“Synaptics says that its solution is not only in mass production, but is to be integrated into a ‘soon to be announced Tier 1 customer phone.'”
Synaptics‘ in-display fingerprint sensor solution is now in mass production with “a top five OEM”, the company has announced.
Dubbed Clear ID FS9500, the solution is designed for integration into the screen of a smartphone, activating only when the authentication process is prompted. According to a statement announcing the development, the optical scanner “excels with wet, dry and cold fingers,” and is “durable, scratchproof and waterproof.” Synaptics also says Clear ID is “twice as fast as 3D facial recognition”, alluding to the Face ID infrared facial recognition system on Apple’s iPhone X.
Synaptics’ statement also emphasized the solution’s ability to facilitate large-size displays that take up the entire front face of a smartphone – a key design trend in today’s smartphone market, and part of the reason that Apple abandoned its iconic fingerprint scanning home button on the iPhone X. Other smartphone makers are likely aiming to best Apple on the biometrics front by incorporating multimodal capabilities while retaining a full-size display.
Synaptics is not the only biometrics specialist seeking to pioneer in-display fingerprint sensor technology, with Qualcomm and Fingerprint Cards both having also announced solutions based on ultrasonic imaging, unlike Synaptics’ optical solution. Synaptics says that its solution is not only in mass production, but is to be integrated into a “soon to be announced Tier 1 customer phone.”
In its statement, Synaptics also placed a strong emphasis on security, asserting that its Clear ID solution will feature AI technology designed to detect spoofing attempts, and sophisticated encryption.
The company says it will demo its technology at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Follow Us