Apple has just recently been granted a patent for the next generation of Touch ID. The company had filed a patent application back in 2019, which was for an infrared light technology that is housed under the display.

The patent was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, which involved a new image sensor that is housed under the device’s screen. Looking at the patent, the primary element is the new optical imaging system that will emit a shortwave infrared light through the display, while a photosensitive element will be configured to receive a reflection from the interface surface to map the image of the users’ fingers.

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In other words, it is what appears to be an in display fingerprint scanner from the Cupertino based giant. The Apple patent also places a heavy emphasis on this “Shortwave Infrared light,” which is a crucial component of what appears to be next generation Touch ID.

Unfortunately, this is just a patent, and have no way of actually knowing if the company is developing or actively working with the technology at the moment. Furthermore, Apple has also been mainly focusing on Face ID for its flagship iPhones. Although, we might see this technology implemented on iPads or even a few budget iPhones in the near future.

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The fingerprint recognition technology has rapidly advanced in the past few years and now we are getting smartphones with a fingerprint sensor embedded under the phone’s display.

One of the limitations with the in-display fingerprint sensor is that it works at a specific point on the display, although the technology has advanced and the fingerprint recognition area also keeps on increasing with a newer version of the technology.

Now, China-based Tianma Microelectronics has developed a multi-point in-display fingerprint recognition solution that can be used to unlock the full-screen smartphone through multiple points over the display.

The company says that it is an in-house technology where the image processing component of this new in-display sensing solution is embedded in a TFT display substrate, enabling the functionalities of touch, display, and fingerprint sensing simultaneously.

Further, Tianma claims to have used optical path design for this in-display technology which reduces the thickness of the module by about 50 percent compared to other types of optical fingerprint solutions.

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It’s noteworthy that the multi-point fingerprint recognition solution is for the LCD screens, which is a welcome move. So far, the technology of the under-display fingerprint sensor has been limited to OLED panels as their thinness allows light to pass through easier.

Recently, TCL’s China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd (CSOT) also announced its new in-display fingerprint technology for LCD screens called “Full-Screen Single-Point In-Display Fingerprint Technology.” It is claimed to cover around 92% area of the screen, which practically means that you can put your finger anywhere on the display to unlock.

So far, there’s no commercially available smartphone that comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor on an LCD display. However, with the technology from the likes of Tianma and CSOT planned to go into mass production this year, that could change soon.

UP NEXT: Goodix Technology aims mass production of LCD in-display optical fingerprint solution in 2020

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Smartphone industry has seen a lot of innovations in the past couple of years, including in-display fingerprint sensors, different display types and designs, and innovative camera solutions, among others.

While the technology for the under-display fingerprint sensor has seen active advancement, it is still limited to OLED display. Zhang Fan, CEO of Goodix Technology has stated in his 2020 New Year’s speech about “Getting ready to innovate and broaden new channels” that the company will actively promote the large-scale commercialisation of ultra-thin screen optical fingerprint solutions.

The company is also planning to provide 5G terminals as well as biometric identification solutions with better performance. However, the major advancement will come with the company’s plan for the implementation of optical fingerprints under LCD screens.

Along with the mass production of the in-display fingerprint sensor for the LCD screens, the company also plans mass production of a new generation of On-Cell touch chips adapted for the new flexible OLED display. The company has also stated that it will launch a ToF solution in due course in 2020.

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Further, the company has added that in the year 2019, a total of around 101 commercial models in the market, including Huawei Mate30 Pro, Xiaomi CC9 Pro, and OnePlus 7T Pro comes equipped with its under-screen optical fingerprint solution.

So far, the technology of under-display fingerprint sensor has been limited to OLED panels because their thinness allows light to pass through easier. Apart from Goodix Technology, companies like BOE and AUO Optronics are also working on LCD displays that support an optical in-display fingerprint scanner.

