Samsung's Galaxy S5 said to ship with swipe-style fingerprint sensor in home button
In a bid to counter the popularity of the Touch ID system found in Apple's iPhone 5s, South Korean electronics giant Samsung will reportedly outfit the home button of its upcoming flagship Galaxy S5 handset with a swipe-style fingerprint reader.
Users will need to swipe the entire end of their finger -- from the tip to the base -- across the sensor in order to authenticate, according to a report from normally-reliable Samsung watchers SamMobile. The swipe must be performed at a "moderate speed" and it is necessary that the user keep their finger flat against the home button for the entire swipe, the publication added.
In addition to authentication, Samsung will allow users to link individual fingerprints to system actions such as launching a specific app. The company is also thought to have developed a "private mode" which can be accessed either with a fingerprint or via a PIN and allows users to keep personal documents, apps, and widgets hidden as well as a fingerprint-based web login system.
Whispers that Samsung would add some form of biometric security to its flagship handset grew louder soon after Apple unveiled the Touch ID system alongside the iPhone 5s last fall. Samsung mobile executive Lee Young Hee hinted in January that the company may choose iris recognition technology, but well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo poured cold water on that idea in a research note later in the month.
"Fingerprint is necessary for a star model," Kuo wrote at the time. "Because Apple's iPhone 5S and HTC's One Max have fingerprint, S5 the star model can't lack the function even [if] the solution (area type same as iPhone 5S's provided by Validity) is not as mature as iPhone 5S's."
The iPhone 5s's Touch ID has been widely praised since its debut, as much for its hardware implementation - the user's fingerprint is read as part of the normal process of pushing the home button --?as its usefulness.
The technology underpinning Touch ID was developed by biometrics firm Authentec, which was acquired by Apple in mid-2012. Samsung is believed to have turned to rival biometrics company Validity.
Users will need to swipe the entire end of their finger -- from the tip to the base -- across the sensor in order to authenticate, according to a report from normally-reliable Samsung watchers SamMobile. The swipe must be performed at a "moderate speed" and it is necessary that the user keep their finger flat against the home button for the entire swipe, the publication added.
In addition to authentication, Samsung will allow users to link individual fingerprints to system actions such as launching a specific app. The company is also thought to have developed a "private mode" which can be accessed either with a fingerprint or via a PIN and allows users to keep personal documents, apps, and widgets hidden as well as a fingerprint-based web login system.
Whispers that Samsung would add some form of biometric security to its flagship handset grew louder soon after Apple unveiled the Touch ID system alongside the iPhone 5s last fall. Samsung mobile executive Lee Young Hee hinted in January that the company may choose iris recognition technology, but well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo poured cold water on that idea in a research note later in the month.
"Fingerprint is necessary for a star model," Kuo wrote at the time. "Because Apple's iPhone 5S and HTC's One Max have fingerprint, S5 the star model can't lack the function even [if] the solution (area type same as iPhone 5S's provided by Validity) is not as mature as iPhone 5S's."
The iPhone 5s's Touch ID has been widely praised since its debut, as much for its hardware implementation - the user's fingerprint is read as part of the normal process of pushing the home button --?as its usefulness.
The technology underpinning Touch ID was developed by biometrics firm Authentec, which was acquired by Apple in mid-2012. Samsung is believed to have turned to rival biometrics company Validity.
Comments
I am so glad Apple did not adhere to the "bit as mature" statement for its fingerprint sensor!
Users will need to swipe the entire end of their finger -- from the tip to the base -- across the sensor in order to authenticate, according to a report from normally-reliable Samsung watchers SamMobile. The swipe must be performed at a "moderate speed" and it is necessary that the user keep their finger flat against the home button for the entire swipe, the publication added.
This might be a good chance for me to share a tip on how to improve the accuracy of Touch-ID by "overtraining" the sensor. This is better explained at the Gibson Research Corporation website https://www.grc.com/intro.htm operated by Steve Gibson of the Security Now podcast, part of Leo Laport's TWiT network. Specifically, you want episode #440, Listener Feedback #182, of 28 Jan 14 (https://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm).
Just so no one gets any wrong ideas, this is not an advertisement and I have no connection to the TWiT network other than being a regular listener of their podcasts.
Thankfully with Apple we have this:
[quote]http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/155086-apples-jonathan-ive-and-craig-federighi-the-complete-interview
Ive: We never would, but we could just stack up feature after feature after feature that would make for a long list but would make for a completely un-useful phone. [Touch ID] was something that I think we all felt was a very useful feature, and we started with a desire to solve the problem. We didn’t start opportunistically with 10 bits of technology that we could try to find a use for to add to our features list.[/quote]
Galaxy S5: The Most Amazing iPhone Yet.
And bigger.
[IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/2hg8fav.jpg[/IMG]
Why shouldn't they? :???: Outside of the rabid few I imagine they get a lot of visits from current and potential Apple customers.
Ok, now I want to see all those people who were against a fingerprint scanner from Apple chiming in on how bad an idea it is for Android phones. Where are all those "I don't trust Apple with my fingerprint" people now? Are you more trusting of Samsung, a Korean company run by a convict?
I guess I can't remember the last time I saw an Apple ad on a tech site (or any site other than apple,com for that matter). That's why I found it odd.
All I get on AI is ads for older women dating websites.
And I for cat food. Considering my avatar is normally a picture of one, that's some serious Google Analytics going on when I don't use Ghostery... :smokey:
Ah, gotcha.
I hope iOS8 allows some opening up of TouchID to third party apps. Would be great to unlock 1Password with TouchID, or put an extra authentication on my work email.
Opening it to 3rd party apps, probably won't happen.
What they'll probably do instead is expand it into the Keychain OS service. Any app that makes use of Keychain would indirectly utilize Touch ID authentication.