Is That Mystery Number a Scammer? Galaxy S7 Knows

About to buy the new Galaxy S7? Your contact list just got a whole lot bigger. Samsung and Whitepages are announcing a partnership that packs caller ID, spam and scam detection, and even a nearby business search directly into the native dialer, reports Engadget. This means that an incoming call will automatically reveal any info Whitepages has on the number—meaning unknown numbers you'd formerly be wary of should be more obviously pick-up worthy (it's your dentist) or ignore-at-all-costs (that IRS scam everybody's been talking about). And it's about time, with Whitepages tracking a 34% jump in spam and scam calls between 2014 and 2015, the Seattle-based tech company reported in a December Business Wire news release.

Caller ID, of course, isn't new, and Whitepages already boasts Android and iPhone apps. Whitepages inked a similar deal with T-Mobile in 2014, but Engadget observes that "it's rare for such a service to be integrated into a flagship phone." It makes sense, given Whitepages has info on some 1.5 billion numbers worldwide, 600 million of which are US-based, reports GeekWire. The days of pretending you don't know who's calling when you answer your cellphone appear to be numbered. (Another we've-been-waiting-for-this feature ... for your car.)