Last year, Apple failed to put a fingerprint scanner under its iPhone X display. Later, we learned that Qualcomm had a prototype and was working with Samsung to bring it to the market.
Yet, all of a sudden, another contender has entered the game, far ahead of the competition.?
Vivo just unveiled a prototype device at CES 2018, with a fingerprint scanner embedded under the device¡¯s display. The device is still nameless, with no timeframe to market, or even a price, but it definitely works in a whole new way as far as biometrics is concerned.
Vivo has effectively built a device that can utilise almost the entire front panel of the display to register a fingerprint, without having to put a separate fingerprint sensor on the front or back panel of the phone. It looks a lot cooler this way, not to mention it¡¯s a lot easier to reach. All you have to do is press your finger to the area the scanner would normally be. When it registers, a spiderweb of blue spreads out from the point you¡¯re touching gives you the cue and it unlocks.
There¡¯s a sensors, manufactured by Synaptics, below the OLED display, which is itself under the Gorilla Glass that protects it. When you touch the display, it brightens in that area to light up your fingertip, and captures an image from an optical sensor beneath the display. That¡¯s then compared to your registered fingerprint by a separate AI-based processor using 300 different unique characteristics.
While the new technology shouldn¡¯t tax your smartphone¡¯s battery any more than normal, it is more expensive to make. As a result you¡¯re likely to see this kid of feature of premium smartphone in 2018 before it perhaps makes its way to mid-range devices.