Windows 10 will enable fingerprint scanning support on mobile devices this summer. The development was revealed in a WinHEC (Windows Hardware Engineering Community) presentation this week.
It’s a further extension of the biometric capabilities of Windows 10’s Windows Hello security platform, which has already enabled fingerprint authentication via the Surface Pro 4 Type Cover, and more widely offers authentication based on facial recognition. As far as mobile devices go, Microsoft has so far stuck with iris scanning for biometric authentication, but the move to fingerprint scanning could allow Windows 10 smartphones to integrate biometric authentication more cheaply, which would likely appeal to third party OEMs as well – indeed, HP’s new Elite x3 appears to be the first Windows 10 mobile device to sport a fingerprint sensor.
The move may also be designed to cater to a mass market increasingly familiar with mobile fingerprint sensors, which are now pretty much standard features after companies like Apple pioneered the trend over the last couple of years. And given the strength of the Microsoft Windows brand, the move should help to further popularize this kind of biometric authentication in the mass market.
The Windows Hello update enabling fingerprint scanning support is expected to launch this July.
(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)
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