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Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
According to a report by SamMobile, South Korea-based Samsung is planning to take notes from Apple and include a fingerprint sensor with its next smartphone device.
Just like Apple’s iPhone 5S, Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S5 will be imbedding a fingerprint sensor in its home button, the report says. The difference between how Samsung will use this technology versus Apple is that the Galaxy S5 will require users to swipe the entire pad with the finger for the sensor to catch the print.
Previous reports had said the fingerprint sensor would be embedded into the display, instead of utilizing the phone’s elongated home button.
SamMobile reported that the Galaxy S5 will be utilizing the fingerprint technology through its operating system and will enable users to register eight fingerprints and assign each one to different tasks as shortcuts.
The smartphone will feature a new Personal Folder and Private mode so users can hide personal apps, widgets and content that will only be accessible with certain fingerprints.
Samsung will be unveiling the new smartphone next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the Unpacked 2014 Event. Other reports have said the Galaxy S5 will include a 5.2-inch display with a higher resolution screen than the Galaxy S4, which features a 5-inch, 1080p resolution display.
“Fingerprint is necessary for a star model,” Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-respected analyst, wrote in a research note obtained by AppleInsider last month. “Because Apple’s iPhone 5S and HTC’s One Max have fingerprint, S5 the star model can’t lack the function even [if] the solution (area type same as iPhone 5S’s provided by Validity) is not as mature as iPhone 5S’s.”
SamMobile added on to the report saying that the Galaxy S5 will also show real-time imaging of the fingerprint on the display as it is being swiped over the sensor.
Samsung is also expected to be releasing a new version of its Galaxy Gear smart watch at the Barcelona event February 24.
Lee Young Hee, the executive vice president of mobile at Samsung, told Bloomberg in January that a new smart watch would be debuting in 2014, alongside the Galaxy S5.
Analysts view the first edition of the Galaxy Gear as a rough draft, because the watch has to be used in conjunction with Samsung devices. The new watch is reportedly going to be able to be used with smartphones outside of the Samsung branding.