The Apple-Samsung smartphone supremacy battle has sadly been carried out at least as much in courts as in stores in the past couple of years and there’s more than a slim possibility that’ll be the status quo in the near future as well.
Although it’s probably way too early to call it, one particular future patent brawl between the two giants might have fingerprint scanning technology in the center of it all. Apple’s next-gen iPhone (be it 5S or 6) is rumored to feature a customized Home button with a built-in fingerprint sensor, while Samsung is apparently working on a similar implementation of the tech too.
Based on recently discovered evidence, it’s been years since Sammy has started working on fingerprint protection for its Galaxy smartphones. As a matter of fact, you could go so far as to assume the S3 was supposed to be their first handheld to pack a fingerprint sensor.
And yet not even the S4 packs such an innovative (for phones, at least) function. But if I were a betting man, I’d put at least… a quarter on the S5 being the road-opener after all.
Otherwise, how can you explain the USPTO (US Patent & Trademark Office) has granted the Koreans a patent for “fingerprint sensor and method of operating the same”?
Sure, the patent was filed a long time ago (16 months back, to be more exact), but the approval’s timing has to have something to do with Sammy’s future plans. I’d even put a nickel on next fall’s Galaxy Note 3 being the first phone to feature fingerprint scanning technology.
But let’s leave the guessing game aside for a second and let’s focus on the facts. For instance, one of the patent’s images confirms Samsung is planning on placing the fingerprint sensors in the gadgets’ home buttons (lawsuit alert!).
On the other hand, “the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto”, so they could switch the location after all. Naturally, the patent includes a boatload of very specific technical details too, which I’d rather not go into and thus not spoil all the fun for you.
Read more: http://vr-zone.com/articles/fingerprint-sensor-for-upcoming-samsung-smartphones-confirmed-by-new-patent/20504.html#ixzz2Ua6EbUZ7
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