New Samsung cameras could be named XISO-CELL
Samsung filed the trademark application for the XISO-CELL name with KIPRIS (Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service) last week. First spotted by GalaxyClub, the application is currently under review. The accompanying documents don’t reveal anything, except that the branding concerns a product that can be found in a wide range of electronic products, such as smartphones, computers, TVs, digital door locks, VR (virtual reality) headsets, video projectors, and more. While the application doesn’t tell what Samsung product will bear the XISO-CELL branding, it’s pretty obvious we are looking at camera sensors. The Korean firm has been using the ISOCELL branding for the past several years. It debuted the first ISOCELL smartphone camera sensor with the launch of the Galaxy S5 back in 2014. Since then, Samsung has used the same name for its cameras. It introduced a couple of variants branded as ISOCELL Plus and ISOCELL 2.0, but the core remained unchanged. After about nine years, Samsung seems to be switching to a new name. More importantly, this should also mean new camera technology. ISOCELL derives its name from “isolated cells”. The addition of an “X” prefix to the existing branding should relate to new advancements in the company’s camera sensor technology. Maybe it denotes the new sensor-shift technology that Samsung is said to debut on the Galaxy S23 series next year. We’ll have to wait and see. For the uninitiated, sensor-shift technology moves the sensor to compensate for hand movements when shooting. Often regarded as the more effective form of OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) this camera tech is already available on the latest iPhones. Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones, meanwhile, currently employ the traditional OIS tech that moves the lens instead of the sensor. The Korean firm may switch to sensor-shift OIS with the Galaxy S23 series.
The Galaxy S23 series launches in early 2023
If XISO-CELL is indeed Samsung’s branding for camera sensors with sensor-shift technology, the existing ISOCELL branding shouldn’t go away. Sensors with the traditional OIS tech or with no OIS should keep the current naming system. The Galaxy S23 series launches early next year, things will likely get clearer sooner than later. We will let you know as and when we have more information about Samsung’s new XISO-CELL trademark.
