Nexus 6 was originally supposed to feature a fingerprint scanner

According to a new report, the Motorola Nexus 6 was originally supposed to carry a fingerprint scanner on the back, but was later ditched for reasons yet unknown to us. According to sources cited by a popular tech site, Google was looking to implement fingerprint scanning tech on Android 5.0 along with APIs, but called it off at the last minute.

A post on the AOSP page dating back to August mentions that the request to remove the fingerprint scanner on the ‘Shamu’ a.k.a Nexus 6 was made sometime back in August. Further details of this fingerprint scanner reveal that it was supposed to be a swipe styled sensor like the one we saw on the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Alpha as well as the recently launched Galaxy Note 4.
It will be interesting to see if Google will implement the technology with the next major release of Android next year or with a subsequent update to Lollipop. The reasoning behind using a fingerprint scanner on the Nexus 6 is understandable given that it’s a big device. Perhaps native support for fingerprint scanners on Android would make the feature mainstream on future devices.
Via: Ars Technica