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(Via)

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Xiaomi is all set to launch the world’s first smartphone featuring 108-megapixel camera sensor — Mi CC9 Pro. Now, the company has also revealed that it will also be the world’s first device to come with ultra-thin in-display optical fingerprint sensor.

Revealing this feature, the company said that “the optical fingerprint sensitivity and unlocking success rate of the ultra-thin screen are further improved! It is easier to unlock in the case of strong lighting, low temperature and dry finger, and can be quickly unlocked with one touch.”

The company’s product manager Wang Teng also adds that it’s a new generation solution which is ultra-thin and has a larger fingerprint recognition area and also comes with an improved unlocking speed as well as optimised to save battery life.

The Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro smartphone will come with 108-megapixel primary camera sensor with 10X telephoto lens, along with a classic portrait lens, wide-angle lens, and a macro lens and could also have an additional lens.

The company has also confirmed that the Mi CC9 Pro smartphone will come with a 32-megapixel front-facing camera that will support wide-angle image capture, Portrait mode, and around 12 different types of filters.

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It will come packed with 5,260mAh battery and will support 30W fast charging technology that could fully charge the device in just 65 minutes. TENAA listing revealed that the phone will be featuring a 6.47-inch OLED Full HD+ display panel having a waterdrop notch.

Under the hood, the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G octa-core processor, which is actually indented for gaming-centric devices. The phone will have up to 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage.

The company has also teased another smartphone named Mi Note 10 and has confirmed that the device will make its global debut on 14th November in Poland. The upcoming Mi Note 10 smartphone is the re-branded model of the Mi CC9 Pro for the global markets.

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Smartphone industry is actively experimenting with the bio-metric security and is now offering in-display fingerprint sensor. Many smartphone manufacturers are now offering sixth-generation technology which provider wider fingerprint recognition area.

If you are among those who wishes for the whole smartphone display to act as a fingerprint sensor, then we have some good news. It seems that Apple is working on acoustic fingerprint imaging technology that can offer full-screen Touch ID.

This will enable the company to offer Touch ID on iPhone without the need to embeds the sensor in the home button, and the company the continue offering clean full-screen design for the front panel.

With iPhone X, Apple replaced Touch ID with Face ID which uses TrueDepth camera array. This enabled the US-based company to have edge-to-edge display. However, Face ID still has some flaws that Touch ID continues to be better at, such as unlocking the iPhone without looking at it.

In a patent granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, the company describes an acoustic imaging system for a surface. It is using a combination of acoustic transducers to vibrate a surface in a specific way, which can effectively turn the entire display into a fingerprint reader.

Another patent named “Acoustic imaging system for spatial demodulation of acoustic waves,” covers the same subject area with a relatively similar technique, except that it goes into greater detail relating to transducer placement.

In the second patent, the company explicitly suggests that the object being detected “is a finger,” while the user input surface could be formed from “glass, sapphire, or metal,” with the obvious application being a touch-enabled display.

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While we doubt if Apple will move back to Touch ID for iPhone after ditching it in favor of Face ID. However, the full-screen fingerprint sensor will eventually become a reality given that most manufacturers have now adopted in-display fingerprint sensor. It’s just a matter of time and it will be interesting to see which make becomes the first to do so.

(Sources – 1, 2)

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Xiaomi is all set to launch its flagship smartphone — Xiaomi Mi 9 in the coming days and before the company officially unveils the device, Xiaomi and its executives have been confirming features of the phone to build up the hype.

In the latest move, Xiaomi President Lin Bin revealed that the Mi 9 will come with an in-display fingerprint sensor which will be the fastest yet available in any smartphone. He further added that the company has opted for the fifth generation of the in-display fingerprint sensor.

While shedding light of the benefits of this next-generation in-display fingerprint sensor, Lin Bin said that it will be 25 percent faster than the current-generation fingerprint sensors offered in other devices. Further, he also revealed that it is optimized for special use-cases such as dry fingers and low temperature, which in turn increases the unlocking rate significantly compared to the previous generation solution.

