LG’s latest flagship bet, the G6 was officially made available for purchase earlier this week. And the Korean giant, Samsung, whom LG considers its fiercest competitor will be making its way to the market in the coming week. Now, LG does include a fingerprint reader in the name of security measures but has included no additional features, which are often considered a total gimmick.
But, LG is now planning to finally adopt one of these security features — ahem! facial recognition — to come at par and compete with Samsung in the premium segment. And, also probably because Apple’s upcoming iPhone is rumored to feature the facial recognition functionality. This development has been reported by The Investor, who claims that the security feature will arrive in the form of 3D facial scanning. It is expected to make its debut in the month of June, that too via a simple software update.
According to the Korean news publication, LG has secured a partnership with facial recognition software firm Oez to implement its technology into the G6 to power its fresh security protocol. This agreement is said to have been reached following several rounds of negotiations and testing, so LG may almost be ready to introduce the technology into its latest smartphone — G6.
But, the highlight of this facial recognition technology is that it is arriving in time for the launch of LG’s own mobile payment service, called LG Pay, in South Korea. This security feature is expected to be launched in conjunction with this service, offering LG G6 users the option to complete their payments by recognizing their face. It will be made possible with the OezFR platform, which supports a facial recognition verification option. If this feature becomes a reality in the next
If this new feature becomes a reality in the next six weeks then LG would be the first smartphone maker to employ facial recognition to complete contactless payments. This would be an industry first but there is currently a stigma attached to the security of this tech, which has already been hacked on the Galaxy S8 using just a photograph of the owner.
But, LG is currently working on perfecting the technology and making it totally secure. It will come packed with ‘“security measures to prevent hacking attempts with pictures.’ It may, however, be quite difficult to pursue users to use their face to complete payments without displaying the highly secure nature of their technology.
Well, if you’ve already purchased LG G6 for its stunning Full Vision display then all you can do at the moment is wait for an upcoming software update. This development holds a significance because the report suggests that the G6 is not the only smartphone compatible with the OezFR platform. The facial recognition technology could easily be integrated into the LG’s previous flagship devices, namely V20 and G5. It will be delivered with a software update and take up as little as 3.5 MB to 5 MB on the smartphone.
While this development may only sound much like a speculation, but it would be an exceptional feat if LG is able to pull off the secure integration of facial recognition features into the G6 – followed by older models. But, the important question here is — what prompted LG to sign up a third-party software developer to bring facial recognition technology to the G6?
Well, the answer is simple — exemplary competition.
If you’ve been living under a rock, then you may not know this. But, Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of the most stunning smartphones that have ever been released in the market. Its almost bezel-less Infinity display, coupled with software and hardware capabilities make it a souped up beast. And LG is quivering under pressure of not being able to complete its goal of making it to the market before the S8 to the market. Thus, it has now decided to bring new features, obviously copied from the S8 to its device at a later stage.
Are you excited for the addition of facial recognition technology to the G6? Comment your thoughts down below.
