Smartphone innovation has reached the limit…Samsung Electronics’ ‘Galaxy’ hardware continues to evolve
New technologies like the 20-mega pixel camera and octacore AP are applied in succession.
‘64-bit octacore application processor (AP)+3G•LTE A combo chip, 560 ppi (pixels per inch) high-resolution display, 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM, optical image stabilization (OIS) auto-focus (AF) 20-mega pixel camera, diamond coating metal case, and biometric security functions like fingerprint, face and iris recognition….’
This is the best Galaxy smartphone that Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer in the world, can make with its new technologies. Of course, this product is quite unlikely to be released because of costs. However, as new technologies are adopted by the new smartphones, which will be released next year, one after another, it seems that hardware innovation will be continued.
For starters, the performance of the AP, called the brain of the smartphone, will be greatly improved. It seems that Samsung Electronics will apply the octacore processor with the 64-bit bus to smartphones. Previously, Samsung Electronics designed chips according to the architecture provided by ARM, but plans to fully utilize its own architecture platform. Currently only Apple and Qualcomm entered into an architecture license agreement with ARM in the AP market and developed their own platform.
Communication modem functions like 3G and LTE are highly likely to be embedded in the AP. Recently, the System LSI Business Division of Samsung Electronics created the Modem Development Office to develop the ‘AP+modem combo chip.’ The AP+modem combo chip can enhance the efficiency of circuitry when a smartphone is designed, and it is highly cost-competitive.
Samsung Electronics is also developing a smartphone camera module equivalent to the digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera. Samsung Electronics began to develop a 20-mega pixel smartphone camera module with a view to finishing it by the second half of 2014. It seems that the company will apply the 16-mega pixel camera module to the Galaxy S5, and apply the 20-mega pixel product to the Galaxy Note 4 or Galaxy S6.
The external design is highly likely to be changed to a great extent. Samsung Electronics is recently conducting R&D to apply the diamond metal surface treatment technology to metal cases. In a word, a diamond material is coated onto the metal case surface of smartphones. If the metal case is coated with a diamond material, vulnerabilities to scratches and deformation can be redressed.
Samsung Electronics understood that, if carbon is exposed to high temperature and high pressure, a diamond-like material can be obtained. This material is turned into powder or liquid and coated onto the surface of the metal case. Samsung Electronics researchers are known to consider treating the metal surface with nano materials or turning it into paint and coating the surface with it.
Following the fingerprint recognition technology, it seems that the iris and face recognition technology will also be adopted for smartphones. As Samsung Electronics and Apple are competitively applying for patents related to biometrics recently, it is expected to be applied to smartphones as early as next year.
“Price competition is gradually intensifying in the smartphone market, but if hardware innovation stops, it will be difficult to survive,” said a securities analyst. “The key is what product we will plan with new technologies and how we will harmonize it with the brand.”
‘64-bit octacore application processor (AP)+3G•LTE A combo chip, 560 ppi (pixels per inch) high-resolution display, 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM, optical image stabilization (OIS) auto-focus (AF) 20-mega pixel camera, diamond coating metal case, and biometric security functions like fingerprint, face and iris recognition….’
This is the best Galaxy smartphone that Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer in the world, can make with its new technologies. Of course, this product is quite unlikely to be released because of costs. However, as new technologies are adopted by the new smartphones, which will be released next year, one after another, it seems that hardware innovation will be continued.
For starters, the performance of the AP, called the brain of the smartphone, will be greatly improved. It seems that Samsung Electronics will apply the octacore processor with the 64-bit bus to smartphones. Previously, Samsung Electronics designed chips according to the architecture provided by ARM, but plans to fully utilize its own architecture platform. Currently only Apple and Qualcomm entered into an architecture license agreement with ARM in the AP market and developed their own platform.
Communication modem functions like 3G and LTE are highly likely to be embedded in the AP. Recently, the System LSI Business Division of Samsung Electronics created the Modem Development Office to develop the ‘AP+modem combo chip.’ The AP+modem combo chip can enhance the efficiency of circuitry when a smartphone is designed, and it is highly cost-competitive.
Samsung Electronics is also developing a smartphone camera module equivalent to the digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera. Samsung Electronics began to develop a 20-mega pixel smartphone camera module with a view to finishing it by the second half of 2014. It seems that the company will apply the 16-mega pixel camera module to the Galaxy S5, and apply the 20-mega pixel product to the Galaxy Note 4 or Galaxy S6.
The external design is highly likely to be changed to a great extent. Samsung Electronics is recently conducting R&D to apply the diamond metal surface treatment technology to metal cases. In a word, a diamond material is coated onto the metal case surface of smartphones. If the metal case is coated with a diamond material, vulnerabilities to scratches and deformation can be redressed.
Samsung Electronics understood that, if carbon is exposed to high temperature and high pressure, a diamond-like material can be obtained. This material is turned into powder or liquid and coated onto the surface of the metal case. Samsung Electronics researchers are known to consider treating the metal surface with nano materials or turning it into paint and coating the surface with it.
Following the fingerprint recognition technology, it seems that the iris and face recognition technology will also be adopted for smartphones. As Samsung Electronics and Apple are competitively applying for patents related to biometrics recently, it is expected to be applied to smartphones as early as next year.
“Price competition is gradually intensifying in the smartphone market, but if hardware innovation stops, it will be difficult to survive,” said a securities analyst. “The key is what product we will plan with new technologies and how we will harmonize it with the brand.”
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