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Wireless charging and iris recognition on smartphones could be available soon
![Vega Secret Note(left) and I-phone 5(right) with finger sensor (Courtesy of www.blogcdn.com)](http://www.koreatimesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/smartphone.jpg)
The Vega Secret Note (bottom) and iPhone 5s (top) feature fingerprint sensor technologies.
(Courtesy of www.blogcdn.com)
By Kim Su-mi
Smart products are getting smarter and for some, more wearable. Experts say wireless charging and facial and iris recognition, which were previously considered to be dream technologies, may become available by next year.
Body recognition is considered to be more convenient and safer than the current pattern input method and is currently being increasingly integrated into smartphones.
Pantech and Apple have already introduced finger sensors in their smartphones which are currently available in the market.
Samsung is going further and is known to have registered a patent for iris recognition applications.
Its major competitor Apple also has won a patent for face recognition and has taken over a firm that specializes in image recognition.
Wireless charging is also being commercialized. Previous wireless charging had some inconvenience as a smartphone had to be placed on the charger but Samsung is paving the way for a more convenient method called magnetic resonance by which the phone and the charger can be separated while charging.
This technology will likely be introduced in the upcoming Galaxy S5. However, some say that the technology may not be so competitive by next year and that getting approval from foreign markets will be complicated and thus the launch may be postponed.
Furthermore, smartphones are becoming more wearable. Samsung has recorded sales of 800,000 Galaxy gear in the world market last month despite its short battery running time.
Some say Apple may launch I-watch next year and Sony is expected to follow a similar path introducing their own version of a smartwatch.
Google Glass is not yet available in the market but many similar products are expected to be commercialized soon.