Rumors suggest that Microsoft is going to phase out the Lumia brand of smartphones and introduce its own Surface-branded phone. We have been hearing about this for a very long time now and while the company is yet to confirm the Surface Phone, a new patent has been discovered which suggests that the Surface Phone might have a unique fingerprint scanner.
A recently published Microsoft patent reveals that the company has been thinking of integrating a fingerprint scanner right into the display. This implementation would allow for an on-screen fingerprint scanner and thus enable the company to use less space for this component which is directly going to result in thinner devices.
To make this happen, a wave guide will be used underneath the glass with a filter that’s going to enable a sensor on the side of the display to pick up on the ridges of a fingerprint placed on glass.
The light from that wave guide might then be transmitted using a fibre-optic cable which will complete the on-screen fingerprint scanner implementation and also allow for further flexibility in the design of the handset. The patent mentions that this technology will work with both AMOLED and LED displays.
Since it can’t be said for sure if all patented technologies will see the light of day, it remains to be seen whether Microsoft follows through on this. Microsoft hasn’t said anything about a Surface phone as yet.
Filed in . Read more about Fingerprint Scanner, Microsoft, Patents and Surface Phone. Source: patentscope.wipo.int