14 DAY TRIAL // Smartphone makers are constantly looking for ways to improve their products and bring innovation to the market. There have been many reports of upcoming phones with fingerprint scanners built into the display and the latest reveals that such phones might arrive later this year.
Fingerprint module maker CrucialTec has stated that it will start supplying its on-screen fingerprint scanning solution to global smartphone makers this year. The solution allows users to authenticate directly on a smartphone screen using fingerprints.
“Our on-screen fingerprint solution, dubbed Display Fingerprint Solution or DFS, is getting positive responses from our clients, especially those in China,” a CrucialTec official stated. The company added that it already started talks with smartphone makers, who have high hopes in the new technology.
CrucialTec’s solution is more secure than regular scanners
The fingerprint scanner built into the display is said to offer better security compared to regular scanners embedded in home buttons or placed at the back of a phone. In addition, it would give smartphone makers more flexibility when it comes to the device’s design.
The first phones with such technology should arrive this year, but the company didn’t disclose which smartphone makers will implement CrucialTec scanners in their phones. CrucialTec holds 50 patents related to the new biometric technology and officials said that “the company aims to commercialize an upgraded solution that enables fingerprint authentication on any part of the smartphone screen next year.”
The new technology consists of transparent components, including a thin film transistor and a sensing electrode that can be embedded under the display. The sensor is so sensitive that it can detect a touch of a single hair and can extract a high-resolution fingerprint at 500 dots per inch.
The new sensor would make it easier for users to authenticate, as it can scan multiple fingers on the display, not just one placed in a certain position on a certain button. The company expects the new technology to arrive to some flagship phones and wearables later this year, perhaps on the Galaxy Note 8, we hope.