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As of 2018, the mobile fingerprint sensor could be placed on touch screens. Or at least that promises the company Qualcomm, known for the manufacture of processors for smartphones.
Qualcomm ensures that its brand is ready to become the official supplier of fingerprint scanner screens from next year. If manufacturers follow the trend, little by little mobiles with a fingerprint reader on the start button or on the back would disappear.
One of the main advantages at the design level is the possibility of manufacturing phones with screens without any border. No extra space for buttons or sensors would be necessary on the front.
Smart fingerprint readers, complete and integrated into the screen
Qualcomm has announced that from 2018 it will be able to offer touchscreens with a smart fingerprint reader to mobile manufacturers. These sensors, in addition to detecting the fingerprint for unlocking the phone, will be able to measure heart rate and blood flow.
It is worth mentioning another striking fact: the fingerprint reader would also work under water, which would allow to improve even more waterproof smartphones.
Now, the screens have to meet a series of requirements to be compatible: they will have to be OLED panels less than 1200 microns thick. The sensor cannot be installed on LCD type panels.
On the other hand, Qualcomm has developed two more basic fingerprint sensors that use ultrasound to function. These sensors cannot work directly on the touch screen, but can be placed under a sheet of metal or glass.
In any case, these advances would allow the reader to be placed directly "under the surface" of the phone. There would no longer be a need for home buttons on the front or “holes” for the sensor on the back of smartphones.
Users would notice these improvements especially at the design level, since the phone case would not be interrupted by any element.
