Support for Multimodal Biometrics Baked Into New Qualcomm Snapdragon Chip

“…Qualcomm says the processor features built-in support for biometric authentication based on facial, fingerprint, iris, and voice recognition.”

Qualcomm has announced the latest in its Snapdragon line of processor solutions, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform.

It’s a solution that is clearly designed for applications in high-end mobile devices, supporting a number of advanced features. The Snapdragon 845 supports Ultra HD displays, slow motion 720p video capture at 480 FPS, depth sensing imaging, low-power voice activation, and VR and AR applications. In terms of connectivity, in addition to the usual support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Snapdragon 845 also features the Snapdragon X20 LTE modem, supporting peak download speeds of 1.2 GBPS.

The processor solution is also notable for its security features. Qualcomm has introduced what it calls a Secure Processing Unit, a “hardware isolated subsystem… designed to add vault-like characteristics to existing layers of Qualcomm Technologies’ mobile security solutions,” according to a statement from the company. And Qualcomm says the processor features built-in support for biometric authentication based on facial, fingerprint, iris, and voice recognition.

That points to the growing importance of biometric security in mobile devices as leading players like Samsung and Apple move beyond the fingerprint scanning technology that is now commonplace on smartphones and embrace potentially more sophisticated modalities. And it means more security for end users as they enjoy other splashy features based on the Snapdragon 845’s multimedia and connectivity capabilities.