Sony (SNE) announced the Xperia sola last March, and while the mid-range smartphone was relatively unimpressive, it included one unique feature that may have even impressed Samsung (005930). The Xperia sola was equipped with “floating touch” technology, which made the smartphone capable of, what Sony called, “magic” web browsing and allowed users to navigate the phone without physically touching the screen. According to a report from Korean site Digital Daily, Samsung may add a similar feature to its upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone.
The company is rumored be using Atmel’s newest maXTouch S chip that will allow for non-touch gesture-based navigation throughout the operating system. The technology is said to require significantly less power than similar features and is even capable of recognizing unintended touches.
Recent reports have suggested that the Galaxy S IV will be equipped with a 4.99-inch Super AMOLED full HD display, a 1.8GHz eight-core Exnoys 5 Octa processor and a 13-megapixel camera. It is also expected to include 2GB of RAM, LTE connectivity, NFC, a microSD slot, wireless charging capabilities and Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean.
Samsung will reportedly announce the smartphone at a press conference on March 15th. The Galaxy S IV is expected to then launch in Europe and Asia in April, and in North America and Australia in May or June.
