Most Android phones will have to wait until 2019 to duplicate the 3D sensing feature behind Apple s Face ID security, three major parts producers have told Reuters, handicapping Samsung and others on a technology that is set to be worth billions in revenue over the next few years. The development of new features for the estimated 1.5 billion smart phones shipped annually has been at the heart of the battle for global market share over the past decade, with Apple, bolstered by its huge R&D budget, often leading. When the iPhone 5S launched with a fingerprint-sensing home button in September 2013, for example, it took its biggest rival Samsung until just April of the next year to deliver its own in the Galaxy S5, with others following soon after. Most Android phones will have to wait until 2019 to duplicate the 3D sensing feature behind Apple s Face ID security, three major parts producers have told Reuters. The 3D sensing technology is expected to enhance the next generation of phones, enabling accurate facial recognition as well as secure biometrics for payments, gesture sensing, and immersive shopping and gaming experiences.

Apple has invested $380 million to help the firm that makes the chip that powers it's iPhone X boost production. Finisar Corp is getting a $390 million investment from Apple to revive a plant in Texas. It makes laser chips called vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, or VCSELs. Finisar will use the money to reopen a 700,000-square-foot plant in Sherman, Texas to ramp up production of laser chips called vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, or VCSELs, used in Apple's iPhone X (pictured) Apple said the investment will allow Finisar to boost production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. Apple uses it for Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode selfies with the iPhone X TrueDepth camera and the proximity-sensing capabilities of AirPods.

Apple has made another investment with its Advanced Manufacturing Fund (AMF), awarding Finisar $390 million. Finisar is the company behind the iPhone X's Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode for selfies -- all of which rely on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL). The investment means Finisar will set up shop in a 700,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Texas in addition to expanding its research and development team. For its part, Apple has committed to buying ten times more VCSEL components in the latter part of its fiscal 2017 than "were previously manufactured worldwide over a similar time period," according to the tech juggernaut. While ambiguous, this gives a few hints that Apple is investing to meet demand for two of its newest products.

Apple Inc. has made its second notable investment this week -- this time in facial recognition technology company Finisar Corp. The $390-million investment announced Wednesday comes from Apple's $1-billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund, created to finance the work of domestic manufacturers and create jobs in the U.S. Apple announced the creation of the fund in May and plowed $200 million into Corning Inc., the maker of the Gorilla Glass, which is used in Apple's touchscreens. The Finisar investment will help the company boost production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, which Apple uses for Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode selfies with the iPhone X TrueDepth camera and the proximity-sensing capabilities of AirPods. Finisar -- which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The company runs a plant in Allen, just outside of Dallas.