Tomas Chlebek At the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC), the largest mobile electronics trade show in the world, Vivo presented a prototype of an older phone with new technology that is capable of scanning a fingerprint through the display.
The technology created by Qualcomm is able to read a fingerprint through a maximum of 1200 µm (1,2 mm) thick layer formed by OLED displays, 800 µm of glass or 650 µm of aluminum. The technology uses ultrasound, and in addition to the ability to penetrate glass and metal, its correct function is not limited by liquids - so it also works underwater.
At MWC, the new technology was introduced via a demo built into the existing Vivo Xplay 6, and is said to be the first demonstration of this type of reader built into a mobile device.
Fingerprint scanning on the sample device was only possible in one place on the display, but theoretically it could be extended to the entire display - the disadvantage, however, would be the very high price of such a solution. In addition, the presented prototype took much longer to read the fingerprint than it does with established devices such as the iPhone 7 or the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Fingerprint readers placed under the display from Qualcomm will be available to manufacturers in the last quarter of this year, and devices with them may appear on the market in the first half of 2018 at the earliest. The company will offer them as part of its Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms, but also separately. A version of the ultrasonic reader that cannot be placed under the display, but only under glass or metal, will be available to manufacturers later this month.
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It is not clear at what stage of development the expected competing solution from Apple is, but its presence is already expected in one of the new iPhones probably introduced in September this year. The solution mentioned above at least proves that the technology to remove the physical button for the fingerprint and place it under the display is here. However, there is constant speculation as to whether Apple will have time to prepare it for the next iPhone so that everything works as it should and should on its phones.
"...whether Apple will already have time to prepare it for the next iPhone so that everything works as it should and belongs on its phones."
It's been a long time since nothing there works the way it should and should on Apple, so it doesn't really matter at all :-)
Oh my gosh, what else can I say.
Quality reactions…
Basics of logic: “XY presented technology Z at a convention.” Is the day of the official presentation the first day that XY introduced this technology to A, B, and C?