Face ID, under-display fingerprint reader, path iOS and Android …
Original material
Soon after the announcement of iPhone X last fall, Android – device manufacturers everywhere began researching to get their hands on biometric security technology through the front camera, similar to TrueDepth sensors in Face ID from Apple. It came as no surprise that companies like Samsung have already made an unsuccessful attempt to replicate cutting edge technology Apple, given the scarcity of advanced VCSEL camera modules coupled with the Cupertino company’s technological advantage over its competitors by about 2.5 of the year.
Apparently, now some OEM-manufacturers Android – devices, by and large, have given up hopes of introducing a sensor a la TrueDepth into their upcoming flagships. The opinion was that technology was too expensive for thoughtful copying. As a result, they are shifting their priority towards Qualcomm's heavily promoted under-glass fingerprint sensor in the media space. These revelations were highlighted in the DigiTimes material, which said that the reason for the new emphasis on fingerprint scanners integrated under the display lies in the high cost of implementing face recognition modules from its 3D model.
In particular, the author of the material says that the costs of developing a combination of software and hardware pushed manufacturers Android – devices to abandon the technology of face recognition of Face ID caliber. The cost of TrueDepth modules – $ 60 each – practically does not allow manufacturers to make a profit, like Apple, whose iPhone X costs more than most flagships based on Android.
Image of The Verge
On the resource 9to5mac noted that “manufacturers Android – devices are worried that patent infringement is possible after the introduction of infrared systems for projection of infrared points.” As a result of these cost-ineffective complications, most OEMs, including Huawei, have chosen to implement in-screen fingerprint sensor technology as an authentication standard in their Android next-generation devices.
DigiTimes: “Qualcomm's new fingerprint scanners are three times more expensive than conventional competitors in terms of cost, but a module with a thickness of about 0.44mm can work through glass up to 800 microns compared to 200-300 microns for traditional capacitive fingerprint sensors.” They also work correctly with 'wet and greasy' fingers, 'unlike traditional modules in today's devices'.
In general, the reason for the refusal to create an analogue of Face ID was the high costs associated with copying 3D sensors of the TrueDepth level, doubts about patent infringement and reports of 'inconclusive sales iPhone X'. In the upcoming phablet Huawei Mate 11, which is expected to be announced in the second half of 2018, it will be a fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm that will be used. It is worth emphasizing that Huawei will not become a pioneer, this technology has already been used in the smartphone Vivo X21 UD.
By Troy Thompson
Ever since the first mentions of iPhone X, impressions of this device were mostly negative: I did not like (and still do not like) the vertical arrangement of the cameras, I did not understand the navigation system without buttons and did not trust authentication by face. Well, in the end, we can say that the second and third points of Apple turned out well, if you do not take into account the relatively slow unlocking in the face. The OnePlus 5 is faster in this regard, but from a technical point of view, Face ID is a more complex technology, this cannot be denied. But do ordinary users really care about this?
About Apple everything is clear: iPhone X will be bought, Face ID will be forced to use, the marketing machine cannot be stopped. There is some confusion in the camp Android: if you look at Android – smartphones presented at MWC, then the congress was held under the unspoken slogan 'so, well, we looked at the cutout in the tenth iPhone, in principle, we can do that too, here, look '. Corrosive journalists and bloggers understand that such devices use a different technology than Apple
Apparently, individual manufacturers appreciated the mood of the community, as well as the costs of an analogue Face ID, and decided to take the path of least resistance that Qualcomm offered them. I am still not very fond of face authentication and consider the new sensor to be a very capable competitor. Differentiation will clearly divide users into the already familiar two camps, but it is not yet clear which solution will be more popular.