In-display fingerprint sensors to arrive next year

Biometric security features are popular with both manufacturers and consumers. Now, Qualcomm wants to take things a step further by adding in-display fingerprint sensors to smartphone by summer 2018.

When fingerprint sensors originally arrived, quite a few people were skeptical about their usefulness, particularly because early models were more expensive than their counterparts.

Now, however, fingerprint sensors are standard in virtually every flagship out there and users are very much used to using them to unlock their phones, log in to apps without having to enter their passwords, and more.

According to Qualcomm, the new fingerprint sensor will work with every chip in the Snapdragon 200 series and onward. That means it will work on both current and future generations of Android devices.

On top of all that, the company also reports that these ultrasonic sensors will also be able to pick up  a user’s blood flow and heartbeat, additional measurements that may be employed for increased security.

These new in-display fingerprint sensors will work under metal, glass, and underwater. The placement of fingerprint sensors has long been an issue for debate amongst consumers with some preferring a placement in the front rather than in the back.

With these sensors, however, such debates will be a thing of the past. All current trends point towards bezel-less devices with screens that take up as much space as possible with phones like the Galaxy S8 and the newly announced Essential Phone making like-minded moves.

Biometric security methods that make things more convenient are always welcome and it certainly seems like these in-display fingerprint sensors will move the industry a little bit forward which is particularly interesting for those who truly appreciate bezel-less displays.

It seems that biometrics are experiencing a mini Renaissance as an increasing number of companies are investing in the field. For example, Token recently announced a wearable ring that acts like an always-on fingerprint sensor and can authorize payments and interact with other smart products.

While biometrics can also be abused, they offer new pathways for casual users who are not particularly good at managing strong passwords and end up using incredibly insecure methods of interacting with technology.