Samsung and Apple: Wait for the 8

Eight isn’t just a number to either Samsung or Apple in the coming year. So much is riding on whatever these two tech giants are going to launch — less for customers and more the companies themselves.

By the time the first quarter of 2017 is up, Samsung will need to have gotten well past the nightmare of the Note 7 and dimmed public memory all those explosions that have associated themselves with its smartphones in general by bringing out a strongly compelling Galaxy S8 flagship. And that, after thoroughly and contritely explaining why exactly the Note 7 and a few S7’s went around catching fire. The Note 7 wasn’t the only mess Samsung has been in as some political problems for the company have surfaced back home in Korea, further denting the company’s reputation. That S8 had better be good.

On the other side of the pond, next year is the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, though the iPhone 7s have been selling, Apple has recently seen its profit drop for the first time in 15 years against the backdrop of muttering about the company having lost its innovative edge post-Steve Jobs. The past many iPhones have seen no major change, specially in design and even the software has been all about refinements. Loyalists have been asking how much better can one make a perfect phone and insisting one wait for the 8 because Apple is saving its best for the anniversary release.

Now, according to Gartner analysts, less than one in three smartphone sales are either a Samsung or an Apple device. The Chinese brigade has marched in and snatched territory from both these giants, specially in China, where it matters because of the size of the market. That’s why so much is at stake with the next set of flagships, coincidentally (or not) an 8 for both companies. Launch time is still far off, but rumours and leaks and flying out thick and fast from various sources. Sadly, by the time the new phones are launched, there’ll be little surprise left.

Often, Samsung launches its flagships at the Mobile World Congress, sometime in February each year. This time the buzz is that there will be a delay, perhaps up to April, of the launch event. This is rumoured to be because of Samsung’s wanting to be extra careful testing the S8 and whatever variants it comes with. It’s not hard to guess that extremely thorough testing is needed this time since even a single instance of an explosion or fire, even if unreleased to what happened with the Note 7, could be disastrous for Samsung.

It’s been said that as many as five flagships will launch next year, though the more common reports say there will be a 5.1-inch S8 and a big 6.2-inch S8-something to appeal to Note users. The displays will be 4K for use with virtual reality, pressure sensitive to use something like Apple's 3D Touch, and curved on both sides, going edge to edge. One bit of news, confirmed by Samsung, is that the new flagships will have a new virtual assistant, Bixby, after Samsung’s acquisition of Viv Labs, which makes this technology. There will obviously be a bump up in hardware specs and the technologies that Samsung put into place on the S7, but the odd thing is that it’s been rumoured that the Samsung flagships will have a round home button like Apple, a dual camera setup, and no 3.5mm headphone jack.

The one really interesting rumour is that Samsung could finally be launching a foldable phone — which could be a nice novelty at best.

Apple can’t let another cycle go by without a change to the way the iPhone looks. The event is far off in September of next year, but that isn’t stopping almost daily bits of news on what has leaked or is rumoured about upcoming features from supply chain and other sources. There will be two versions of the iPhone 8 again, perhaps leaving behind the 4.7-inch size. One rumour has it that there will be three sizes of the iPhone 8. This time the devices – or just one of them – will be all glass, back and front, as flat and one-piece as possible. The display will be OLED, like the ones used in Samsung phones with vivid contrasting colours, and will be higher res. It will also be edge to edge and curved, it is thought. The overly broad bezels on the top and bottom of the current iPhone which come under much criticism, will be minimised.

The Home button will be a virtual one, under the glass, not a physical one sticking out over the flat body of the phone.

Apple may incorporate a light splitter into the camera, allowing it to take even better shots in low light and support for augmented reality. Wireless charging, a feature missing on the iPhone but present on Android flagships, will be supported this time.

That’s all known at this time, but none of it sounds specially innovative. In fact, with each putting in missing features from the other, one can but wonder how similar the 8s could turn out to be — a thought that would make most customers shudder.