It seems smartphone maker Samsung is destined to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Huawei with its next generation Galaxy S7 device.
Expected to ship in March, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the S7 will include a pressure-sensitive screen, a high-speed charging port and an improved camera that has been tweaked to accommodate low-light situations. The device could also include a retina scanner, according to the WSJ.
With the new screen sensitivity, Samsung will be borrowing from Apple’s Force Touch technology, which was released on the iPhone 6s this fall. On the iPhone, Force Touch technology allows users to “peek” and “pop” into different levels of their display without having to fully open their apps.
But Samsung wouldn’t be the first device maker to follow up on Force Touch.
Huawei was the first to imitate the capability in the Mate S smartphone with the introduction of its own Force Touch, Fingerprint sense and Knuckle Sense technology. The new screen features in the Mate S, which was unveiled in September, allow the phone to recognize preprogrammed and custom touch shortcuts, such as drawing a “c” on the screen to activate the camera.
According to WSJ, the S7 may also utilize the USB Type-C port, which would allow users to get a full charge in less than a half hour. Like the Force Touch feature, that technology is already on the market through smartphone manufacturers like Huawei and LG, WSJ said.
Like the S6, the Galaxy S7 will also be released in a curved screen version called the S7 Edge, WSJ reported.
The device is expected to be announced at Mobile World Congress in February.