Newsletter
With Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus now officially revealed at MWC 2018, the company has continued the rollout of related product information, specifically highlighting the security features of the two flagships. The firm has unsurprisingly continued to bolster and improve the implementation of its already well-known Knox feature for enterprise and personal users alike. However, it took things a bit further this time around, adding further utility to that high-level security through a new tool tied in with the devices’ fingerprint sensor. Beyond that, another new biometrics-related feature called Intelligent Scan is provided, which gives users both a more robust and easy-to-use unlock method using the front camera and iris scanner.
The first of those, called Dedicated Fingerprint, is a tool that allows users to set a separate fingerprint from the usual finger used to log in to the device. When that finger is scanned, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus won’t unlock on the usual home screen. Instead, it will redirect to a Secure Folder, which can be displayed as its own launcher or as a more traditional folder. As a launcher, the home screen will be repopulated with private, secured applications and other secured content will be accessible via a dedicated widget. Applications and other content can also be easily added via that widget. If a user chooses to display the feature as a folder, the same content will be shown in a folder that only appears when unlocked using the designated fingerprint.
Meanwhile, Intelligent Scan is a combination of iris scanning, facial recognition, and deep learning algorithms which can recognize a user at a single glance. Samsung says it will work in many more situations than traditional methods since the A.I. can determine which authentication method or which combination of authentication methods will work best based on lighting. The iris scanner itself has been improved so that it can recognize distinct iris patterns at a greater distance and at different angles. Because of the improved specs of the new Galaxy S9 devices, the facial recognition software was also able to be revamped to perform that same task. Best of all, because it can use partial information in combination, Samsung claims it will work well despite whether a face is partially obscured by a hat, scarf, or other clothing or accessories. Finally, the company says it has future plans to incorporate the new feature into a wide range of applications – beginning with its own – so that users can use Intelligent Scan as a secure login for those apps.
