Police forces in London, UK, have confirmed they will be switching on controversial Live Facial Recognition (LFR) systems, aiming to spot known criminals or suspects in crime hotspots around the city. The system will be able to flag individuals on a watch-list, picking known faces out of the crowd.
JDI or Japan Display, Inc. is perhaps best known for making, as its name implies, display panels, many of which end up on smartphones. It does, however, also dabble in technologies only related to screens on the periphery, like biometrics and imaging sensors that can be placed under its display. Its latest boast may not yet have any display-oriented application but the new ultra-thin image sensor it has developed is in itself already impressive in how it combines two properties often found in two separate sensors.
Plastic cards tried to make paper cash a thing of the past and phones are now trying to return the favor. All of these payment systems, however, have one thing in common. They all require you to carry something with you, something you could potentially lose. Your hand, on the other hand, is always by your side (hopefully) which is why Amazon is reportedly looking into technology that will let people pay with just their palm.
As anybody who has tried an in-display fingerprint sensor will have discovered, not all biometrics are created equal, and Qualcomm is hoping its new 3D Sonic Max system edges ahead of the pack. Set to debut on smartphones in 2020, the latest generation of the ultrasonic fingerprint biometrics aims to re-right the ship after frustrations around Samsung's Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10 security.
Qualcomm has revealed its newest security system, with 3D Sonic Max promising faster, easier, and more secure in-display fingerprint recognition. The new technology is the latest iteration of Qualcomm's ultrasonic biometrics, dramatically increasing the space that your fingertip will be recognized on a device.
Facial recognition is slowly but surely becoming the focal point of the next tug-of-war on privacy as more and more companies and governments are embracing the technology for their own needs. While an effective tool in safeguarding phones and computers, it is also feared to be a more subtle but more intrusive way to monitor people without their knowledge. It is against that backdrop of uncertainty that the US Homeland Security is proposing that face recognition checks in all US airports be done on all travelers, including the country's own citizens.
Although rumored and expected to be one of the first, Samsung came terribly late to the in-display fingerprint scanner party. Perhaps in an attempt to make the delay worthwhile, Samsung also opted to adopt a kind of biometric technology that none of its rivals had: Qualcomm's in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. While presented as a feature bullet point, that has become a security liability for this year's Samsung flagships and it may force the world's largest smartphone maker to abandon ship quickly.
Although not as damning as the fate that awaits Huawei, Samsung is facing its own ordeal that could damage its reputation in the financial and security industries. Its ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint was already long overdue but is now proving to be less secure and accurate as it was promised to be. Samsung has already begun rolling out an update that addresses the latest complaint but, while swift, might be a bit too late to assure some banks for a while.
Google will update its face unlock system so that the Pixel 4's security can't be bypassed even when owners are asleep, but don't expect that to happen any time soon. The new Android smartphone does away with the fingerprint sensor of its predecessors in favor of a new, ultra-fast face unlock, but the security tech hasn't quite lived up to expectations.
Google went all out with face recognition on the Pixel 4, removing the fingerprint sensor altogether. Google strongly believes in the speed and accuracy of its technology and, for the most part, that seems to be the case based on initial hands-on of the phones. Unfortunately, Google may have overlooked or at least neglected to consider the importance of actually paying attention to the screen when it's being unlocked, something it has gotten a lot of criticism for. That eye detection is now promised to come in the future but it might take months before it rolls out to the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL.
By now, you've probably heard of a worrying flaw with the ultrasonic fingerprint readers present in the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10. When using some third-party screen protectors on either phone, the fingerprint reader can apparently grant access to fingerprints that weren't previously registered. Obviously, that entirely defeats the purpose of securing your phone with a fingerprint in the first place, so it goes without saying this is something that needs to be fixed.
Google's Face Unlock on the new Pixel 4 may make accessing the new Android smartphone more straightforward, but it could also make it easier for others to unlock the device when you're sleeping. The latest in the Pixel series does away with the fingerprint sensor on the last-generation Pixel 3, instead recognizing faces for what Google has said will be faster and more secure.