Samsung has just launched the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. They are incredibly beautiful and powerful smartphones. The S9 and S9 Plus are expected to do well in the market, but Samsung’s other flagship – the Galaxy Note line – has its own cult following. A large number of customers are eagerly waiting for the Galaxy Note 9. Now Samsung has filed the Galaxy Note 9 trademark in Colombia, reports Dutch publication GalaxyClub.
The Galaxy Note 9 trademark filing confirms that Samsung is not going to change the Note series’ moniker, at least not this year. There have been rumors that the Korean electronics giant could change the naming patterns for the Galaxy S and Note series from 2019. The Galaxy Note 9 trademark was filed on March 12, several months ahead of the phone’s official announcement. Samsung is expected to trademark the name with the USPTO closer to launch.
The trademark filing for “Note9” associates the term with consumer electronics and smartphones. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 trademark application says the term could also be used in the context of chargers, batteries, and type covers for smartphones and tablets.
The rumor mill has been flooded with reports since last year that Note 9 would be Samsung’s first flagship smartphone to feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. Yes, Samsung has been working on the technology for years. But it’s not going to happen, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The analyst says Samsung won’t be able to introduce the optical fingerprint sensor before 2019 at the earliest.
According to Kuo, the Korean company is still facing “technological difficulties” with the in-display fingerprint sensor. Samsung is yet to resolve issues with accuracy, speed, and yield rates. Different environments and screen protectors were also affecting its accuracy rate. Samsung has tested both the optical and ultrasonic solutions, but neither has been able to meet its standards. It means the Galaxy Note 9 would retain the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, albeit in a more ergonomic location.
DJ Koh said during a Q&A session at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) that the company would roll out an upgraded Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy Note 9. However, it’s unclear whether Bixby 2.0 will be released simultaneously in South Korea and international markets or it will debut in Korea first before being made available in other markets. Samsung is currently testing the beta version of the upgraded Bixby with more than 800 partners worldwide.
According to Samsung, Bixby 2.0 will be a “bold reinvention” of its proprietary digital assistant. The Galaxy Note 9 would have a dedicated button to trigger the voice assistant. Samsung executives told media at the MWC that Bixby 2.0 would be able to recognize individual voices. If there are more than one registered users, it will give personalized answers to each of them. Samsung is also planning to do away with the “Hi, Bixby” trigger before commands to make way for a more natural communication between the device and the user.
The Galaxy Note 9 is rumored to sport the same 6.3-inch Super AMOLED Infinity display as the Note 8. It would also offer the brightness and cover glass improvements that we saw in the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. The Note 9 will likely be powered by the Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 chips used in the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. The Note 9 was recently spotted on the HTML5Test browsing benchmark site. It scored 522 out of 555, beating the Galaxy Note 8’s 488 points. It means the device would offer an incredibly fast browsing experience.
The Note 9 should run Android Oreo out of the box, meaning it would support Google’s Project Treble that facilitates faster software updates. The handset should pack 6GB RAM and a dual camera system. The rear camera should have variable apertures of f/1.5 and f/2.4 similar to the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. The camera app on the Galaxy S9 changes the apertures automatically depending on lighting conditions. The f/1.5 aperture comes into effect in low-light conditions while the f/2.4 takes the lead in daylight conditions.
The Galaxy Note 9 should also feature the AR Emoji and super-slo-mo features. Other rumored features include wireless charging, an IP68 rating for water-resistance, and the 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung executives have also indicated that the S Pen stylus would get a major upgrade with the Galaxy Note 9 later this year.
