We’ve seen Qualcomm’s new take on biometrics, it’s only now we realize it has a proper name – the Qualcomm Snapdragon Sense ID biometrics. It’s distinctly different from the way Apple and Samsung has envisioned biometric security for devices – that is, through a capacitive button. Qualcomm uses ultrasonic waves to read your fingerprint, and now they have one of Japan’s biggest mobile carriers, NTT DOCOMO, backing them.
The advantage of Qualcomm’s approach is that ultrasonic waves can potentially be fired through a material, with Qualcomm already saying it has tested the platform through glass, metal, and sapphire. This means that you could potentially just place your finger on the screen and the platform will read your biometrics through the Gorilla Glass or whatever material your phone manufacturer uses.
DOCOMO is looking to launch the Sense ID platform for smartphones manufactured by Sharp and Fujitsu, which of course will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset. It is anticipated that many Android devices launching on the DOCOMO network with services will most likely use Sense ID for biometrics.
The kicker for this platform is that while Qualcomm is launching this with the Snapdragon 810 chipset, the biometrics platform – essentially an integrated circuit, some custom sensor technology, and accompanying algorithms – can be used with any Snapdragon 400, 600 and 800 series chip. Add to that the integration with FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance Universal Authentication Framework (UAF) specification – which means that you can also use Sense ID to authenticate on website and cloud app logins – this is looking more and more like a win for Qualcomm, and NTT DOCOMO just got first dibs on it.
IMAGES: SlashGear
