Foldable smartphones? In-display fingerprint sensors? Artificial intelligence? CES and the Mobile World Congress are just around the corner, and we’re heading in 2018 looking at an exciting year for new smartphones.
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Remember the golden age of flip phones? Well, with the next iteration of the Galaxy Note, Samsung may be returning to it. The rumoured Galaxy Note X will supposedly have a dual screen that can fold out to reveal a 7 inch screen. An 8 inch tablet that would then fold into a 5 inch phone has also been rumoured. Clearly, this is the next evolution of the smartphone.
Apple took some criticism with the iPhone X last fall when it eliminated the fingerprint sensor for facial recognition. Apple at the time said that was due to the lack of a physical home-button. Samsung and Google solved this problem by including the fingerprint button on the back of their respective devices, but in 2018 it looks like we’ll do away with those. Both Apple and Samsung, among others, are expected to include in-display fingerprint sensors in their 2018 smartphone lineups.
Android Oreo 8.1 went live in December, and with Android Oreo expected to launch in the majority of Android smartphones in 2018, developers will be able to take advantage of the new neural networking APIs included that will lead to more apps with AI features. Plus, Qualcomm’s next Snapdragon 845 is rumoured to include some sort of AI hardware, so all signs point to AI in smartphones as early as this year.
And 2018 just started, but expect to see some of these new smartphone releases as soon as next week. Sony is rumoured to be releasing its newly designed Xperia phone as early as CES, and we may see the Samsung Galaxy S9 earlier that normal, with a rumoured release at Mobile World Congress in late February.
That’s what will trend this year. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. This episode is brought to you by SAS, the world leader in advanced analytics and Official Analytics Partner of the Canadian Olympic Team.
