After Samsung took it one step further with its iris scanner, Apple is making efforts to catch up with biometric security systems after purchasing RealFace.
Now that Apple has acquired RealFace, the Israeli facial recognition startup, Samsung buckles up for an even more fierce race against the Cupertino-based giant to equip its upcoming smart devices with more futuristic bio-authentication services.
Local reports state that Apple has purchased RealFace only recently without confirming a price. This leads iPhone enthusiasts to believe the company’s upcoming flagship devices will come with top of the line biometric-converged security systems. The first to wow the mobile industry, however, was the South Korean tech giant. Last year, Samsung equipped its ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 with an iris scanner, a first for mobile smart devices. The change came years after most smartphone manufacturers worldwide revolved around fingerprint locker systems as the main security feature for their handsets.
However, these days, a growing number of people chooses to engage in financial transactions using their smartphones. This made handset manufacturers put more effort into designing more advanced security systems by integrating biometric identification and authentication systems into the smart devices.
During the Note 7’s unveiling last year, Samsung hyped its iris scanning security feature saying it would drastically reduce any threats posed by hackers to the smart unit’s owner, at a time when fintech was on the rise, an era which encouraged more users to use financial and banking apps.
A mobile industry source said smartphone manufacturers are seeking to diversify their revenue sources into the mobile payment services market that includes Apple and Samsung pay.
“The market will grow bigger at a faster rate down the road, and things are no different for the mobile authentication industry for which biometric authentication gains the spotlight due to its difficulty to duplicate”, said an anonymous mobile industry source.
Furthermore, it seems bio-authentication systems will not be limited to only the mobile and IT industry, added the source. Among other industries, the medical one is taking a special interest in the futuristic authentication and identification systems, as well.
Last year, Samsung Electronics said they will expand the biometric security system so that the iris scanner will protect users when making transactions, or paying certain taxes online. Ultimately, as the Galaxy Note 7 sported the feature, it would come as no surprise if Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S8, will also have an iris scanner.
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