Android M could bring native support for fingerprint scanning hardware

Before the Nexus 6 launched, there were hints inside AOSP that suggested the phone would come equipped with a fingerprint scanner. And according to ex-Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside, it would have had Apple swooped in and muddied things up.

If you’ve been doing this Android thing for awhile now, you’d know that fingerprint scanning smartphones are nothing new to Android. You can find them on Android devices dating all the way back to the original Motorola Atrix. It wasn’t until years later — no doubt thanks to the success of the iPhone 5S — Samsung followed suit with a scanner built into the Galaxy S5, albeit much more clunky than Apple’s implementation. More recently, HTC jumped on board with the HTC One M9 Plus and before that, the HTC One Max.

We said all that to say this: without a universal Android API for OEMs to tap into, all these manufacturers have to build their own solutions. That means proprietary software and the fingerprint reader only playing nice with a specific apps. With all kinds of security methods built into Android (even face detection) it’s odd that Google hasn’t addressed fingerprint scanners into Android. But that could soon change.

A new report from BuzzFeed suggests that Google will soon support native fingerprint authentication within Android, allowing users to log into apps like the Google Play Store using nothing but their fingerprint. Ars Technica was able to corroborate this story with their featured post recapping some of the thing we can expect out of this year’s Google I/O.

Also worth pointing out is how current Nexus hardware wouldn’t be able to support the necessary software APIs with a lack of fingerprint scanning hardware. If these new APIs are confirmed in a few more days, it could mean this year’s Nexus device will come equipped with a fingerprint reader. How else would Google test their new software?

Leaked Moto G 3rd Gen reveals new backside and refreshed hardware [VIDEO]

The Motorola Moto G as long been one of the best deals in mobile (arguably the best until the OnePlus One recently dropped to 0). The phone has long offered a solid mix of middle range hardware at an honest price, tipping the scales at around 0 unlocked.

The move from the 1st Gen Moto G to the 2nd Gen was kind of a big one, with the phone receiving a bump in screen size and adding stereo front facing speakers. We know Motorola is planning to refresh their handset lineup for 2015, but when it comes to the Moto G — which we expect will continue targeting a sub 0 price point — we couldn’t help but wonder how they’d improve the device while still retaining that affordable pricing.

As we approach the phone line’s year anniversary, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to find leaks have already begun circulating around the net. Lucky for us, the leak shows off an alleged prototype Moto G which carries a design similar to that recently leaked Moto X 3rd Gen from a few weeks ago. If this is the direction Motorola is headed, the back of the phone features a camera housing looks like an LG devices (only minus rear buttons) or the ASUS ZenFone 2.

The leaker was also nice enough to list off a few of the device’s reported specs in a quick hands-on video, with the phone showing much of the same internals as the previous year’s model (5-inch 720p display, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage ), only with higher resolution cameras (13MP rear/5MP front facing), a Snapdragon 401 processor, and slightly larger 2,300mAh battery (last year’s only had a 2,070mAh). Shouldn’t be too much longer before Motorola makes this phone official and we find out exactly how far off this “prototype” is from the real thing.

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