With the debut of the fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S5, it became clear that Samsung was taking device security rather seriously, with a fingerprint scanner also expected on its upcoming Galaxy Tab S tablets with AMOLED displays. Now, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal, Samsung is also hoping to bring fingerprint sensors and other biometric security methods – including iris sensors – to devices that aren't as costly as flagship phones. “We’re looking at various types of biometric [mechanisms] and one of things that everybody is looking at is iris detection,” Samsung’s senior vice president Rhee In-jong told analysts and investors at a forum in Hong Kong.
Rhee is also the head of development for Samsung's KNOX security suite for enterprises, and believes that while iris scanners will naturally arrive in high-end handsets first, it shouldn't be long before it becomes a trend in the market to implement these scanners in as many devices as possible. KNOX has apparently not seen widespread usage yet, with only 1.8 million out of 87 million devices that come with KNOX using the service, but Samsung will no doubt be hoping that changes as it works on expanding fingerprint sensors and the like to the mass market.
