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The Samsung Galaxy S8 may start recognizing faces

Samsung may use facial recognition and iris scanning to unlock your Galaxy S8, says report.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
2 min read

Say cheese: The Samsung Galaxy S8 may include a facial recognition feature to unlock your phone more easily. This extra security option could come in addition to a possible iris scanner and the usual fingerprint sensor, according to a report by Korea Economic Daily.

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Fingerprint sensors are starting to feel old school.

Aloysius Low/CNET

"So what?" you might say, if you're already happy with your fingerprint sensor. (You've spent years guiding your thumb to the home button at the bottom of your display, after all.)

But you may not find a fingerprint sensor there on the Galaxy S8: Leaks suggest Samsung may have moved that sensor to the back of the phone.

Rather than building a new habit, it might be faster to let Samsung's face camera do the work -- particularly because it could take less than 0.01 seconds to unlock your phone using facial recognition, according to an unnamed Samsung official quoted in the report.

In addition to facial recognition, the Galaxy S8 could also use iris scanning to unlock the device, says the report. Iris scanning was featured in the now recalled Galaxy Note 7, and Samsung could bring it back to life in the S8. This method of unlocking uses the unique patterns in your eyes as identification, and while it may make you feel like a secret agent, its security merits have been debated.

If the S8 does include facial recognition when it is announced on March 29, it could set the bar for other phones -- especially if Apple does it too. The iPhone 8 is expected to come out later this year, and could include face-scanning tech, too.

Samsung declined to comment.

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