Samsung Galaxy S4 to include touchless gestures?

The Samsung Galaxy S4 will feature a system allowing you to control your phone without even touching the screen.

According to DDaily, Samsung will introduce an Amtel chip that can process gestures within the range of the screen, rather than when you touch it.

A similar technology appeared on Sony's Sola smartphone that allows you to swipe and move your finger in the proximity of the screen where it will pick up on the shapes you are making and act accordingly.

Sound complicated? This diagram explains the gestures you might expect in a little more detail:

A similar technology is also being used with the Galaxy Note 2's Air View tech, where you can hover over certain elements to preview extra information (for example, hover over a folder and you'll be able to see the contents).

The writer at DDaily does reveal that introducing such features may impact the battery life of the device in a positive way (essentially making the battery last longer than it does when you're constantly touching the screen).

Samsung has a reputation for introducing new technology in its devices.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 debuted with S Voice, which is Samsung's answer to Siri, and the Note debuted with the S Pen functionality.

It will come as no surprise then, to see such a technology debut on what is rumored to be Samsung's flagship product.

Other features rumored to be appearing on the Samsung Galaxy S4 include an optimized version of TouchWiz, running on Android 4.2, with a 1.2GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor and release date of May/June.

The announcement of the device is due to happen at a special Samsung Unveiled event on March 15.