It looks like Samsung is going big on the feature-set of its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S 4. According to a New York Times report which cites anonymous sources, one of its killer features could be scrolling based on eye-tracking. The handset will be laced with sensors that work with the front camera to track the user's eye movements, and predict vertical or horizontal scrolls through common UI elements such as documents, e-books, notes, and web-pages, without having to constantly swipe through the screen.

The feature could allow users to read through large chunks of text on the phone's limited viewing area, without having to constantly swipe their fingers over to the next page. It could be particularly helpful to people who zoom in on text to make it legible, shrinking the viewing area further, and increasing scrolling; and so it is more of a UI enhancement than something that keeps the screen clean. Advancements in tough glass and oleophobic layers look after that.

Samsung protected the feature by dropping in trademark applications for what it refers to as "Samsung Eye Scroll," in Europe and the US. In its applications, it describes it as "Computer application software having a feature of sensing eye movements and scrolling displays of mobile devices, namely, mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers according to eye movements; digital cameras; mobile telephones; smartphones; tablet computers."

Samsung Galaxy S 4 is set for a grand launch in New York, on March 14, which will be beamed onto the big screens at Times Square.