New Samsung Patents Show In-Display Biometrics for Wearables

Newly published Samsung patents are further illustrating the company’s interest in in-display fingerprint sensor technology for its mobile devices and even wearables.

As Patently Apple reports, the patent depicts a smartwatch featuring an in-display fingerprint sensor or even an in-display iris sensor; and it depicts a smartphone featuring an in-display fingerprint sensor within a larger “Force Touch Area” sensitive to pressure from the user’s touch. “The touch sensor may include a capacitive touch panel, a pressure-sensitive touch panel, a resistive touch panel, an infrared touch panel, or an ultrasonic touch panel,” the patent reads.

As always, it’s important to note that patents from major tech companies like Samsung don’t offer any definitive information about what they’re working on; and in this case, the patent in question is not a new one – it was filed in the US in Q2 of this year, and in Samsung’s home country of South Korea a year before that.

Nevertheless, the patent does offer some indication of where Samsung’s interests lie in terms of product development, and its publication comes after previous, putative leaks suggesting that Samsung really is racing to get new smartphones with in-display fingerprint sensors to market. With its arch-rival Apple having put all its eggs in the Face ID basket, and other competitors seeking to differentiate themselves with in-display sensors, the direction Samsung chooses to go in for its next major smartphones could be an important one in shaping broader industry trends with respect to mobile biometrics.

Source: Patently Apple

—

(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)