With the Galaxy S8’s release getting closer by the day, it’s no surprise new rumours are appearing constantly. Among the most recent rumours is the fact the device may feature autofocus for the new front-facing camera and, thanks to a new trademark, it appears this rumor could hold some wait. According to a recent trademark filing with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the South Korean company has trademarked the term “Smart AF,” which it says will be associated with anything from smartphones, tablets and auto-focus photographic cameras for smartphones. This association hints strongly at the inclusion of a new kind of autofocus, though, due to the fact that the rear cameras have included autofocus for many years, the likelihood that the trademark is related to the selfie sensor is quite high, especially considering it’s been rumoured for some time now that Samsung would include the feature in the front-facing camera. If Samsung does end up including the feature in the front camera, it will surely help the company differentiate the Galaxy S8 from the competition, along with the help of all the other rumoured features.
Speaking of rumoured features, aside from the possible “Smart AF” feature, the company is reported to have scrapped the dual-camera setup it was rumoured to be planning. To make up for this, though, the Galaxy S8 is rumoured to include a set of stereo speakers that will feature the bonus of Harman branding, similar to what HTC did with its phone speakers a number of years ago with the Beats Audio brand. As well as this, the company is expected to launch two devices, as it has since 2015, though both models will be Edge variants and may include larger 5.7 and 6.2-inch displays. The increase in screen size is rumoured to be due to the removal of the physical and capacitive navigation buttons in favour of on-screen ones, along with a fingerprint scanner that is integrated underneath the display, allowing the overall footprint of the devices to stay the same while accommodating a larger display.
As with any rumours, these should all be taken with a grain of salt, though, with the Galaxy S8’s reveal tipped for MWC 2017 in February, customers will not have to wait much longer to see the final product.