Apple Killed the Google Nexus 6 Fingerprint Scanner: Former Motorola CEO

In an interview with The Telegraph, Dennis Woodside, the current COO at Dropbox, who announced his exit from Motorola early last year, talked about Google's newest Nexus phone. Woodside claimed that the Nexus 6 was "supposed" to pack a fingerprint scanner on the rear panel; though it never happened because of Apple.

Woodside explains that Apple bought Authentec, the maker of fingerprint sensor chips, who were the best supplier; leaving with second best option that was available to other OEMs. "The secret behind that is that it was supposed to be fingerprint recognition, and Apple bought the best supplier. So the second best supplier was the only one available to everyone else in the industry and they weren't there yet," said Woodside.

Former Motorola CEO however further added that the addition of the fingerprint recognition on the Google Nexus 6 "wouldn't have made that big a difference."

Woodside also talked about Nexus 6, describing it as a "nice phone." He added, "It is enormous. It's a bit big for me; I drop it all the time."

To refresh, Google launched the Motorola-made Nexus 6 in October last year while the handset reached Indian shores last month. The Google Nexus 6 32GB variant went on sale in India at Rs. 43,999, and the 64GB variant at Rs. 48,999. The Nexus 6 is also the platform lead device of the most recent version of Android i.e., Android 5.0 Lollipop, which comes with a fresh look thanks to Material Design and a host of new features.

Recently Motorola confirmed a rear panel defect in some Google Nexus 6 handsets where users reported the rear panel was coming off. The official Twitter handle of Motorola Support, while replying to a Nexus 6 owner who received the defective handset twice, confirmed the reports and said, "We're seeing a few." As of now, Motorola has not revealed any specific causes for the unglued back panel of the Nexus 6.