Samsung Working On A ‘More Sophisticated Signature Solution’ After Note 8 Launch

Samsung Electronics is looking to come up with an advanced digital signature technology following the launch of its new flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 8. The South Korea giant plans to do so with Japanese company Wacom by its side.

Apple’s biggest rival has announced its plan of entering the digital signature market with its Japan-based stylus development partner, Wacom. The partners intend to do so with the use of the Note series’ S-Pen stylus, which has proven to be very useful in many ways apart from sketching and note-taking.

“We are currently working on a more sophisticated digital signature solution with several partners,” Samsung’s S-Pen development chief Chae Won-sik said during a news conference after the launch of the Galaxy Note 8. Chae Won-sik believes the signature stylus of the Note series will open new doors when it is used with Samsung’s other authentication solutions like Samsung Pay, Knox as well as the iris and fingerprint recognition technologies, The Investor has learned.

Wacom’s technology solution business unit executive vice president Nobutaka Ide also alluded to the same thing when he stated that future functions for S-Pen will focus on heightened security. “Wacom has studied EMR (electron magnetic resonance) technology over the past seven years along with Samsung,” Ide said. “In order to further upgrade the technology, we will focus on the Note phone only.” This means Wacom would not be adopting the S-Pen’s new technologies in other smartphones.

Samsung and Wacom have been working together on S-Pen since 2011, according to The Android Soul. It is not surprising why Samsung chose to collaborate with Wacom though, knowing that the Japanese company is the inventor of the world’s first phablet stylus back in 1987. It is also considered as the market leader in the digital pen and ink market. At present, the Note series’ S-Pen stylus accounts for almost 50 percent of Wacom’s business unit’s total sales.

Meanwhile, apart from announcing its plan for S-Pen, Samsung has clarified certain issues about its Galaxy Note 7 successor. During the Q&A of the Note 8’s launch event, Samsung Electronics mobile chief Koh Dong-jin addressed the commotion that the smaller battery of the company’s new phablet is causing. Apparently, many consumers not at all pleased by the fact that the Note 8, which has a 6.3-inch display, has a smaller battery capacity than the ill-fated Note 7, which debuted with a 5.7-inch screen.

According to Koh, the reason why there’s battery size reduction was because they were capable of doing so thanks to the 10-nanometer processor of the handset. He maintained that the new chip is designed to boost the phone’s power efficiency by 30 percent. In addition, he assured everyone that the new phone is safe and that its battery will retain 95 percent of its capacity even after two years.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 8 on Aug. 23. Preorders for the device opened the day after. It is scheduled to officially hit the market on Sept. 15.