Samsung is relishing the early release of Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge as the two handsets continue outselling the Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus by huge margins in the U.S. market.
The South Korean tech giant is banking on the upcoming release of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to continue this success streak, but rumors of next year’s Galaxy S8 have already begun taking shape.
According to a report from Patently Mobile, Samsung has filed a patent for a multi-camera iris recognition system. With the Galaxy Note 7 set for an August 2 launch date, this is a bit too late for the system to appear on this phablet. Having said this, the only possible device that might carry an iris recognition system could the 2017 Samsung Galaxy S8. If the report is to be believed, we might be coming up against a Galaxy S8 that features a triple camera system.
In the patent, Samsung details that the first lens may come with two lenses responsible for narrow-angle captures of images around the user’s eyes. As for the second lens, Samsung says that it will pack a wide-angle lens that is meant for capturing the image of the user’s face. While the first lens might be a zoom lens, the second could probably be a short focal length lens. What this means is that in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 units, the camera system will be able to recognize the user’s iris with the use of three lenses. In so doing, the system will end up scanning the user’s iris, structure of the eye as well as their face before getting an accurate read.
In case the system fails to recognize the user, a voice message will show up with instructions on how to retry the entire process. Unlike the previous cases where Samsung has placed fingerprint scanners in the Home button, the report also claims that the 2017 Galaxy S8 might come with this feature on its back.
As for the release date, we expect to see the Galaxy S8 go live during the MWC 2017, just like this year’s version, with the official availability set for a few weeks later. Keep in mind that all these are based on rumors, so better take everything with some level of skepticism.