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Face ID Deemed Too Costly To Copy, Android Makers Target In-Display Fingerprint Sensors Instead (9to5mac.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the price-is-right dept.

"Android phone makers are 'rushing' to implement fingerprint sensors under the display for upcoming handsets," reports 9to5Mac, citing a new report from Digitimes. "Android manufacturers have decided that recreating the 3D facial recognition used by iPhone X is simply too costly to include, and are instead focusing on implementing Qualcomm's ultrasonic fingerprint scanners." From the report: The report says that including an Infrared depth-sensing facial recognition system like the iPhone X is simply too expensive for Android smartphones to offer, which cannot command the same price premiums as Apple's iPhones. This is a combination of hardware and software development costs. Digitimes claims the cost of the TrueDepth 3D sensors in iPhone X peaked at $60 per unit, an incredibly high proportion of the overall phone cost if accurate. Android makers are also worried about possible patent infringement from adopting Infrared dot projector systems. Instead, they have turned to in-display fingerprint sensors as their next-generation of device authentication. This depends on using Qualcomm technology for ultrasonic-based fingerprint scanners, which can sit below the cover glass and work even if fingers are wet or greasy.

5 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Sauce by Tsolias · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Best source for your Android news is ofc.... 9to5Mac.
    Who the fuck upvotes those submissions?

  2. Re:This is a huge advantage for Apple by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't want passive authentication. I want active. And I don't want Apple or Google having access to biometric info that I can't change. I'll keep my long passcode, thanks very much. Not a big deal to tap it in it I need the phone.

  3. Re:It works really well, though. by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not in my experience. Whenever I use FaceID says I am too ugly to own an iPhone. So rude!

  4. Nope, not even close by SuperKendall · · Score: 5, Informative

    Microsoft laptops already have FaceID type authentication

    Sigh. Face recognition from images is utterly not the same thing as FaceID which uses a 3D mapping of the face from a variety of sensors.

    Image Facial Recognition is about as secure as a TSA approved padlock.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Re:Better anyway by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 5, Informative

    FaceID is a terrible idea anyway. Notches in the screen? Seriously?

    Amazingly, they are copying the notch , just not the faceID.