Also, it comes with a night mode, in which the brightness of the fingerprint recognition area gets automatically adjusted depending on the environment. The company has also opted to increase the unlock area compared to the previous generation and the placement position has also been altered. This is done to blend the experience to that of the traditional fingerprint sensor.

Recently, Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, revealed that the Mi 9 will have 40 percent smaller chin compared to its predecessor and the waterdrop notch display of the smartphone will offer 90.7 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Xiaomi is using a 6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display which is supplied by Samsung. It also has 103.8 percent NTSC super wide color gamut and up to 600 nits of brightness. There are also a bunch of optimizations for different usage scenarios such as night mode and game mode. It also features a second-generation “sun-screen” that has better color reproduction and brightness under strong light.

Reports indicate that the Mi 9’s display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 and also comes with an eye-protection certification from the German Institute of Electrical Engineers. It will pack Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, triple rear cameras, and a 3500mAh battery with 27W fast charging support.

Read More: Xiaomi’s VP confirms that a Redmi smartphone will come powered by Snapdragon 855 processor

The base variant of the Xiaomi Mi 9 is speculated to be around 3,000 Yuan while the top-end variant is likely to exceed the 4,000 Yuan mark. To know for sure how the company prices its flagship handset as well as its availability information, we’ll have to wait for the official launch next week.

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Since last year, the smartphone manufacturers have been focused on offering a user-friendly way to unlock the smartphones and most manufacturers decided that the in-display fingerprint sensor is the way to go.

While in-display fingerprint sensor technology has been appreciated by the users, there are a few issues that users are facing. With development moving forward, China-based Xiaomi has announced a new fingerprint sensor technology that fixes two major issues related to the in-display fingerprint sensor, enhancing the user experience.

Xiaomi has announced that its new technology will enable users to unlock their devices in a single touch which is difficult with the current-generation technology. As per the company, with the current in-display fingerprint tech, many times users need to scan their fingerprint multiple times to unlock the device, which the company has now fixed.

Further, the company says that it has also increased the screen area which can read the user’s fingerprint to unlock the device. Currently, the fingerprint sensor works on a pre-defined area/spot of the screen but with Xiaomi’s solution, that is no longer the case.

However, the company has not said which smartphone will come equipped with this new in-display fingerprint sensor but has suggested that the future smartphone will have this technology. While the company has not named the phone, it’s likely that the upcoming flagship Xiaomi Mi 9 could feature this new in-display fingerprint sensor.

According to the rumors, the Xiaomi Mi 9 will come with a waterdrop notch display and is expected to house a 6.4-inch AMOLED screen with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and Dull HD+ resolution. The smartphone is said to come with a 48-megapixel primary camera sensor.

Under the hood, the phone will be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 octa-core 7nm chipset but it’s confirmed that the phone won’t be featuring X50 LTE modem that offers 5G connectivity. Instead, the SD855 will come equipped with an X24 LTE modem.

While the phone’s 3,500mAh battery is said to support 32W fast charging technology, the Mi 9 won’t carry support for wireless charging. A recent report had claimed that it could be the first smartphone from the company to arrive with triple rear cameras.

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The Xiaomi Mi 9 is speculated to carry a price tag of 2,999 Yuan (approximately $436) for the base model that includes 6GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. Although the company has not yet announced the launch date, reports indicate that the Mi 9 will be launched in March but there’s a possibility that the Chinese company could showcase the phone at MWC 2019.

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A few months ago, Chinese smartphone manufacturer launched its latest flagship smartphone named OnePlus 6T, which is the successor of the OnePlus 6 launched a few months before 6T’s launch.

One of the major highlights of the smartphone is that it comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor, making it the first smartphone from OnePlus to have this feature. According to the company, it can unlock the phone in just 0.34 seconds.

Pete Lau, co-founder of OnePlus had said that the company was testing the use of in-display fingerprint sensor since the OnePlus 5T but didn’t use it until OP6T because “the technology wasn’t up to the standards of speed and reliability” of OnePlus.

