The Samsung Galaxy S10 Will Go Ultrasonic

We’re still several months away from the release of a new flagship smartphone from Samsung but that doesn’t mean the rumours and leaks aren’t coming in thick and fast. Ming-Chi Kuo, from TF International Securities, has a reputation for delivering high quality information on upcoming products and his sources have given him the inside track on a number of things we’ve not picked up on before.

Kuo says there will be three new Galaxy S10 models with 5.8-inch, 6.1-inch 6.4-inch screen options. The larger models will have a fingerprint-on-display (FOD) scanner so you can touch the display to unlock the device. That scanner, which will be part of the two larger devices, will be ultrasonic according to Kuo with the smaller S10 having a fingerprint scanner built onto the side of the handset.

Qualcomm has been developing this kind of scanner for some time. It works by sending ultrasonic sound waves to penetrate the skin and create a 3D model of fingerprints. It can also work through 400 micron glass and metal.

That fingerprint scanning capability will be a major difference between the next generation handsets released by Samsung and Apple.

Samsung has retained a fingerprint scanner on the back of the Galaxy S9 but moving it to the front, like on the Vivo X21 is, in my view, a more convenient arrangement.

As someone who has been using FaceID on the iPhone X for some time and used TouchID, Apple’s fingerprint recognition system, before that I really miss the fingerprint scanner. In many situations, such as when using Apple Pay or use unlocking my device when it’s sitting on the desk, it’s a far easier solution. Samsung will have a substantial advantage over Apple if they get the FOD scanner right.

With the Galaxy S10 expected to ship with five cameras as well as a bezel-free display and monstrously fast CPU, we can expect Samsung to look at Apple’s 2018 iPhone range when it arrives in September or October this year and leapfrog it.

Kuo predicts Samsung could ship 40 million Galaxy S10 phones in 2019 with the two larger models, which will be more expensive, expected to dominate.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


Leave a Reply