Samsung seems to have a lot up its sleeve for the next generation of smartphones as it drops hints of a retinal scanner feature on mobile devices.

Samsung may currently be suffering a setback in terms of sales and profit of its smartphone business, but the tech giant is not letting it hinder innovations in its product line. The Korean tech giant hinted at a new security tech for its future smartphones, with a picture showing an eye in focus inside a mobile device. The company tagged the feature in the image as "unique to us," which strongly suggests a retinal scanner for a future smartphone.

The details are pretty thin at the moment, but a report from SamMobile, which originally broke the story on Saturday, suggests the eye-scanning feature could embrace the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The new image was tweeted from Samsung Exynos' official Twitter account, Saturday, without any direct reference to iris-scanning technology coming to Galaxy Note 4.

Security can be improved using features unique to us. That's what we envision. What would you use? #ExynosTomorrow pic.twitter.com/KLgQ1q9GkP

- SamsungExynos (@SamsungExynos) July 12, 2014

This is not the first time the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has been linked to advanced tech. In May, Android Geeks pinned the release of the next phablet in the Note series to September 4, 2014. Another report predicted new features such as 'Swipe to launch Motion Launcher', 'Aqua Capture', 'Multi Network for Booster', and 'Smart Fingerprint' for the upcoming 5.7-inch Note 4.

Last month, new details surfaced online claiming the Galaxy Note 4 to come packed with a Quad HD display with a screen resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. Other rumored specs for the upcoming handset include a Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor, 3GB RAM, 16-megapixel ISOCELL sensor with OIS. Reports also indicate Note 4 will come in two variants, a standard flat display and a curved OLED model. The curved Note 4, however, is likely to be limited to select markets.

While the fingerprint scanner might become a standard security feature in all flagships, introduction of eye-catching retinal scanner will certainly put Samsung ahead in the race. After all, the company needs to overcome its first quarterly loss in almost two years.