Explaining the usage of the in-display fingerprint sensor, the company says that when a user places their finger on the sensor, it sends out light to illuminate the finger, allowing the sensor to “see” the user’s fingerprint. During the testing stage, the company discovered that green light gives the best results and that’s why they went for green color.

Apart from the high-tech sensor, OnePlus says that it also uses sophisticated algorithms to improve over time as they learn more about the way users unlock phones. Yale Liu, a software engineer at OnePlus says that every time a user unlocks the phone, the sensor also records areas of the finger that weren’t registered in the initial fingerprint setup stage.

The data is then added to the existing data, making it more complete. So, every time the in-display fingerprint sensor is used, it gathers more data about the user’s fingerprint. This means that over time, the phone will unlock even faster. He further adds that the algorithms are also able to figure out when the user’s fingerprint is different than usual – if their finger is wet or if they have a cut on it, etc.

The OnePlus 6T comes with a 6.41-inch Optic AMOLED Full HD+ display and is powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor with either 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB of internal storage. It features a 16MP + 20MP rear camera and a 16MP front-facing camera and comes with an impressive set of features for making photography experience better. The phone runs on OxygenOS 9.0 based on Android Pie and is backed by a 3,700mAh battery.

Read More: Leaked official renders reveal OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition will have faster-charging technology tagged Warp Charge 30

Meanwhile, the Chinese company has scheduled a launch event on 11th December at McLaren’s HQ to launch a special limited-edition smartphone. The same device, which is expected to be the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition with 10GB RAM, is scheduled to launch in India on 12th December.

(Source)

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The Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS is the first and only Huawei phone to come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. It may not be the only one for long. There are reports the soon-to-be-announced Honor 10 may join it.

According to a Twitter post from @HonorNews, a trusted source said at least one model of the Honor 10 will have its “fingerprint sensor on display”. It also adds that there will be several variants of the Honor 10.

The tweet was quoted by popular leaker Roland Quandt and he says that a trusted source has corroborated the rumor about a model having an in-display scanner. Notwithstanding, he is sure there is a model without the fingerprint in the display.

We was just informed by a trusted source that at least one model of the upcoming honor 10 will have the fingerprint sensor on display. Accordingly, there will be several variants of the #honor10.

— Honor News (@HonorNews) April 18, 2018

Looks a lot like Honor will have more than one version of the #honor10 – trusted source corroborating rumors about a variant with in-screen fingerprint reader. (I know for a fact, that there will be a model without this) https://t.co/hL6LyPCdme

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) April 18, 2018

We won’t be surprised if Honor releases multiple models with the scanner in different positions. Vivo did the same with the X21 which has a version with an in-display fingerprint scanner called the Vivo X21 UD.

The Honor 10 launches tomorrow, so we will not have to wait for long to confirm if the above is true. Leaked renders already show that the fingerprint scanner is on the chin in one variant.

The Honor 10 will have a 5.84” FHD+ display with a notch at the top. The Kirin 970 will be the chipset of choice and it will be paired with 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Storage should also reach 128GB depending on the variant.

READ MORE: Honor Magicbook Sporting Ultra-thin Bezels Will Launch As Honor’s First Laptop on April 19

According to TENAA, it will have a 16MP + 24MP dual camera combo on the rear that are arranged horizontally. It will also have a 24MP selfie camera, run EMUI 8.1 and have a 3,320mAh battery.

After launching in China tomorrow, it should head to Europe in May.

(Sources: 1, 2)

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Huawei’s Porsche Design Mate RS comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner in addition to a rear-mounted one. While most manufacturers will still continue to release phones with the latter design, a few models will come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. A published patent shows Meizu’s take on the in-display fingerprint scanner is quite different from what we have seen in other phones.

