Moto X (2015) fingerprint sensor
Motorola was reportedly close to putting a fingerprint sensor on the rear of its Nexus 6, but is set to include one on the Moto X (2015) IBTimes UK

Motorola were close to including a fingerprint sensor on the rear cover of the large Nexus 6 smartphone last year, and it looks like it could be ready to roll that technology out to the next-generation Moto X smartphone which is expected to be launched in the coming months.

CEO of parent company Lenovo, Yuanqing Yang tweeted that he had been to visit the Motorola research labs in Silicon Valley which included the company's "nice fingerprint sensor lab and clean room".

Additionally, Android Authority is reporting that two leaked images purport to show the new Moto X featuring "a cut-out that certainly looks about the right size and shape for a fingerprint scanner". Though the website does point out that it has no way of confirming the validity of these images.

At Google I/O in San Francisco last month, Google revealed that Android M, the next generation of the world's most popular mobile operating system, would support fingerprint technology natively, suggesting we will see a lot more manufacturers incorporate it. However as the Moto X (2015) is unlikely to launch with Android M on board, it will have to modify Android Lollipop to support the sensor.

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Fingerprint sensors have been appearing on more and more smartphones in the last two years since Apple introduced the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5s. Samsung has also incorporated a fingerprint reader on its Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6 ranges and Huawei has added fingerprint readers to some of its premium smartphones.

There is no indication of when we might see the new Moto X from Motorola, but considering the second generation model was released in early September last year, we could be a couple of months away from launch.

That has not stopped speculation about what specs the new phone will have, with a recent report suggesting it will feature a Snapdragon 808 processor paired with 4GB RAM, a 5.2in QHD display, a 5 megapixel front-facing camera and a 16MP rear facing camera, all powered by a 3280mAh battery.