The race to embedding a fingerprint sensor in the screen has started and on the surface, Apple looks to be winning. That is until Vivo showed up and took the lead. A video has made its way to the internet showing a working prototype that can be unlocked using the on-screen fingerprint scanner.
Vivo To Be The First To Commercialize On-Screen Fingerprint Scanners?
When Samsung tried and failed to embed the fingerprint sensor in the screen, leading the company to put a dedicated scanner at the back, the next in line to successfully complete the tech was Apple with the iPhone 8. There are reports saying that this has already been achieved by the Cupertino-based company; all that’s left is to release the smartphone.
However, Vivo may release a flagship with this tech sooner than Apple. Researcher Jiutang Pan , according to Android Authority , claims that the Chinese company is getting ready to introduce a smartphone with the fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen in the next couple of months. Pan also says that Apple will go next, suggesting that the Vivo smartphone could be unveiled sometime in July or August as the next set of iPhones are expected in early September.
Jiutang Pan also shared a video showcasing a smartphone without a physical home button. The phone has a similar form factor as the Vivo Xplay6, sans the home button. The back also features a dual-camera set-up with the same positioning of the lens, the flash, and the logo. Watch the video and see the embedded fingerprint sensor in action.
Samsung Could Be The Last In The Race
Another report claims that aside from Vivo, two other Chinese smartphone makers are delving into this technology: Huawei and Xiaomi. It doesn’t say when Xiaomi and Vivo are expected to introduce this feature, but Huawei is reportedly adding it to the P11, which is expected early next year.
Apple is already set to unveil the iPhone 8 with an embedded fingerprint sensor in September, while Samsung is skipping the Note 8 due to security concerns. According to Inquisitr , we might see it instead on the Galaxy S9 , which is not due until Q2 2017. For such a big mobile brand, Samsung will then be rather late to the party. But there are no talks yet of such a feature on the Google Pixel 2, so the South Korean company might not be the last still.
[Featured Image by oatawa/Shutterstock]
