Galaxy Note 4 Rumors: Specs to Include Ultrasound Powered S Pen

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Samsung might be making the switch on the Galaxy Note 4 from digitizer to ultrasound technology for its S Pen.

A new patent filed by the company points to Samsung ditching a display embedded digitizer and brining in an ultrasound stylus. This could make the device thinner overall as it would reduce the size of the screen. This same technology was used in a device made by Qualcomm called the Ultra Sound Note Pad. It launched earlier this year and it has the ability to pick up a stylus movement without it even touching the screen.

The Galaxy Note 4 is expected to feature the same Snapdragon 805 chip as that device. This makes the probability even greater for Samsung to bring in Ultrasound.

The Note 4 might also feature a retina scanner when it launches, according to a recent post by Samsung. The company put up a teaser of a phablet like device which could be the Note 4 on its ExynosTwitter account last week and hints at it coming with some kind of Eye scanner.

"Security can be improved using features unique to us," wrote the company. "That's what we envision. What would you use?"

The tag line listed in the top of the teaser reads "Unlock the Future." This points to the scanner being the main tool used to unlock the phone. Samsung also has a track record with adding new features to its devices related to the eye as it released the Smart Screen scrolling and pausing on the Galaxy S4 last year.

The Galaxy Note 4 is expected to launch sometime in the fall of this year. It will join the Galaxy S5 for Samsung's 2014 line-up and will compete with Apple's rumored larger iPhone model.