Samsung is expected to show off the Galaxy S10 this coming February. Naturally, tech circles are already rife with rumors about this forthcoming flagship.
New code uncovered in Samsung's Android Pie update suggests that smartphone in question could include support for 3D facial recognition. To be sure, current Galaxy phones already boast facial recognition, but speculation suggests that the Galaxy S10 might have something more akin to Face ID on the iPhone X.
3D Facial Recognition On Samsung Galaxy S10
It's no secret that Face ID is far more secure than Samsung's facial recognition technology, simply because Apple's solution is more complex and involves 3D, while Samsung only relies upon a 2D map of a user's face. That means users can potentially fool Samsung's system with a photo or a video of the owner.
XDA Developers was the first to uncover the code, citing data strings reference Time of Flight cameras, a technology commonly associated with 3D mapping and can help differentiate between a 2D photo and an actual 3D face.
The news should perhaps come as no surprise. Samsung is poised to significantly improve the security and reliability of its facial recognition system, according to rumors, and debuting it on the Galaxy S10 makes plenty of sense. Assuming the rumors are true, it'll be interesting to test Samsung's implementation against Face ID, which is thought to be one of the most secure facial recognition systems on mobile phones to date.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Rumors
What's also unclear is whether this new 3D facial recognition system would make it to all Galaxy S10 models. As rumors suggest, Samsung is unveiling four Galaxy S10 variants: a standard with a flat display, an "Edge" model, a Galaxy S10 Plus, and a version that's capable of 5G. It's entirely possible that Samsung will save the feature for the higher-end Galaxy S10 device. That said, it would be nice if all models will get it.
Needless to say, every rumor must be taken with a grain of salt. Plus, suppose Samsung is indeed working on a feature similar to Face ID, there's still no guarantee it will show up on the Galaxy S10.
There's a chance it debuts on the foldable Galaxy smartphone everyone got a peak of this past November. Another possibility is that the feature ends up being shelved, although that doesn't seem likely. After all, Samsung needs to prove that its smartphones are better than Apple's and having a feature akin to Face ID would be a huge part of that effort.
