Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

This potential Galaxy S7 feature could make Apple’s fingerprint scanners obsolete

Updated Apr 7th, 2015 8:47AM EDT
Samsung Galaxy S7 Iris Scanner
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Apple ushered in the era of biometric smartphone security when it included fingerprint scanners on the iPhone 5s but Samsung is working on a technology that could make fingerprint scanning obsolete. Android Authority reports that Samsung is working with SRI International to incorporate iris-scanning technology into mobile devices.

RELATED: The killer feature for next year’s Galaxy S7 might have just been revealed

The first mobile device to use the technology, which is called Iris on the Move, will be a customized Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 that Samsung will unveil at ISC West 2015. SRI International says that this special tablet will “provide fast, easy-to-use, and accurate biometric identity management solutions to its users” with technology that’s been shown “to be more than 1,000 times more accurate than published fingerprint data.”

Both Apple and Samsung’s fingerprint scanners are considered to be insecure compared to other types of biometric identification, including iris scanning and vein scanners.

SRI International also says that it will be “seeking initial adopters of the new product for various security and identity management applications,” which will include security apps for “airports, access control, workforce management, and similar security applications.”

Whether this technology makes it to the Galaxy S7 remains to be seen, of course, but if these initial trial runs are successful, we can’t see why Samsung wouldn’t want to include it in future flagship devices.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.