Samsung to Unveil Next Flagship Phone in March, Report Reveals

Samsung is planning a comeback. Following its epic Galaxy Note 7 debacle last year—which saw the company’s flagship smartphone recalled, and later discontinued entirely, due to exploding batteries—Samsung plans to unveil its next major device, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ suggests Samsung’s next-gen phone could be revealed at an event in New York in late March. The device may lose its physical home button and utilize a virtual assistant called Bixby, similar to Apple’s Siri, while moving its fingerprint scanner to the back of the phone, like Google’s Pixel.

It’s unlikely that Samsung will have another battery fiasco after South Korea decided recently to strengthen safety requirements for lithium-ion and to conduct inspections of manufacturers. That, and Samsung can’t afford another fumble of that magnitude: in addition to several billion dollars in lost revenue and a major hit to its reputation, the company lost its long-held top spot in global smartphone marketshare to rival Apple.

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