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Samsung Reveals Galaxy S5 With Home Button Fingerprint Sensor, Accompanying 'Gear Fit' Band

samcraig said:
On the software side - I like that it has a protected mode based on fingerprint access. You can have separate photos, etc.

You can also (with one click) turn over your phone to a child and they only have access to apps you've designated - nothing else.
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Yeah hopefully we get that with touch id. The Verge wasn't too impressed with the scanner though:

Less successful is Samsung’s take on the fingerprint-unlock system made popular by Apple with the iPhone 5S. Like the 5S, the S5’s home key features an integrated fingerprint scanner, which can be used to unlock the phone or authenticate purchases online (Samsung is partnering with PayPal to enable this feature, though it doesn’t validate purchases from the Google Play Store). Samsung’s version requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner, and we found it to be quite unreliable and virtually impossible to activate when holding the phone in one hand. It can store up to three different digits, but it was very particular about the speed and orientation of the swiping motion used — if we weren’t doing a perfectly straight swipe down, it would refuse to unlock the phone.
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Looks like the iWatch concept.
 

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still amazes me how they can carry on churning flagship phones that look cheap and plastic, it's really a huge factor in why i couldn't even contemplate a change from apple hardware.
 
Ahh..

So you have to use 2 hands to unlock the phone...

..so getting in the car, carrying groceries, carrying a infant, carrying my old grandma, carrying my AK, carrying a lost kitten..

..all have to be dropped in order to hold phone in one hand, and use another finger to swipe. As you see he tried to use 1 hand to hold and unlock..and he couldn't.

Brilliant, looks like that old grandma walking across the street has to drop everything just to unlock the phone. Good job Samsung
 
That Gear Fit has a pretty silly design. Everything will be side on, unless you stick your elbow out and strain your arm
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Not any more...
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I watched this thinking they might release something tempting and to be honest there was nothing there at all, well maybe the water resistance. So Samsung are working with Paypal to introduce mobile payments, I'm sure it's been reported that Apple are doing similar especially with their iBeacon technology. Design wise it looks pretty much a dead ringer for the S2, I know iPhones have only just evolved but still Samsung aren't capitalising on that in my opinion.

There really is nothing that makes me want to leave iPhone for this, to be honest there isn't really anything there that would make me want to upgrade from an S4 or maybe even an S3 if I was a Galaxy user.
 
Apple's implementation remains more elegant - you just press for a moment on the home button, as compared to a swipe. Even the setting up is clearer - I'm still not sure whether the guy setting it up with his thumb was a deliberate different digit authorisation or whether it'll start looking for a hybrid of his thumb and index finger prints!

On a side note, their releases are indicative of Apple's problems regarding rumours. No other tech company has anywhere near the same speculation regarding their products meaning companies can implement versions of the rumours and claim Apple copied them. It also raises unrealistic hopes for their products - look at the 5S and people's disappointment with it being exactly what was predicted a week before it was released.:rolleyes:
 
Nothing earthshaking here. Incremental innovation and some catching up.
And what an underwhelming, tired exterior design.
Looking forward to see Samsungs S5 introduction video though.

So far, and by far, I prefer the Sony Xperia Z2 to the S5.

(But none of them makes me want to leave iOS/iPhone).
 
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Some of the comments are funny. Forget the Gear. The Gear Fit is pretty much what some people here have been "asking" for from Apple and yet they are still complaining. Why? Because it's Samsung. Because Samsung was inspired by Apple's non-existent rumored wearable?
 
Just wanted to say Mac Rumors:

Taking a cue from Apple's reported interest in health-related applications, Samsung has included a heart rate sensor next to the camera's flash, able to measure heart rate with a finger on the sensor. The heart rate sensor accompanies the standard accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass and an IR-based gesture sensor.

Is pure flaimbait trolling IMO. You are too accusing Samsung of copying an Apple RUMOUR, and choosing to selectively ignore, forget, all those OTHER devices that can monitor health.
And all the other sensors are an industry standard and I don't see the need to include them in your same sentence.
 
Does it come with free bloatware? Because I'm only interested if Samsung has shoehorned loads of memory draining and preferably pointless widgets into it!
 
The Gear Fit seems decent. I could see them selling that product. If the heartbeat monitoring works, that would a nice thing to have with you during workouts.

Phone looks fine. April is a long way away though. They better hope it comes out at start of April though as iPhone rumors will heat up in July.
 
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