Despite the fact that the Galaxy S IV's introduction is less than two weeks away, Samsung has managed to keep the device tightly under wraps, avoiding any feature or spec leaks of its new flagship smartphone. One small detail has managed to surface today, as a Samsung employee speaking to The New York Times has claimed that the Galaxy S IV will include a new eye scrolling functionality. The tipster explains that the phone will track a user's eyes to figure out when to scroll a page on the screen. That means that when a user reaches the bottom of a page on a book or website, the Galaxy S IV will automatically scroll to reveal the next section of text.

Samsung has introduced features similar to this eye scrolling functionality in the past. At the introduction of the Galaxy S III in 2012, Samsung detailed its new Smart Stay feature, which uses the phone's front camera to monitor a user's eyes. The phone can then do things like prevent the screen from locking or alter its brightness if it detects that a user is reading something.

The New York Times also points out that Samsung has applied for trademarks to the term "Eye Scroll" in Europe and "Samsung Eye Scroll" in the U.S., adding some weight to this rumor. Given Samsung's previous attempts at monitoring a user's eyes to control a smartphone, this eye scrolling functionality certainly sounds a feature that the Korean device maker would use to help show off the Galaxy S IV. It sounds like an interesting feature, but we'll just have to wait for Samsung to actually launch the feature before we can determine exactly how well it works and how often we would use it. Does this eye scrolling feature sound like something that you'd use on a regular basis?

Via The New York Times