LG G6 To Feature Iris Scanner, Ditch Modules

With the sales disaster of the LG G5, LG are looking at reviving their G series of phone.
The reason for the low sales figures of the G5 was mainly down to the introduction of modular features to a modern day smartphone. Lots of people were unsure about it, and were not too keen on the gap in the design between the module and the rest of the phone, as it made the phone look like a cheap phone, but for a premium price. With the trial, and failure of the modular design, LG will now reportedly scrap the idea of modular design all together for the G6. Boards and audio chips for the G6 are currently being prepared keeping the non-modular design in mind.

After the 'commercial' failure of the G5, which resulted in a change of executives involved with G5's development, all the LG fans have been waiting for news on the G6 to emerge. And finally news has emerged in the form of leaks. The LG G6 is said to feature a built-in Iris scanner, similar to that on the Note 7. The image on the left showcases the iris scan all-in-one module which was unveiled by LG Innotek at the Korea Electronics Show, held in Seoul.

The intention of the Iris scanner is to offer top level security. The Iris scanner will scan your eye, much like the fingerprint sensor scans your fingerprint. It will only unlock your device when the exact iris is scanned by the sensor. This can be used to secure documents and apps. Whether an app locker will be built into the system as standard or not is yet unknown, but there are always third party app lockers on the Google Play Store which you can depend on to use this functionality.

We also believe that just like the Note 7, the G6 should also feature a fingerprint scanner along with the Iris Scanner. Users who did use the Iris Scanner on the Note 7 did complain about it not functioning properly when they were wearing contact lenses or spectacles. Similarly, teary eyes and long eyelashes might throw off the accuracy of the iris scanner. Even though irises differ greatly, today's scanners are not able to make out the differences between different irises to a great extent. Owing to improper accuracy, smartphone users might be inclined to use the fingerprint scanner over the iris one.

Iris scanner and camera module in the Note 7

Unlike the Note 7 which had a separate front facing camera and an iris scanner, LG plans to integrate both the iris scanner and the front facing camera into a single module. A filter within the module will segregate the functions of the front camera and the iris scanner. If LG had had gone with a separate camera and iris scanner module, it's volume would have been 0.47 cc. Courtesy to the all-in-one module, LG was able to lower the volume of the module to 0.36 cc.

LG & KB Kookmin Bank officials pose together with the agreement
Photo credits: Yonhap News

LG Electronics and KB Kookmin Bank had signed up an agreement in May this year in which the South Korean commercial lender had agreed to assist LG in it's development of a mobile payment service. We may be seeing the use of the iris scanner here as well.

Lg handset sales vs. operating income
Create your own infographics

As the above graph shows, LG's mobile business has been slumping down the pipeline. LG's mobile communications department reported a loss of $389.4 millions in the last quarter. Even though the LG V20 is a great phone, it is still priced $120 over the Pixel devices which may further render to LG mobile business' growing sum of losses. No doubt LG wants to stick to the conventional side of things for the G6 by dropping the support for modules.

Although we don't know what the G6 will have onboard, but it will definitely be running Nougat 7.1 at the time of it's release. Rest of the specifications will emerge out as the time progresses either in the form of leaks or official announcements.

LG is planning to release the G6 in February-March 2017, which clearly points to a MWC unveiling.

Sources: (1), (2)