FORGET passwords or fingerprint scans. Now you can unlock a smartphone with the blink of an eye.
Japan’s largest mobile carrier, NTT Docomo on Wednesday unveiled a smartphone that uses an iris scan to authenticate the user and unlock the device.
Docomo said the Arrows NX F-04G, which uses Google’s Android operating system, will be the world’s first commercially available smartphone with the feature when it goes on sale later in May.
Made by Fujitsu and demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress in March, the phone also could simplify making payments via smartphones.
At Wednesday’s presentation, Docomo CE Kaoru Kato confirmed an online pizza order by staring into the phone. It took a few seconds, but Docomo said in its presentation material that the scan’s accuracy improved each time a person used the feature.
The smartphone would come in three colours — black, white and “iris green”.
Eyeball scanning could be the next big thing. At the Mobile World Congress, Chinese smartphone maker ZTE also unveiled a smartphone with similar features, the Grand S3. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics is also said to be working on an eye recognition technology and has filed a patent with US authorities for iris scanning.
