ASUS CEO Jerry Shen has revealed plans to launch a more advanced ZenFone 3 smartphone with a fingerprint reader next year.
It's not even been long since the new ASUS ZenFone 2 powerhouse made its debut back at the International CES 2015, but the company is already thinking ahead and dropping hints of what's to come.
According to a new report (translated) out of China (via GforGames), ASUS CEO Jerry Shen has offered the Chinese media some details regarding the company's plans for the next-generation flagship smartphone.
ASUS will apparently release its next ZenFone 3 handset with fingerprint recognition technology on board, likely aiming to boost security and convenience. For those thinking that it's a long way to go until next year when the ZenFone 3 makes its debut, ASUS may have some good news as well. As it turns out, the company could release a refreshed ZenFone 2 sometime during the second half of this year, adding a fingerprint scanner.
As a reminder, the recently-unveiled ASUS ZenFone 2 (pictured above) features a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display with a thin bezel of just 3.3 mm and a pixel density of 403 pixels per inch (ppi), and packs a 64-bit Intel Atom processor under the hood, clocked at either 1.8GHz or at 2.3GHz, depending on model. The ZenFone 2 is also the first smartphone to rock 4GB of RAM. Other specs include a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front shooter, and a powerful 3,000 mAh battery to keep things up and running.
It remains unclear at this point whether the purported ZenFone 2 refresh that could launch later this year would include any other upgrades except for the fingerprint reader.
Bottom line, here's what we know so far: ASUS could release a new ZenFone 2 model with a fingerprint scanner later this year, and a new-generation ZenFone 3 with a fingerprint reader next year.
Fingerprint scanners have been making their way to an increasing number of devices over the past year, and more are expected to join the fray. While not everyone agrees that the technology is secure enough, many enjoy the extra confidence it lends and the added convenience when it comes to various applications that require sensitive data.
It remains to be seen whether ASUS will be able to move fast enough as to launch a ZenFone 2 refresh with a fingerprint reader in the second half of this year, but the ZenFone 3 will most likely boast one.
