In what could be a game-changing move, Vivo might introduce a new kind of fingerprint scanner technology for smartphones at next week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai.

There were rumors of an on-screen fingerprint reader appearing on an upcoming Vivo smartphone for a while now, but all of the leaked videos have so far been revealed to be fake. It’s with this Vivo poster, showing what looks to be a fingerprint crashing through a screen, that the possibility might turn into reality:

Such technology would be revolutionary for the smartphone industry. Ever since fingerprint scanners became mainstream on handsets, manufacturers have been forced to design around the feature, often leading to awkward placements and compromises in design. Combining it with the display will eliminate those limitations.

But we shouldn’t overanalyze this teaser just yet, nor should we expect Vivo to unveil the tech with an actual commercial product. OPPO, for instance, showed off powerful optical zoom technology for its smartphone cameras back in MWC 2017, without launching a real phone alongside it.

This function has often been associated with Samsung and Apple smartphones. The former was expected to implement a built-in fingerprint reader within the Galaxy S8’s AMOLED panel, but the tech supposedly didn’t make it in time. As for the latter, the feature is set to be the class-defining feature of the upcoming iPhone 8 — unless, of course, the Galaxy Note 8 gets it first.

So, yes, two of the top smartphone manufacturers may be upstaged by the world’s number-five smartphone brand, Vivo. We’ll have to wait till MWC Shanghai 2017, happening from June 28 to July 1, to find out for sure.

SEE ALSO: Vivo Y53 Unboxing and Hands-on

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