Samsung Galaxy S8 release date news, specs rumors: Galaxy S8's hottest new feature may have just been revealed

Xiaomi's bezel-less smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi Mixxiaomi-mi.com

Samsung has recently been concentrating most of their efforts in trying to win back the trust of their consumers following the entire exploding battery issue that plagued its phablet smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7. However, apart from running several recall and exchange programs, new reports are suggesting that the company is apparently also busy building their latest flagship smartphone — the Samsung Galaxy S8 — which is set to be released early next year.

The brand new flagship smartphone will reportedly be coming with some very interesting design changes that seem to embody the look and feel of next generation smartphones. Apart from rumors of a dual camera setup similar to that on the iPhone 7 Plus, the flagship is also expected to be the first mass produced smartphone to sport an edge-to-edge display.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has already showcased this proof of concept in the form of their limited edition Xiaomi Mi Mix bezel-less phone. Unfortunately, the smartphone itself was limited to a China-only release with Xiaomi having no intention of making it commercially available in other countries.

If Samsung will indeed incorporate the same display technology on the next generation Galaxy S8, then they would be beating Apple to the punch in incorporating the technology into a commercial product. Similar to Xiaomi's device, the upcoming Galaxy S8 is expected to sport a full-screen display that would feature an embedded home button and fingerprint scanner under the screen.

A recent interview with a display engineer working for Samsung — Park Wong-sang — revealed that the next Samsung Display would have a 90 percent area ratio, which means that it would essentially occupy almost the entire front side of the device. The report added that Samsung may be planning to push those numbers to 99 percent, with all of the sensors placed under or within the screen.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to be unveiled in February next year. On the other hand, Apple's latest iPhone — the Apple iPhone 8 — will be coming months later in September.