Vivo Could Announce First Smartphone With Fingerprint Sensor Embedded in Display at MWC2017 Shanghai

[MacRumors]

Chinese mobile maker Vivo could be set to beat both Apple and Samsung to the punch by announcing the first smartphone with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen, if an official company Mobile World Congress teaser is anything to go by.

Last week a video began making the rounds online that purported to show a Vivo smartphone being unlocked using a fingerprint sensor integrated into the display. Doubts were soon cast on the video's authenticity, however yesterday the company shared an official teaser image on Twitter appearing to hint at an imminent fingerprint sensor reveal at MWC2017 Shanghai, which starts on June 28.

We are thrilled to be launching a new solution in just a few days at Shanghai #MWC2017. Let's unlock the future together! #VivoMWC2017 pic.twitter.com/U2MQKrU6Uo - Vivo India (@Vivo_India) June 21, 2017

The teaser image shows the outline of what appears to be a human digit complete with fingerprint passing through a smartphone-like profile, accompanied by the phrase "Unlock the Future", apparently implying a fingerprint-based unlocking mechanism embedded in the display of an upcoming Vivo phone.

As regular MacRumors readers will know, Apple is expected to include a fingerprint-sensing display in this year's "iPhone 8", which is due in September, but the company was said to have faced significant technological hurdles before it reportedly finalized a practical solution last month.

Samsung, for its own part, chose to forego the opportunity to announce the first phone with a screen-embedded fingerprint sensor when it launched the Galaxy S8 in March, with the sensor instead relocated to the back of the handset, alongside the camera lens. The controversial decision to move the sensor to the rear to make way for a larger display was made because the company could not meet the challenges involved in embedding the sensor tech in an OLED screen in time for the S8 launch.

The idea that Vivo could be the first to bring fingerprint sensing screens to consumer phones might seem like a stretch, but the company has been willing to take risks in the past and actually has a decent track record for market firsts. In 2013, for example, it released the world's first "2K" resolution phone - the Xplay3s - featuring a 2560 × 1440 resolution and 490ppi pixel density screen. With the release of the Xplay5, the company also became the first mobile maker to release a smartphone with 6GB of RAM.

Regardless, announcing the first fingerprint-aware display is a different prospect altogether and would be some feat for Vivo, which holds a 6.8 percent market share in worldwide smartphone sales, behind Chinese rivals Huawei and Oppo. By contrast, Apple and Samsung command a 13.7 percent and 20.7 percent market share, respectively, according to first quarter 2017 figures from Gartner.

Stay tuned to MacRumors for updates and other related news from the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Shanghai, which begins on Wednesday, June 28.

Article Link: Vivo Could Announce First Smartphone With Fingerprint Sensor Embedded in Display at MWC2017 Shanghai

 

[Jsameds]

First means nothing. Best means everything.

 

[Glideslope]

Records your print, then sends it to the Parties Central Database.

 

[nighthawk67]

So this confirms Apple will have this as well since other companies are rushing it to market.

 

[recoil80]

So this confirms Apple will have this as well since other companies are rushing it to market.

The technology is available, we had rumours in the past about low production yields of this kind of sensors. Apple sells millions of iPhones, other manufacturers don't have the same problem since they don't need to sell millions of products in a short period of time

 

[apolloa]

Interesting... the rumours are still not clear that Apple WILL have the sensor behind the screen, so they could potentially be beaten by a year with the tech.
Will be good to see if they've solved the brightness issue on this phone if the sensor is behind the screen.

 

[JaySoul]

Samsung tried on the S8 and couldn't make it work to scale. Reports indicate same for Note 8.

Apple are obviously trying hard for iPhone 8 but have had multiple issues.

It's one thing to get a thousand of these to work properly, but when you're talking millions of units, you'd better be confident!

 

[Lerxt]

Sorry Vivo, but in the true tradition of Chinese companies, you've done a "Ferengi" and copied Apple. I'll never buy a Vivo, whatever you put in it.

 

[litmag01]

Records your print, then sends it to the Parties Central Database.

I was thinking the same thing. Money isn't important; its information that is true power.

 

[itsboi]

So many "innovative" features are always rushed to the market, yet are half-baked.

 

[StevieD100]

Interesting... the rumours are still not clear that Apple WILL have the sensor behind the screen, so they could potentially be beaten by a year with the tech.
Will be good to see if they've sold the brightness issue on this phone if the sensor is behind the screen.

