There is still roughly a whole year left before the next iteration of Samsung's Galaxy Note series will launch, but there are already talks about what features it might bring. The latest one claims that Note 9 would sport a key feature Apple could not get to work on the iPhone X.
The news comes from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. As reported by Business Insider, Kuo wrote that the Korean tech giant is working on an "under-display optical fingerprint" reader for the Galaxy Note 9. This new feature would allow users to continue using fingerprint sensors for authentication even without bezels on their devices.
Apple was previously reported to include such a sensor to the 10<sup>th anniversary iPhone, only to ditch it due to manufacturing issues. Instead, the iPhone maker integrated the Face ID, a new facial recognition technology that utilizes custom 3D sensors.
Kuo says it is likely to materialize for Samsung this time, as two of the three leading companies competing for the contract to make displays for the Galaxy Note 9 have already shipped sample parts to the company.
These firms are said to be the Samsung subsidiary, Samsung LSI, and BeyondEyes. Egis may also be considered while Synaptics, Apple's supplier is not in the race.
Samsung has reportedly already invested tons of resource in the development of an under-display optical fingerprint reader. Right now, it is looking for a different technology that allows the OLED screen to double as a light source for the sensor, which would also help with the battery life.
If the technology indeed debuts with the Galaxy Note 9 next year, it might only be a short-lived feature. Kuo further predicts that even Samsung will migrate over to face recognition just like everyone else.
Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Note 9 next year in August.
