We are a little over a month away from the global announcement of Samsung’s 2016 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7. Even though specific details of what we may see on the device are still not clear at the moment, we’ve been constantly fed with tiny bits of information on what to expect while others like the all-but-confirmed processor are an open secret. It is now emerging that one of the standout features of the device will be a feature that stood out on a competing device, Apple’s iPhone 6S.
Live Photos, basically glorified GIFs, an exclusive feature on Apple’s latest iPhones that record 1.5 seconds (each) of video immediately before and after a photo is taken, is set to also debut on the Galaxy S7. At least going by another name: Vivid Photos.
According to Android news site Android Geeks, the feature is already under testing. Unlike the iPhone’s Live Photos, Samsung’s implementation will ignore sound capture thus making them ready for sharing across social networks that already support GIFs like Facebook and Twitter. Facebook has had to make special changes in order to allow its users to upload their “Live Photos” and Tumblr started supporting them earlier on. Still, to view Live Photos, the default photo app on the iPhone is still the best way, something Samsung hopes to avoid. Long time users of Samsung’s premium Galaxy devices may remember Sound & Shot, a feature that did something slightly different (static images accompanied by sound) but was abandoned in subsequent updates to Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.
The feature may end up being called Timeless Photo according to other reports.
If true, Samsung will be joining HTC and Apple in providing its users with such a feature even though it will do little to put out once and for all the usual accusations of copying each other that have dogged Samsung and Apple for years every time one of them unveils a new device.
Another feature that is present on the iPhone 6S and rumoured to be showing up in not just Samsung’s Galaxy S7 but also a couple of other Android flagship smartphones is a pressure-sensitive display.
Samsung is said to be releasing several versions of the Galaxy S7 (Galaxy S7 flat/ordinary model, Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge+) come late February when Mobile World Congress starts in Barcelona, Spain.
