A new report from The New York Times claims the Samsung Galaxy S IV Android smartphone will feature eye-tracking capabilities that will enable automatic scrolling while browsing the Web. The rumor comes from a Samsung employee who has actually tried the next-gen flagship.
According to the source, the Galaxy S4 will be able to “track a user’s eyes to determine where to scroll.” Such a feature would eliminate the need to touch the screen to scroll once reaching the end of pages. Samsung already implemented a related feature called Smart Stay on its current Galaxy S III, which keeps the display active as long as the user is looking at it, but this new eye-scrolling function will take the concept to the next level.
This leak lines up with trademarks filed under the names “Eye Scroll” (No. 011510674) in Europe in January and “Samsung Eye Scroll” in the U.S. in February of 2013. Samsung’s official description reads: “Computer application software having a feature of sensing eye movements and scrolling displays of mobile devices, namely, mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers according to eye movements; digital cameras; mobile telephones; smartphones; tablet computers.” Another trademark, labeled “Eye Pause,” was also filed recently by the Korean handset-maker.
Samsung’s chief product officer, Kevin Packingham, declined to comment on the eye-tracking rumor, but he made a point to dispute the notion that the Galaxy S4′s software outshines its hardware. The Galaxy S IV is “an amazing phone,” he said.
Samsung will officially announce the Galaxy S IV on March 14 in New York.