LG G6 to Get Facial Recognition, LG Pay Payment Support in June: Report

LG G6, the new LG flagship smartphone, was launched back at MWC 2017 trade show in February, and it has now started shipping to international markets. LG wouldn't want to miss a chance to go toe-to-toe against its arch rival Samsung, which will begin shipping the new Galaxy S8 in several markets, and it reportedly is planning to integrate facial recognition in its smartphone as well.

LG is likely to add 3D facial recognition as well as LG Pay payment feature to its flagship smartphone in "as early as June," according to a report from South Korea.

The Investor reports that LG has roped in Oez facial recognition solutions company, which developed OezFR software, for a partnership. The report claims that the new facial recognition feature is being tested on the LG G6, and it may be released in June alongside LG Pay. With the timing, it can be speculated that the facial recognition with serve as a biometric authentication feature for LG Pay.

The report cites News Prime, a local online news outlet which quoted an industry source, "Should LG utilise OezFR to support the payment system, it will be the first time for a facial recognition system to be used for financial transactions in the premium smartphone sector."

The company said to choose the Oez solution as it could be easily implemented to previous smartphones like LG V20 and LG G5. It is also said to with security measures that prevent hacking with pictures - something the Samsung Galaxy S8 has already been shown to be a victim of.

The LG G6 smartphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. The highlight feature of the smartphone is its 5.7-inch QHD+ (1440x2880 pixels) FullVision display with an 18:9 (or 2:1) aspect ratio instead of industry standard (16:9). The phone packs a fingerprint scanner at the back for authentication. Another distinction is that the LG G6 has passed the MIL-STD 810G military standard certification for durability.

In South Korea, the LG G6 is already available for purchase and has been priced starting KRW 899,800 (roughly Rs. 51,200).