Google has unveiled Nexus Imprint, a system that brings fingerprint sensor support to its latest phones and the upcoming Android 6.0 Marshmallow mobile operating system. It will enable the entire app ecosystem to make use of fingerprint recognition and will also work with Android Pay to authenticate an in-store payment, says the company.

“The Nexus 5X and 6P come with Nexus Imprint, which makes unlocking phones more convenient and secure,” Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Google, told attendees at a press event today during which the company unveiled its latest flagship devices.

“Fingerprint sensors have been available in several devices in the Android ecosystem for a while, but Nexus Imprint implements new fingerprint sensor support in Android 6.0 for the first time which opens up fingerprint recognition to the entire app ecosystem.

“The Nexus Imprint sensor provides amazing performance. Registering a finger takes literally just a couple of seconds. Once trained, the sensor can recognise a single finger in less than 600 milliseconds. It’s convenient and secure and the sensor performs at an incredibly low false reject rate so it almost never fails.”

“What’s really cool is that Nexus Imprint gets better over time — with each use it learns more about your unique fingerprint,” Burke continued. “So, to unlock my device with Nexus Imprint, all I have to do is tap the sensor at the back and it simultaneously wakes up the app’s processor and unlocks the phone. It’s incredibly smooth and lightning fast.

“Fingerprint unlocking is super convenient when combined with Android Pay. When you’re in a store, simply touch the back of your phone [and] tap the payment terminal to complete your purchase, it’s that easy. On the phone itself, you can use your fingerprint to simply and quickly authorise Play Store purchases; we’ve been working with partners to integrate fingerprint support on a wide range of banking and commerce apps.”

Android Marshmallow, unveiled at Google I/O in May 2015 alongside the introduction of Android Pay, is also set to launch next week, the company revealed.

“I’m happy to announce that Android 6.0 Marshmallow will begin rolling out to existing Nexus devices starting next week, including the Nexus 5,6,7,9 and Nexus Player,” Burke said.

• Find details of all current and upcoming NFC phones in our comprehensive NFC devices list.

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions