources that the Galaxy S7 is rumored to have a 30MP primary camera and a 10MP front-facing shooter. The handset could be equipped with a 4GB RAM and a 64-bit Exynos 3.5 GHz processor, with a choice between 32, 64, and 128GB memory storage capacities.
Christian Today wrote that the smartphone will probably come out in March 2016. Tech Times speculated that it will cost somewhere between $750 and $850.