Another smartphone with a fingerprint sensor is just a week away from launch. HTC Corp. is set to unveil the HTC One Max, which will have a fingerprint sensor among other features, on Oct. 15, two people familiar with the matter said. That will put a new smartphone with a fingerprint scanner on the market alongside Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5S. The HTC One Max will be based on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. But it’s unclear what kind of applications its fingerprint sensor will have, or whether it could be used to authorize app purchases or other transactions as with the iPhone 5S. While fingerprint sensors seem poised to become a growing trend, analysts say they are still limited in their usefulness for now. They have already been a feature in laptops for more than a decade–with Toshiba Corp. unveiling a fingerprint reader in 2000–but have never gained widespread use.
