Through a seemingly accidental leak, Google appears to have confirmed that its next flagship smartphone will feature a biometric authentication system based on facial recognition.
Google has thus far been tight-lipped about the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro smartphones ahead of their scheduled October 6 launch date. But details about the devices were briefly posted on the Google Play Console, a dashboard tool used by developers of apps and games available through the Google Play store.
Spotted by Android expert Mishaal Rahman, the device specifications included support for “android.hardware.biometrics.face”, seemingly confirming that they will come with a Face Unlock feature.
Such a feature is not unexpected. Google eschewed Face Unlock on its Pixel 6 device, opting instead for in-display fingerprint scanning as its sole biometric modality, and it was a disaster. Due to a relatively sluggish and unreliable performance, the fingerprint-scanning system was derided by critics as the Pixel 6’s one major flaw, and Google subsequently went to a lot of effort to try to ameliorate it, ultimately switching to a different sensor component for the followup Pixel 6A device.
The ultimate course correction, it was speculated, would be the return of a Face Unlock system in the next Pixel device. And now it looks like that’s probably what Google is going to deliver.
Aside from the big facial recognition hint, the leaked specifications also suggest that Google’s new Pixel devices will feature eSIM Multiple Enabled Profiles support, meaning that each device could integrate two active eSIMs at the same time.
Google deleted the Pixel 7 details from the Google Play Console shortly after Rahman brought them to light.
Source: Android Police
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