Samsung is expected to announce its new flagship smartphone on March 29th, and information about the new device continues to trickle in. A new report from Investor cites an official statement from Samsung that says the Galaxy S8 may come with facial recognition.
The Galaxy S8 will reportedly add an extra layer of security with biometric facial recognition, along with an iris scanner. "Due to certain limitations of iris scanning such as speed and accuracy, we have decided to add facial recognition to the Galaxy S8," Samsung's official statement reads.
"With a face scanner, unlocking the phone will take less than 0.01 seconds to unlock the phone," the company reportedly added. Samsung has also relocated the fingerprint scanner from the physical home button to the rear panel.
Facial recognition on the Galaxy S8 is sure to allow the smartphone to compete with the rumored iPhone Edition, which is said to feature a 3D sensing front camera with facial recognition capabilities.
Apple could make the redesign move for the same reason as Samsung, the home button with Touch ID could be removed from the front of the phone, while fingerprint scanning technology could be integrated into the display.
The two biggest smartphone makers have decided to completely change the design of their upcoming flagships this year. But Apple will release the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus this fall with roughly the same design elements as their predecessors.
Samsung will provide a larger display with even smaller bezels for the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+. Beyond that, the smartphones will see the introduction of Samsung's own virtual assistants, Bixby, and DeX Station, which will allow the phone to provide PC.
