Android smartphones organise and record our daily lives, most personal details and log where we are and when we are there. This id dangerous information in the wrong hands which is why many new devices come with biometric security as standard.
Nowadays, frontier technologies are welded into our daily activities, smartphones, wearables and glasses etc. To keep the data these technologies stored safe we once relied on simple passwords or pattern locks but these forms of security are now outdated with newer biometric security. Biometric unlock means that only a certain person with the correct biometric data can get to your private information. In this article we are going to explore a few of the most used biometric features used in smartphones.
Fingerprint recognition
The first smartphone with fingerprint reader was the Motorola ATRIX launched back in 2011. It was considered the gadget James Bond would be proud of.
Nowadays, fingerprint scanners are becoming standard on many smartphones. In 2013 Apple, introduced the iPhone 5S with touch ID. Users could unlock the phone with the simple press of a finger. In February 2014, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy 5S packed with its own fingerprint scanner. Meanwhile, in China, manufacturers have been fast at adopt finger print scanners in to their products.
China’s Fingerprint technology
The fingerprint sensor on the left is from one of the best fingerprint sensor manufactory in China. The one on the right is iPhone6’s fingerprint scanner.
While the Touch ID sensor is regarded as one of the most advanced and accurate on the market the sensing area resolution is just 88 x 88. The Chinese made sensor, found on many Chinese Android phones (and rumoured to be found on the Elephone P7000) as a resolution of 120 x 120. This offers a better degree of accuracy, but also means the scanner can accurately read a fingerprint even if smudged or dirty.
The algorithm model
The core advantage of the sensor chip is that it uses “Pattern Match” method, it records as much information as possible. The accuracy of the sensor improves significantly because of the high level of compute ability. More specifically, even the rough image could be recognized. 
Face recognition
While fingerprint scanners require your phone to have specialist hardware, Google has put an improved version of Android’s face unlock technology inside the Android 5.0 Lollipop update. This “Trusted Face” feature uses the front camera of your phone to scan your face. Once it gets a match, the lock screen automatically prompts you to swipe and unlock the device. A neat feature but what happens if you have a twin?
Chinese Android phones shipping with Lollipop
There are currently a few Chinese Android smartphones which ship with Android 5.0 as standard, below are the details of a few. In addition to those on the list there are also plenty of over Chinese devices that are currently waiting to receive Lollipop updates.
[table id=203 /]Iris recognition
Moving on to the next-generation of authentication system we have Iris authentication. Fujitsu first that they were working on the tech on March 2nd, 2015. They claimed that the system has been built into a prototype smartphone. The system is so fast that an iris is read as soon as the infrared can senses it allowing the screen to unlock quickly but only to those authorised to use the device. It will be a very safe and convenient to use system once released.
The chip authenticates the pattern of a person’s iris, which is the ring around the pupil of the eye. The pattern of one’s iris does not change much at all after the age of two, it is difficult to injure its surface and to forge.
As smartphones have evolved we have seen manufactures stop competing based on processor cores, screen size, resolution and camera hardware. The next smartphone arms race will be battled out over biometric security.
With a good number of Chinese smartphones on the market now with fingerprint security is this a feature that you now currently use? Is it a feature you require for your next smartphone? Let us know in the comments below.
Really informative and a very interesting look into how fingerprint scanners work. Thanks guest poster!
Biometric security is a horrible idea for at least 2 reasons.
As long as govs behave as they do ,they’ll get their hands on our fingerprints and be able to easier identify with certainty who’s using a device.It’s great for NSA, Putin or red China but not so great for the human race.
And then it makes online more secure but offline a lot less secure and nobody thinks about offline. It’s a hell of a lot easier for a criminal or an abusive gov (or gov agency) to steal or forcefully extract the “password” from you.
As long as our thoughts can’t be easily read, passwords are the most secure solution.
And btw , you can change a password when it’s compromised but you can’t change your fingerprints. Once your fingerprints are compromised you are done, using the technology is not an option anymore and stealing fingerprints from a distance will be easier and easier.
This is the tech sector not seeing the forest because of the trees, they see passwords as not ideal and they got too excited about something they think it’s a solution.
Yup, like most tech there are good and bad sides to everything
Nothing’s secure outside of the Blackphone, and even that has some security issues.
The best out there,is from Fingerprint Card (Mate 7,Oppo N3) the 1 touch vs. touch and stay, Apple, Meizu (Goodix)
The sensor is made by SMIC and Crucialtec make the Module for these 2 mobilos
Info here http://www.fingerprints.com/products/touch_sensor/
By the way, atleast NSA know, i am typing this from my PC….. 🙂
Really informative and a very interesting look into how fingerprint scanners work. Thanks guest poster!
Biometric security is a horrible idea for at least 2 reasons.
As long as govs behave as they do ,they’ll get their hands on our fingerprints and be able to easier identify with certainty who’s using a device.It’s great for NSA, Putin or red China but not so great for the human race.
And then it makes online more secure but offline a lot less secure and nobody thinks about offline. It’s a hell of a lot easier for a criminal or an abusive gov (or gov agency) to steal or forcefully extract the “password” from you.
As long as our thoughts can’t be easily read, passwords are the most secure solution.
And btw , you can change a password when it’s compromised but you can’t change your fingerprints. Once your fingerprints are compromised you are done, using the technology is not an option anymore and stealing fingerprints from a distance will be easier and easier.
This is the tech sector not seeing the forest because of the trees, they see passwords as not ideal and they got too excited about something they think it’s a solution.
Yup, like most tech there are good and bad sides to everything
Nothing’s secure outside of the Blackphone, and even that has some security issues.
The best out there,is from Fingerprint Card (Mate 7,Oppo N3) the 1 touch vs. touch and stay, Apple, Meizu (Goodix)
The sensor is made by SMIC and Crucialtec make the Module for these 2 mobilos
Info here http://www.fingerprints.com/products/touch_sensor/
By the way, atleast NSA know, i am typing this from my PC….. 🙂
Your fingerprints will be sent to China
and they’ll make clones based on them !
Your fingerprints will be sent to China
and they’ll make clones based on them !