'sold the brightness issue' ha-ha. Nice one.

 

[swm]

i don't see no point pushing the screen resolution just for the specs. you can not distinguish the pixels even with FHD on phone screen sizes below 6". the extra juice required to drive more pixels, to upscale content, etc, is just wasting resources. actually ipad pro 12.9" has just a bit better resolution... but more than double the screen diagonal size.

i'd say 16:9 is a bit stupid aspect ratio, but since iphone5 it is the one apple uses, and i find it convenient as well. but i remember the times i thought 5 is to tall & skinny.

 

[69Mustang]

Sorry Vivo, but in the true tradition of Chinese companies, you've done a "Ferengi" and copied Apple. I'll never buy a Vivo, whatever you put in it.

Are they really copying Apple? Or was Apple's rumored embedded fp sensor the first time you heard of this tech? As other posts have noted, the tech already exists and others have been working to make the tech viable at scale.

 

[Vjosullivan]

First means nothing. Best means everything.

Only if you're not first.

 

[Rogifan]

Interesting... the rumours are still not clear that Apple WILL have the sensor behind the screen, so they could potentially be beaten by a year with the tech.
Will be good to see if they've sold the brightness issue on this phone if the sensor is behind the screen.

Easy to be beaten by companies that don't have to worry about scale. I'm sure there's a lot of things Apple could do if they didn't have to make 70 million available in a holiday quarter.

 

[Piggie]

First means nothing. Best means everything.

Unless your playing a sport or Olympic event etc.
Or a million and one other things.......

Hey, I came third, but did you see how amazing my t-shirt was, awesome colors....

Oh god he shot me, but my gun was so much better

 

[TrueBlou]

Sorry Vivo, but in the true tradition of Chinese companies, you've done a "Ferengi" and copied Apple. I'll never buy a Vivo, whatever you put in it.

Well considering that Apple haven’t played their hand yet, we can’t be absolutely certain of what they’re going to do. As likely as an in-screen sensor is.

It’s not new technology. They’re hardly copying Apple. What will matter most, to those who appreciate good design, simplicity of use and incorporation into the system, is how good the implementation of this technology by any company is.

Vivo may well do the technology justice, we won’t have long to find out. But it’s probably fair to say that if any company is going to incorporate this technology in the most user friendly and functionally (near) flawless way, it’s going to be Apple.
They’re obsessive about these things, down to a minutely ridiculous level. They won’t do it if it’s not going to be done right.

 

[Sasparilla]

Whatever....Vivo and their sister company Oppo can do whatever they want.

Records your print, then sends it to the Parties Central Database.

Not out of the realm of possibility, many of the large companies in China have direct government or military ties / control. Tech / smartphone companies would be massive honeypots for information & irresistible for government access.

 

[TrueBlou]

Unless your playing a sport or Olympic event etc.
Or a million and one other things.......

Hey, I came third, but did you see how amazing my t-shirt was, awesome colors....

Oh god he shot me, but my gun was so much better

What’s over the edge of this crumbling, dangerous looking cliff edge

 

[offdutyrockstar]

Remember the sapphire glass screen that never materialised on any iPhone? Moral of the story, don't look at what chinese manufacturers are implementing to try and second guess Apple.

 

[Jsameds]

Only if you're not first.

Sorry, I'll rephrase.

From the customer's perspective, first means nothing, best means everything.

 

[ravenstar]

I often wonder if these rush to market products are designed to steal customers from a bigger name or to create market hurdles by giving an impression that the technology isn't worth the premium the bigger name charges? Consumers tend to remember their first experience with a novel feature, and if it's poorly done they tend to disregard further refinements from other manufacturers. Put out an unreliable fingerprint sensor first and the public thinks all fingerprint sensors are unreliable until there's overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Maybe consumers are smarter these days, but I doubt it.

 

[ggibson913]

Queue up the Patent lawsuits

 

[Tech198]

this look good... When someone does it first, why should that automatically mean a lawsuit ? its not just you press ya finger..... its the tech used. There can bemore than one way to authenticate.. and unlock touchID phone..

 

[WatchFromAfar]

So this confirms Apple will have this as well since other companies are rushing it to market.

What nonsense, company X does a feature so in your mind that means Apple is doing it?