In another “me too” move that Samsung has become so well known for, South Korean electronics maker Samsung will reportedly include a fingerprint reader in its upcoming flagship Galaxy 5S handset. The sensor is reported to be of the “finger-swipe” style.
Users will need to swipe the entire end of their finger — from the tip to the base — across the sensor in order to authenticate, according to a report from normally-reliable Samsung watchers SamMobile.The swipe must be performed at a “moderate speed” and it is necessary that the user keep their finger flat against the home button for the entire swipe, the publication added.
Samsung will also allow users to link their fingerprints to individual system functions, such as launching a specific app, or possibly enabling a new “private mode” that allows users to keep documents, apps, and widgets hidden. A fingerprint-enabled web login system is also a possibility.
Samsung has been expected to introduce some type of fingerprint authentication system in its flagship line of phones ever since Apple’s introduction of Touch ID in their flagship device, the iPhone 5s.
Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo pushed the idea of a Samsung fingerprint identification system, saying: “Fingerprint is necessary for a star model […] the star model can’t lack the function even [if] the solution is not as mature as iPhone 5S’s.”
The iPhone 5s’s Touch ID has been mostly well received, especially as it includes the fingerprint recognition as part of the already established process of pushing the Home Button.
Samsung is believed to be using technology from biometrics company Validity. Apple’s Touch ID technology resulted from the mid-2012 acquisition of biometrics firm Authentec.
