While the biometrics trends have been focusing on fingerprints, the Chinese giant is looking at eyes.

Biometrics based mobile payment security is still in its early days. So far, certain companies, such as Apple, have introduced fingerprint scanning to verify a device user’s identity. However, Alibaba has something else in mind.

Alibaba’s payments and financial services affiliate, Ant Financial, recently announced new plans.

Ant Financial purchased EyeVerify for an undisclosed amount. EyeVerify is a startup based in Kansas City, Missouri. Reports have suggested that the acquisition may have been made for anywhere from $70 million to $100 million. This suggests that the e-commerce giant from China may be looking into a new kind of mobile payments security.

Not only will this purchase provide the company with one more step in expanding its reach into the western market, but it also reveals an interest in biometric security. That type of technology analyzes biological features that can be detected with scanners. In the case of EyeVerify, the software they produce can analyze and recognize the veins on the sclera (the visible part of the eyeball that is white inc color).

This mobile payment security uses a smartphone’s front-facing camera to capture the vein patterns of the eye.

Once the pattern has been captured, it is recorded so that it can be used for certain mobile security features. These can include logging into an account or even unlocking a phone, similar to the way fingerprint scanners are currently used.

According to EyeVerify, this type of biometric security provides the same level of verification protection as a password of 50 characters in length.

Ant Financial first introduced biometric mobile payment security software into its Alipay app in July 2015. This was released exclusively to a small group of beta testers. The beta testers have the ability to log into their accounts using traditional password and/or fingerprint readings. That said, they can also choose to have their eyes scanned in order to log in.

Companies from China stand to gain a great deal from biometric security investments. The reason is that the country is facing a massive battle against online fraud and every new layer of security protection can go a long way.

Scientists have come up with a new technology that may make dropping your smartphone far less upsetting.

Scientists in the United Kingdom have announced that they have come up with a technology for an unbreakable phone screen. The tech involves the use of a special form of electrode. It would be possible to use it in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, or even in larger electronics such as TVs.

The team of scientists has predicted that the unbreakable screens could be available as soon as 2018.

The electrode for the unbreakable phone screen technology conducts electricity throughout the glass. A traditional form of electrode is made of indium tin oxide (ITO), which is an expensive type of metal. In fact, it is prohibitively expensive and has stopped that method from being used for more durable mobile phone screens until now. However, the UK scientist have made a new type of electrode by mixing graphene and silver nanowires.

These two materials were the key to being able to create the unbreakable phone screen display.

The silver nanowires are exceptionally tiny, at 1/10,000 the width of a human hair. And yet, they’re still much larger than graphene. The thinness of these materials has made it possible for an exceptionally flexible conductor which is far more resistant to breaking and cracking than the current standard glass screens.

When taking into consideration the number of people who break their smartphone screens, this is very good news. After all, a cracked screen isn’t just an inconvenience. In fact, inconvenience is only the beginning. Touchscreens as a standard on nearly all smartphones have meant that cracked screens can limit the use of the device or can render it unusable.

The unbreakable phone screen technology was created by a team of University of Sussex physicists who were working with an Oxford microelectrics firm. They developed these unique hybrid electrodes and published their findings in the Nanoscale journal. According to that publication, this is also an important discovery because the graphene and silver nanowire combination is actually better at conducting electricity than the older electrodes made out of the expensive ITO metal.