The wait is over fro Samsung fans, as the company on Sunday officially announced at MWC in Barcelona the 51-inch Galaxy S7 and the 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones. The company also announced the Gear 360 camera for creating VR videos, which can be connected to the new smartphones. The new smartphones feature a refined design, more advanced camera, streamlined software functionality and greater connectivity to galaxy of products and services.

Cameras

During the presentation of the new smartphones, Samsung emphasized on the camera capabilities of the devices, and said that they are superior to those of the iPhone S6 Plus.

Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge introduce the first Dual Pixel camera on a smartphone, promising to deliver brighter and sharper images, even in low light.

The Dual Pixel image sensor employed in the camera of the Galaxy S7 splits every single pixel into two photodiodes for on-chip phase detection, promising improved autofocus performance.

Dual Pixel technology sends light from the lens to two image sensors separately to adjust the focus, much in the same way that the human eye does. For comparison, only about one percent of image sensor pixels of the Galaxy S6 were capable of recognizing phase and contrast, while 100 percent of the image pixels of the new device can do so.

Samsung's newest smartphone models are equipped with 1.4um pixels (a 56 percent increase in size compared to the Galaxy S6) and a large F1.7 aperture (which allows for 25 percent more brightness). Combined, these features enable for 95 percent more light compared to the Galaxy S6.

In addition, Motion Panorama, a new camera mode, brings movement to traditional panoramic photos.

The Motion Panorama Shot feature lets one record the movements of the subject being photographed in the Panorama Shot mode. The resulting images are as vivid as videos. By swiping the captured image or moving the device a bit, users can view the motions of the captured panorama shot.

Another new feature of the Galaxy S7 is Hyperlapse, a variation of time lapse photography tailor-made for smartphones. Through Hyperlapse, users can compress hours of recording into seconds to illustrate the subtle movements of the photographed subject. The device automatically selects frames with soft and stable images, while minimizing camera shake with its adaptive vDIS (Video Digital Image Stabilization) function to produce a stable time lapse video.

The S7's front-facing camera, like the rear camera, features an F1.7 lens. It also supports a Selfie Flash feature, which enables the user to use the AMOLED display of the phone as a camera flash when taking selfies in a low light environment (lower than 20Lux).

The Galaxy S7 has also improved on its Beauty Face Shot mode by adding a 3D lighting effect to deliver brighter selfies, while Wide Selfie Shot mode creates a panorama effect. Additionally, the real-time High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature allows for images with even richer colors.

Design and UI

The 5.1-inch Galaxy S7 and 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 edge are constructed with 3D glass and metal. They feature a new Always-On Display, which gives users a simplified, zero touch experience where they don't need to worry about missing a call or important notification.

Without compromising design, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge both have increased utility with IP68 water and dust resistance.

Edge UX, available on Galaxy S7 edge, provides convenience and increased efficiency by creating easy shortcuts to users' favorite functions such as email, selfie mode, panorama mode or third party applications.

One of the most visibly notable changes to the UX is the shape of the phone?s icons. Unlike the device's predecessor, which featured icons of various shapes, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge feature squircle (rounded square) icons to create a more organized appearance. A user can even apply the squircle shape to third-party app icons by activating the icon customization function.

Samsung has also simplified the lock and home screens. Users can now customize these screens by adding two shortcut icons to their favorite apps. They also have the option of removing weather information from the lock screen.

In terms of usability, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge boast the recently released, Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system, which offers a whole host of new and improved features. Two of the most useful are Samsung Internet 4.0, which offers better privacy and functionality than the native browser, and Cross App, which lets users operate their favorite apps from within other apps.

The most noteworthy modification of the Galaxy S7 edge's UX is the enhanced edge screen. Rather than providing an aesthetic flair, the edge has been refined to provide practical functions and easier access to users' frequently used content and tasks.

One way this was accomplished was by expanding the edge panel. While the edge panels of the Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy S6 edge+ boast an aspect ratio of 260 pixels, the edge panel of the latest flagship device has nearly doubled in size. The 550-pixel display also allows third party companies to showcase even more content on the edge panel, while its horizontal orientation makes it easier to read.

The new smartphones also deliver fast wired and wireless charging technology. Powered by 3000mAh and 3600mAh batteries, respecytively, the S7 and S7 Edge allow you to watch the whole season of "Game of Thrones" with single charge, according to Samsung.

Additionally, the hybrid SIM card tray allows users to insert a microSD card for up to 200GB of additional storage and in some select countries, the tray can be used with a dual SIM card.

Samsung also made significant hardware and software updates to optimize gaming performance on Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge. The powerful processor and bigger battery capacity ensure longer playing time, and the internal liquid cooling system keeps the device from overheating.

Samsung asys that the CPU and the GPU of the S7 are respectively 30% and 60% more power than the components of the S6. Some models of the Galaxy S7 handsets will have Samsung's Exynos 8 Octa 8890 chipset, while others will have Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820.

Game Launcher, a new add-on for gamers, allows users to manage battery consumption and minimize notifications. Additionally, users can record their gaming experience or share their screen to play with others.

Paired with Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, Vulkan API gives users the ability to play high-performance graphic games with lower battery consumption. Epic Games and Samsung provided an impressive demo on stage, running on the S7 and powered by the unreal engine. Users will be able to reduce the frame rates of games to preserve battery life. Pressing one button reduces games from 60 frames per second to 30 frames per second.

Another nifty feature is a "do-not-disturb" button for gamers. Once the button is pressed, incoming phone calls or notifications won't disturb the gaming or virtual reality experience.

Of course, the new devices can be connected with the new Gear S2 Classic to monitor fitness, or connect with Gear VR to "travel" the world.

Beyond the phone, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge users have access the Samsung Pay mobile payment.

Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will be available starting mid-March 2016. For every pre-order, Samsung will be offering the
Gear VR as a gift.

Gear 360

With the rise of virtual reality devices like the Gear VR, 360-degree video is becoming one of the hottest trends in digital content.

With the unveiling of the Samsung Gear 360, Samsung wants to make shooting in 360 degrees easier.

The Gear 360 is a simple and sleek looking ball, featuring dual fisheye lenses - 195-degree field-of-view cameras on either side of an aerodynamic white sphere. Software then automatically combines those two images together, cutting together two 180-degree images and stitching them together at the points where they overlap, to create a 360-degree look at the world all around the camera.

The Gear 360 camera comes in high definition, 3,840 pixels by 1,920 pixels, capable of capturing images of up to 30 megapixels. And the bright F2.0 lenses will help users to capture images even in low light conditions.

People can also use the Gear 360 to shoot in a variety of modes, including standard video, photos, time lapse videos or looping videos.

Gear 360 can be synced to smartphones and other devices. When connected to a smartphone, users can preview their content in real time, while they film. Then, that content can be saved to the smartphone or uploaded to social media channels or Google Street View.

The Gear 360 is also ready for all sorts of connectivity options, including WiFi-Direct, Bluetooth, NFC and USB. A microSD slot makes the memory expandable to 128GB, too.

In addition, the Gear 360 is designed to be compatible with most accessories already on the market, including tripod attachments. It is also compatible with Galaxy devices that work with the Gear VR: Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, S7 and S7 edge.