Samsung launches its first Android device with iris recognition security, sees "great potential" in the technology

Samsung spared iris recognition for its flagship handsets, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, but the company isn't one to turn a blind eye to developments in biometric security. The Galaxy Tab Iris' launch is all-around proof that Samsung has iris scanner security ready to go and it's just a matter of time before the technology trickles down to other products. Can anyone say "Galaxy Note 6"?

Okay, now let's hold our horses a little, because the Galaxy Tab Iris is a bit of a one-off on Samsung's part. The tablet was produced by Samsung India as part of the government's Make For India program. It's designed to comply with the Unique Identification Authority of India's Aadhaar system of a 12-digit individual identification numbers and the government's Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC). Samsung believes its "advanced iris recognition technology" will solve the hassle of having to use separate devices for bio-metric identification, and envisions making citizen services like income tax filing, passport renewal,property registration, and passenger verification virtually "paperless."

To set things in motion, the company is providing an "Identity SDK" that lets application developers take advantage of the iris scanner for creating new finance, payment, and authentication solutions. This is probably the kind of iris scanning functionality that you can expect in future Android devices by Samsung and its competitors. The company sees "great potential" in iris scanning, so its emergence in upcoming high-end phones and tablets seems like a sure bet.

Let's move on to the tablet itself. You probably got the message that the device is designed for government/citizen services use and the iris scanner is its technological centerpiece. This explains why the Galaxy Tab Iris is a mid-range affair, designed for utility rather than performance. The device features a 7-inch 600 x 1024 resolution display and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core chip with a gigabyte and a half of RAM memory. The 2G/3G-connected device also boasts 8GB of expandable storage and a 5MP auto-focus rear camera, which Samsung included with document scanning in mind. The Galaxy Tab Iris costs INR 13,499 (about $199).

Prior to the Lumia 950 and 950 XL shipped, iris scanning smartphones were few and contained mainly to Eastern markets, which made them decidedly exotic. Following Microsoft's move into eye-based bio-metric security, we profiled the technology's inner workings, potential benefits and shortcomings, believing iris scanners were to become part of Samsung and LG's first half of 2016 flagship smartphones. While things didn't turn out this way for one reason or another, the article is still a compelling read if you are interested in smartphone iris scanners. Feel free to check it out from the links below!

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