
Samsung has reportedly been taking a few design cues from the Apple iPhone such as the iPhone's shape and its use of a fingerprint sensor. According to a report from Phone Arena, the Samsung Galaxy S7 may also be implementing another iPhone feature: the 3D Touch.
The information was first leaked via Chinese social media site Weibo user I ICE Universe. According to the leak, the touch sensitive technology will not be developed in house the way Apple developed 3D Touch and instead will be using the ClearForce technology handled by a separate company known as Synaptics.
ClearForce allows for different scrolling speeds, different gaming controls, new ways of locking and unlocking the device and more, all depending on how much force is applied on the touch screen. As with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, there will be different results for light taps and for hard presses.
However, the Galaxy S7 won't be the first device to utilize Synaptics' ClearForce technology. The upcoming upgrade to the Huawei Mate S phablet will also utilize the ClearForce touch sensitivity feature, although there is no confirmation whether the Mate S will release before the Galaxy S7 does.
Because the Galaxy S7 is reportedly set to release in Q1 2016, the choice to adapt the ClearForce technology instead of developing their own in-house touch sensitivity technology would make sense. If Samsung opted to make their own, they would either have to release the Galaxy S7 without touch sensitivity or further delay it to the middle of 2016.
By choosing to go with ClearForce, Samsung will be able to keep their proposed release window for the Samsung Galaxy S7.
As for the phone's supposed release date, a report from iDigital Times states it is expected to be unveiled in January 2016 and will officially launch by February. However, there are also speculations that the phone will not release until April 2016.