Samsung may opt for iPhone-styled Home button to improve fingerprint scanning

Two Samsung patents have been discovered which show that the company may be looking at a new approach to improve fingerprint scanning on its smartphones. The first patent details the use of an iPhone-styled round Home button under which the fingerprint scanner will be placed. That's exactly how it has been ever since fingerprint scanning came to the iPhone. Since the company has long been accused of copying Apple even though it has patented such a solution it may be unlikely for Samsung to replace the oblong Home button on its handsets with one that's clearly synonymous with the iPhone, despite the fact that it's not technically illegal for Samsung to opt for this solution.

The second patent points to a solution that we've seen on several other Android handsets. It doesn't put the fingerprint scanner under the Home button, the scanner is placed on the back of the device instead where there's more space to install a larger sensor to improve fingerprint scanning. We've seen this solution even on handsets from the likes of Huawei so it won't be surprising if Samsung does this as well. Whether or not Samsung does this is another question because it patents lots of inventions and not all of them see the light of day.

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-E900

Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.

Source Phone Fingerprint scanner patents