Samsung Launches 'Made in India' Galaxy Tab With Biometric Technology
Samsung introduced a new tablet device in the Indian market called the Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris at Rs 13,499. The device is company's first tablet in India that features iris-recognition technology "that is ready for Aadhaar authentication over and done with an integrated and highly secure biometric device."
Priced at INR 13,499 ($200), the Android 5.0 Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris sports a 7.0” WSVGA (1024×600) display, a 3,600mAh battery, 1.2 Ghz Quad Core processor, and other average specifications. But the real kicker here is, of course, the onboard Iris camera, which permits public-facing organizations to authenticate the identity of individuals by scanning their eyes.
The device is intended to fulfill with Digital India and E-Citizen campaign, and the biometric technology incorporated appears to be the center of it.
Apart from this, it also permits the startup ecosystem to come up with suitable apps. This contact less technology gives safety authentication that has only once been seen before in the country. It will play the main role in helping the banking sector with accuracy and speed.
The other device in India that has the Iris scanner is Microsoft Lumia 950 XL. Priced at Rs. 34,999, it delivers a much higher level of specs. It packs 3GB RAM, 1.5 GHz Quad-Core processor, and a 20MP rear camera.
The device is STQC-certified and Aadhar-compliant. Galaxy Tab Iris is, however, another Make for India innovation from Samsung. Inserted in a secure device, the innovative iris-recognition technology will provide an integrated solution that will support to solve the hassles of using separate devices for biometric identification.
“We’re excited to offer biometric-based services to the billion plus people enrolled in Aadhar,” said Dr. Aloknath De, Corporate Vice President & CTO, Samsung India R&D. “Our India R&D team has made significant investments in biometric technology research and we built this product leveraging our knowledge in hardware design, biometrics and security for a high-speed scan, greater accuracy, and high reliability.”
“Along with the device, we are providing an Identity SDK for application developers to build financial inclusion, payments, and authentication solutions. This will encourage our start-up ecosystem to rapidly build relevant apps and services. We strongly believe this overall offering will, in turn, strengthen government programs such as Jan-Dhan Yojana and E-Citizen services under the Digital India initiative,” he said.
Announcing the launch, Mr. Sukesh Jain, Vice President, Samsung India Electronics, said, “This is another example of Samsung’s pursuit for meaningful innovations. We see great potential for the iris technology solution to be used as a means of directly facilitating greater inclusion in the Digital India program. The biometric authentication can also act as an enabler in facilitating the integration of financial services with the ‘Aadhar’ initiative. The Galaxy Tab Iris addresses consumer pain points across platforms such as banking, finance, education and various citizen services by bringing enhanced usability, versatility, and reliability all through one device.”
The Digital India campaign has motivated the launch of many devices in the recent past. The alternatives range from cheap smartphones to high-end devices across all OS platforms. It observes with the main objective of making technology available to everybody. This promises to have a multi-dimensional impact on the economy as the possibilities of new jobs increase dramatically.
The tablet has USB “On-the-go host” support that permits the user to connect other devices like barcode scanner or a printer. It also supports 14 languages,
Supporting 14 local languages, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris also comes with 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth v4.1, and Micro USB with OTG connectivity options. It houses 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be more expanded via a micro SD card up to 200GB. Weighing 327 grams, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris is slim at 9.7mm. It is also supported by a 3600mAh battery.