14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is getting ready to begin development of the Galaxy Note 9 flagship, with a new report revealing that the project is internally codenamed “crown.”
While the South Korean firm obviously remains tight-lipped on its future devices, The Investor writes that pilot production is scheduled to start in the first quarter of the year, so leaks revealing early prototypes are expected to surface in just a couple of months.
As for the codename of the device, Samsung is reportedly calling the Note 9 “crown,” and the cited source says this in an indication pointing to the company’s ambitions for the upcoming device. Samsung is known as a company whose codenames hint to the goal of each new product, and in the case of the Note 9, this could be a sign that the firm wants to position the device as the leader of the phablet sector.
The existing Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was codenamed “Baikal,” and this itself is a hint at the edge-to-edge display that was used on the device. Baikal is one of the largest lakes in Russia and in Europe, and on the Note 8, it represents the screen which is one of the main highlights of the device.
Fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen?
Of course, it’s too early to discuss features coming to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, but one particular overly-discussed tech that could be used on the next model is a fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen.
With both Samsung and Apple said to be interested in such a feature, it’s believed the Galaxy Note 9 would be the first model boasting it, as the iPhone has completely given up on fingerprint sensors, betting instead on facial recognition.
People close to the matter said the new sensor wouldn't be ready for the Galaxy S9 coming in early 2018, so instead Samsung would launch the device with a fingerprint sensor on the back, just like on the existing model. It remains to be seen if the tech is embedded into the screen with the release of the Note 9 or Samsung decides to go the Apple way and ditch the tech entirely.