According to the patent’s description, the sensors that detect the fingerprint are located around the bezels and not beneath the main screen. There are multiple ultrasonic sensors located around the bezels that sense touch from a user.

If the phone is locked and a user touches the bezels, the ultrasonic sensors send info to the processor controlling the fingerprint sensor. This processor then communicates with the phone to detect the fingerprint pattern recorded by the sensors and see if it matches what is in the database. If it matches, the phone is then unlocked.

In the image provided, the areas marked “H” are where the ultrasonic sensors are located. As you can see they go around the display, so irrespective of where you place a registered finger, the sensors should detect it.

READ MORE: Meizu 15 Plus Shows Up On TENAA With 16:9 QHD AMOLED Display, Dual Cameras

The patent is a bit weird since it means the bezels manufacturers are trying to remove for a larger screen-to-body ratio is still there. But one way or the other, it is still different from having the fingerprint scanner in front, on the side, or at the back of the phone.

Meizu filed the patent back in November, 2017 and it was published on March 23.

(Source)

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Apple’s iPhone X left some fans disappointed as a result of the lack of a front fingerprint sensor on the device. Instead, the iPhone X is equipped with facial recognition. The lack of a front fingerprint sensor is due to the full-screen design the device packs. However, it may soon become possible to get a front fingerprint sensor on a full-screen smartphone.

Recently, the prototype of a Vivo smartphone with in-display fingerprint sensor was spotted online. The in-display fingerprint technology was said to have been manufactured by Synaptics who confirmed this via an article on Forbes. This technology seems to have seen some progress as a new GIF image has emerged showing what is believed to be the Vivo smartphone in action. The fingerprint recognition technology is located on the display and would unlock the phone by just tapping the corresponding area. The GIF image also suggests the response time of the technology on the smartphone is rapid and works with just a tap. 

Read More: Vivo’s 2018 Smartphone Will Feature Clear ID In-Display Fingerprint Reader by Synaptics

Earlier reports had shown that the technology is ready for mass production as Synaptics has reportedly figured out how to mass produce it.  The fingerprint recognition process relies on optical technology and it utilizes localized TLC / AES / ECC encryption which ensures security.  According to Forbes, pressing the button present on the right side of a pre-production Vivo phone wakes it and displays an illuminated fingerprint image at the bottom of the screen. Users can simply touch it to unlock the phone instantly. Synaptics also confirmed that the in-display fingerprint technology is designed for bezel-less OLED infinity displays. We can’t say when the Vivo model will be launched but it is expected sometime in the first quarter of 2018.

(source)

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The guys from Asia, especially China, seem to be stealing the show at MWC 2017 in Barcelona. First, we saw the OPPO 5X camera technology, then ZTE gave us the Gigabit concept phone capable of 5G connectivity. Meizu also announced its Super mCharge at MWC 2017 which is capable of delivery full charge in just 19 minutes.

Another Chinese tech company Goodix has unveiled its new innovative technology for mobiles which it calls in-display fingerprint sensor on the floor of MWC 2017.  The technology is the first of its kind in the world and it is integrated into the AMOLED display of mobile devices. The Goodix In-Display Fingerprint Sensor can transform a defined part of the display into a fingerprint sensor, thus removing the need for a fingerprint sensor button or a rear-mounted sensor.

The fingerprint technology also supports the latest curved displays which are presently the beautiful brides of flagships. As a result of the elimination of the need for a physical button under the display, the technology thus increases the screen-to-body ratio on smartphones using the technology. The Goodix In-Display fingerprint sensor is compact in size and has very low power consumption as well.

Read Also: ZTE Launches Blade V8 Mini and V8 Lite with Dual Cameras & Android Nougat

Goodix has got years of experience in the development of fingerprint recognition technologies and its solutions are used by mobile phone makers like Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE, LG, Nokia, and ASUS. So we expect the In-Display fingerprint sensor to be one great innovative technology that may find its way into smartphones soon. Meanwhile, you can learn more about this innovation from Goodix’s official website.

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