Force Touch is a technology that was developed by Apple that enables trackpads and touchscreens to distinguish between different levels of force being applied to their surfaces. Apple has a few patents on this technology that could be reviewed here and here. Force Touch is a pressure sensitive multi-touch technology that Apple called 3D touch for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7. Patently Apple covered one of Samsung's 3D touch patents made public last year and one earlier this year.

Today we're learning that Samsung will be bringing their 3D Touch technology to their new Note 8 according to a new South Korean report published today. The same technology they brought to their standard S8 earlier this year.

The report further noted that "The force touch, also called 3-D touch, will use the same solution adopted for the current Galaxy S8 to replace all the functionality of a home button and open a hidden menu with shortcuts to different features.

The S8 has removed a physical home button to have a larger display screen, while a fingerprint scanner is relocated to the back of the device. The Note 8 is also expected to feature the 'full-screen display' that covers almost the entire front body of the phone.

Other key features for the Note 8 include a 6.3-inch display screen, a dual-lens rear-facing camera, and a 3,300mAh battery."

Samsung will once again place their fingerprint scanner on the backside of their Note 8 smartphone as they did with their S8 model, even though CrucialTec claims that they now have a solution for scanning fingerprints under a smartphone display called DFS (Display Fingerprint Solution). They were granted a patent for it by the Korean Patent office on June 29, 2017 as noted in part below.

CrucialTec's CEO Charles Ahn stated in a recent interview that "Our technology is fully ready, and we are in talks with the world's leading display manufacturers to develop the first smartphone with the DFS. Crucial Tec is the only company in the world which possesses all five technologies required for high-quality on-display fingerprint authentication – sensor integrated circuit (IC), chip packaging, module and algorithm, mobile firmware. The key to being able to commercialize such smartphones is to well match display panels with our sensor and drive ICs." This is likely why Samsung has passed on using their solution.

Samsung Electronics had reportedly attempted to adopt the on-screen fingerprint solution for its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone earlier this year, but halted the development due to technological hurdles.

To date, despite ongoing rumors, it remains a question mark as to whether Apple will adopt Touch ID under the iPhone's OLED display or rely solely on facial recognition for user authentication.

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