14 DAY TRIAL // Back in December we told you that some digging in the Android source revealed that the Nexus 6 could have had a fingerprint scanner, as Lollipop was shown to have a fingerprint API with app support, too.
For some reason the fingerprint scanner never made it to the Nexus 6 and if you were wondering why this came to be the case, we’re finally given the official explanation.
The dimple on the Nexus 6 should have had a more complex function
Talking to The Telegraph publication, former Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside confessed to a secret we already knew. The dimple sitting on the back of your phablet was supposed to house a fingerprint scanner.
What happened is that Apple moved a lot quicker and purchased the best supplier of fingerprint scanners available on the market.
Motorola was familiar with it, because the Atrix 4G smartphone came out as a result of a partnership set up with Authentec.
But Apple snatched away Authentec a year later by paying $365 / €324 million to acquire it. So the competition was left to make do with the second best supplier on the market, which utterly failed to raise up to the level of Authentec.
So that’s why Motorola abstained from using a technology that’s not top of the line. Woodside concludes that the addition of a fingerprint recognition software wouldn’t really have made such a huge difference.
The decision was probably for the best. Smartphones like the HTC One max have proved without a shadow of doubt that the alternative would have amounted to much, except offering a flat, buggy, frustrating experience.
By contrast, Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner works like a charm. That’s why Samsung is also looking to implement a similar touch-based fingerprint sensor instead of the swipe-based one found in the Galaxy S5, with its future flagship. The Galaxy S6 is expected to go official at MWC 2015 in Barcelona.
