Samsung is reportedly going to include a feature that's similar to Apple's Live Photos to the upcoming Galaxy S7.
For those who don't know what it is, Live Photos allows users to make a sort of "upgraded" version of GIF files with sound, which is comparable with Vine videos. It captures 1.5 seconds of imagery before and after a photo is taken, providing context for the image.
The Cupertino brand introduced the feature back in September 2015, but it wasn't actually an innovation then. HTC developed Zoe Capture way before Apple did, where the software delivers the same offerings. The technology only gained traction recently because... well, it's Apple.
The news about Samsung taking cues from Apple came from an insider source of Android Geeks who says that the South Korea-based company is working on the feature to launch with the Galaxy S7.
Regarding the name, the source says that Samsung is still thinking about it, as the team behind the feature purportedly said it could be called Timeless Photo or Vivid Photo, which is an amalgamation of "vivid memory" and "photo."
The information supplier also notes that there's a slim chance it could roll out later this year via a software update despite the company's plans to launch it along with the Galaxy S7. If this holds true, it could be a real treat.
He also continues to mention that Samsung is opting out of sound capture so that the photos will be easily sharable on social media websites that support GIF files such as Facebook. In the case of Live Photos, the feature needs extra support from websites to accommodate its images because of their sounds.
The Galaxy S7 is also expected to be fitted with a pressure-sensitive screen just like 3D Touch, but whether or not Samsung is taking pages out of Apple's playbook is not the point here.
Considering the purported hardware specifications of the Galaxy S7, the smartphone easily became one of the most anticipated devices of the year. To mention a few eye-catching components, it's said to sport the home-built Exynos 8890 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 along with 4 GB worth of RAM plus the much-coveted microSD card slot.
As usual, without an official word yet, it's best to take the news with the proverbial grain of salt.
At any rate, it's safe to assume that many Samsung device owners will welcome the Timeless Photo or Vivid Photo feature with open arms.
