Samsung has seen almost unprecedented success in recent years with its Galaxy range of handsets, becoming one of the most dominant forces the smartphone world has ever seen. The Korean firm’s flagship Galaxy S4 sold 10 million units in less than a month, following on from the device’s high profile unveiling event in New York.
The launch of the flagship brought with it some interesting innovations, changing the way users interact with smartphones. The Galaxy S4 can be controlled with a variety of hands-free, swiping gestures that operate features such as Air Gesture, which allows you to move through photo galleries without tapping the display.
So, having climbed to the very top of its game and introduced a number of world-beating innovations, where will Samsung go from here and what developments will it bring with its future handsets?
What will the future hold?
One rumour which has recently emerged points towards a possible feature which may be included in the firm’s upcoming devices. Images showing fingerprint icons have been found in the depths of the Galaxy S III’s software, suggesting that Samsung may have been experimenting with technology that increases smartphone security for some time.
Fingerprint scanners have been used on smartphones before, as Motorola did with the Atrix, but have not become commonplace. However, the discovery of these images suggests a definite possibility that a not-too-distant Samsung device will make use of such an innovation.
Another widely-discussed feature which the tech giant may soon make use of is a flexible display. Several of these have been demonstrated by a variety of firms of late and the Korean manufacturer has already shown off its own offering, a plastic OLED screen that can be bent into a startling curve.
Although it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see bendy smartphones (after all, while the screen can be flexible a handset’s other components are not), flexible displays could be very useful in making mobile devices more durable. Such a screen could bend to absorb an impact rather than scratching or cracking.
Toughening up
As far as making handsets tougher goes, Samsung is already said to be making moves in this area. While not yet official, rumours have emerged about the Galaxy Active, a more durable version of the Galaxy S4.
Featuring water and dust proofing that is similar to that seen on the Sony Xperia Z, the handset is also reported to have a more rugged casing that will make it better suited to outdoor use. Should the Galaxy Active emerge and prove successful there is every possibility that the firm will issue even more, toughened versions of its leading handsets in the future.
Lastly, we could see a whole new mobile platform emerging from Samsung and becoming a significant player. Tizen is a proprietary smartphone operating system that is being developed by the firm to run on low-end handsets, but it’s been suggested that the software could develop into a high-end operating system. If Samsung had its own software to run on its leading mobile devices this could end the company’s reliance on Google’s Android, increasing the control it has over what people do with its handsets.
Whatever happens, Samsung is likely to go from strength to strength for some time, with the firm’s recent success meaning that it has plenty of room for experimentation. Also, the firm’s enormous marketing clout will be very handy when trying to convince people to buy new devices with unusual features. Many trust Samsung as a big, reliable name, which leaves it in a good position to innovate in the future.
 Written by Chris Helbsy of Dialaphone, the go to place for all the latest smartphone deals.
