Qualcomm developing a fingerprint sensor to rival Touch ID

Qualcomm is looking to take on Apple's Touch ID with its own biometric fingerprint sensor, which should end up being more technically advanced than Apple's solution along with Samsung's new sensor found in the Galaxy S6 flagship.

Qualcomm has announced its new fingerprint reader, which uses ultrasonic waves to verify fingerprints in 3D. Unlike Touch ID and Qualcomm's own Snapdragon Sense technology can read fingerprints even if they are dirty or wet, it can also scan through a range of materials including glass, aluminium, stainless steel, sapphire and plastic.

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This means that manufacturers should be able to integrate the sensor in to a device's design, rather than making it a subtle addition to something like the home button. This new technology is promising higher levels of accuracy too, which should result in fewer rejected readings.

Qualcomm's Sense ID technology will come built-in to its new Snapdragon 810 and 425 chips, it will also come available to manufacturers as a stand alone part. The first phones to use the sensor should launch some time this year.

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KitGuru Says: Fingerprint sensors are starting to become popular on mobile devices. I must admit that I use Touch ID all of the time and find it to work excellently. Do you guys think fingerprint sensors should make their way on to more devices? It can become more of a hassle if it isn't up to a certain standard, hopefully Qualcomm's latest technology will help fix that problem.

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