Samsung trademark applications point to more iris-scanning devices to come

Biometrics are slowly but surely changing the way we do mobile security, and the availability of high-speed, increasingly accurate fingerprint scanners has already started to make PIN or password-based authentication feel positively antiquated. But fingerprints aren't the only way our phones are learning to recognize their users, and just a few days back we saw Samsung introduce a new tablet with its own next-gen authentication system: the Galaxy Tab Iris. With the ability to rapidly identify users based on eye scans, tablets like this could change the way we secure our devices. And it now looks like this model will be far from Samsung's last, at least based on some trademark applications the company's been filing around the world.

First in Europe we saw Samsung register the names "Samsung Iris" and "Samsung Eyeprint." Now the company's following that up in both South Korea and the US as it registers the similar "Galaxy Iris" and "Galaxy Eyeprint."

That sure sounds like Samsung's working to build up a brand around its new eye-scanning security solution, just like we'd expect the company to do as it began positioning the tech as a selling point for upcoming handsets.

Looking at our expectations from new Samsung launches over the next few months, it's not hard to wonder if iris scanning will show up as part of the feature set from Samsung's next Galaxy Note phone – long a platform used by the manufacturer to help introduce advanced new capabilities.

Are we about to see a new iris-scanning renaissance, much in the same way fingerprint scanners rapidly leapt into the mainstream?

source: USPTO, KIPRIS via SamMobile