As this year slowly but surely comes to an end, all eyes are fixed on 2014 and the products that it will bring. Samsung is rumored to release the Galaxy S5 early next year, possibly in January. While the company hasn’t said anything about next year’s flagship just yet, rumor has it that it might have a high resolution 560ppi display, a 64-bit Exynos processor and perhaps even an eye scanner. A Samsung patent has been newly discovered which lends weight to the rumors of Galaxy S5 having an eye scanner.
Iris scanning is the method of choice in this patent, presumably because its much faster than standard retina scanning. The figure in the patent shows a smartphone that has a camera, a proximity sensor, light emitting and receiving units as well as a power supply. The proximity sensor will sense when an object approaches the camera upon which the iris scanner will be activated. If the scan matches that already stored in the device, access will be granted. This is certainly theoretically possible, but it remains to be seen if the technology is ready by the time Samsung releases the Galaxy S5. It has been rumored that Samsung is going to release the Galaxy S5 earlier than intended, presumably because Galaxy S4 has not met internal sales expectations. So can it be said for sure right now if the Galaxy S5 will have an eye scanner? Absolutely not, rumors like these must always be taken with a grain of salt. [Image via Patent Bolt]
