Apple is said to be planning to introduce an iPhone that can be unlocked by the owner's fingerprint. At the same time other manufacturers are thought to be experimenting with iris scanning and voice recognition, the Telegraph reports.
According to the paper, speculation about Apple's plans for fingerprint recognition began last year when the iPhone maker bought biometric security firm AuthenTec for 235 million pounds.
Earlier this month, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said his firm expected the results of that takeover to be revealed this year with the new iPhone 5S.
Samsung has had a "Face Unlock" feature in its phones since last year's Galaxy S III. However, the phone's camera would often unlock if it recognised a photograph of the owner. The manufacturer said the feature has been improved in the Galaxy S4, released in New York last week.
