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All Chromebooks should have fingerprint sensors by now
Jan 05, 2024 Abner Li News Source 9to5google 31 hits
It’s 2024 and the vast majority of Chromebooks don’t have fingerprint sensors. Biometric authentication has become the norm on smartphones, but most ChromeOS users are still typing in a password. (Having to enter your Google Account credentials so often in public seems like a bad idea.) 9to5Google has a rebooted newsletter that highlights the biggest Google stories with added commentary and other tidbits. Sign up to get it early in your inbox, or continue reading 9to5Google Log Out below: There’s fortunately a PIN (at least six digits) option, which is most convenient on a touchscreen and somewhat awkward on a physical keyboard/row of numbers. Of course, it’s not faster than laying your finger on a reader. Then there’s the ability to unlock your phone to skip the password on your Chromebook. Smart Lock would be enough if it were faster and a little bit more reliable. In my experience, I can’t get through the day without it failing at least once or twice. Meanwhile, Google in January of 2022 said Wear OS Watch Unlock would also work with Chromebooks (and Android tablets). We just got the feature this December on Pixel phones, so hopefully we aren’t too far off and that it works better than Smart Lock. It’s a real shame Google didn’t use Chromebook Plus to mandate fingerprint sensors on even $399 laptops. I would honestly trade in the 1080p camera requirement for that. Instead, we have two of the seven Plus Chromebooks on Google’s website shown with fingerprint unlock, but those advertised models — $499 and $699 — don’t actually have a sensor. As such, you can only consistently find fingerprint readers on Chromebooks that near the $1,000 mark after all these years. The HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook comes to mind, while the Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus also has it. Anecdotally, even the $999 Framework Chromebook does not offer a sensor. The component in question is $29 with support for Windows and Linux. Hopefully, Google uses the next Chromebook Plus spec upgrade to require the inclusion of a reader. Even then, fingerprint sensors really shouldn’t be a luxury in this day and age. Qualcomm announces Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 that will power Google-Samsung device Pixel 8 and 8 Pro get camera and UI fixes with January 2024 update Google Maps testing 3D buildings during navigation on app & Android Auto Files by Google ‘Important’ tab is shutting down soon, will delete files At a Glance gets new unified Pixel settings page Google Messages adds support for dual & multi SIM RCS Galaxy Watch app breaks, not working on Google Pixel & Samsung devices Google Bard site reveals ‘Advanced’ tier is paid, work on several new features & bots [Gallery] Samsung’s ‘Zoom with Galaxy AI’ teaser shows off crazy AI camera tricks Google Meet web app unified with ‘Calls’ tab What the Duet AI side panel can do in Gmail, Google Drive, & Docs [Gallery] Pixel Launcher adds Google Password Manager shortcut, tweaks weather Microsoft Teams comes to Android Auto next month, nearly a year after it was announced 9to5Mac : Kuo: 24-megapixel upgraded front camera coming with iPhone 17 Electrek : Tesla Cybertruck drives 254 miles in highway range test
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