MacRumors quotes KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saying that Apple Face ID has "tilted interest in the mobile industry away from under-display fingerprint recognition, and instead towards camera-based 3D sensing technologies as the ideal user authentication solution.
While under-display optical fingerprint recognition is only a spec upgrade from capacitive solutions, 3D sensing embodies a revolutionary user experience and warrants a premium on gross margin."
Currently, the solutions for Android phone makers are said to come from Qualcomm-Himax, Orbbec, and Mantis Vision, with Qualcomm-Himax one attracting the most attention.
Bloomberg reports a drop in sales forecasts for fingerprint device makers. Sweden's Fingerprint Cards AB warned that its Q3 revenue will be much lower than analysts' estimates. Synaptics fingerprint business also showed "softness," executives said during the company's earnings call.
People are fools. Do they know twins have same face but different finger prints?
ReplyDeleteWhat portion of potential smartphone customers are twins? Of those, how many are identical twins? From that, what percentage would object to the possibility that their twin could unlock their phone?
DeleteAlso, good luck unlocking your phone while driving!
ReplyDeleteInstead of touching the fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone, now I'll need to lift the phone off the magnet mount and point it to my face, not to mention that security feature requires me to look at the phone for a certain time taking my attention from the road. I hope there are alternatives or reduction in security when in driving mode/connected to car bluetooth to make it easier to authenticate.
Well, you should not use your phone while driving anyway. Therefore the feature can actually increase safety as more people might finally stick to the new rule, unless it is safe looking at your phone.
DeleteOn the other hand, I actually would have appreciated having both options, face ID and fingerprint for transition phase. But Apple is known for harsh changes in technology direction... e.g. removal of audio-jack or in case of MB-pro removal of old USB ports by only offering new USB-C. People will still buy it like crazy...
Ah, the over use of words like "revolutionary", "game changer", blah blah blah. Is a fingerprint sensor really that much hassle? I guess so, after all the credit card companies decided that we are total morons and entering a PIN is too complicated. Count me in the camp of those who think a jack is good, dongles are bad, and one extra mm of phone thickness is a worthy tradeoff for 50% increase in battery capacity. In other words, I am a dinosaur circa 2014.
ReplyDelete