Based on a tip from an anonymous Samsung supplier, the rumor mill is today believing that the Galaxy S8 will supposedly feature a pressure-sensitive display technology, that you and us know as 3D touch/Force touch. This isn’t exactly a new tech as it’s been around ever since Apple announced their iPhone 6s. But Huawei was the first company to beat Apple to launch a phone with 3D touch.
A force touch display that Samsung is said to plan for the Galaxy S8 would be capable of detecting various levels of pressure. Depending on the amount of pressure applied to the screen, different functions can be evoked. So it basically adds a tertiary method of input, the first two being touch and hardware buttons.
As of now, Google has already implemented a software fix to this technology into Android Nougat 7.1 which ships with their Pixel phones, and is already available to few Nexus devices as beta, but rumored to release for Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X on December 05. (The Android 7.1.1 update that is, not the force touch.)
Related: Galaxy S8 Specs | Galaxy S8 release date | Galaxy S8 Plus
Though the Pixel and Pixel XL do not feature 3D touch, the extra functionality, which includes sub menu’s before opening an app, can be obtained through a long press. As shown on the Huawei Mate S, which boasts the Force Touch, additional functionality includes zooming in on pictures. We’ll be able to see more interesting applications soon, as more third party apps start utilising this tech.
Samsung will implement this in “the near future”, according to a Samsung executive who also wished to remain anonymous. So we could expect it to feature in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8, as Samsung will try to do all it takes to reverse the damage from the Note 7.
