“Apple Inc.’s latest product launch could breathe new life into a technology that failed to take hold the first time: fingerprint scanners,” Danny Yadron reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“Placing a finger on a computer or smartphone has long been proposed as a way to avoid the need for passwords to authenticate users of computers and other devices,” Yadron reports. “People familiar with the matter said last week that Apple will include a fingerprint scanner on the more expensive of two iPhones it is expected to unveil Tuesday at an event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.”
Yadron reports, “Because of Apple’s influence, other companies are likely to follow… In theory, scanning a user’s finger could be a very fast way to unlock a phone or authorize a payment—and unlike a password, impossible for an unauthorized person to crack by guessing or trying different combinations. A scanner on a smartphone could also be used to safeguard corporate networks, acting much like security tokens made by RSA and others that generate sequences of numbers to be used with passwords, Mr. Kempskie said. A corporate customer could enter his password and then be required to scan his thumb on his iPhone, using an RSA app, for example, to verify his identity, he said.”
“They could also be used for physical security. August, a San Francisco startup, plans to ship a deadbolt lock add-on—the device fits on an existing lock—later this year that allows users to unlock their front doors with their smartphones. The company will likely allow customers to use their fingerprint as an additional form of verification, said Jason Johnson, its chief executive,” Yadron reports. “It remains unclear whether Apple will let outside developers employ the fingerprint scanner in apps, if at all.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple’s iPhone 5S ‘Home Button/Touch ID’ sensor ringed with Liquidmetal? (with photo) – September 10, 2013
Apple patent filing reveals fingerprint scanner with advanced NFC application built into the Home Button – September 7, 2013
Photos claim to show iPhone 5S packaging featuring Home Button fingerprint sensor – September 6, 2013
Apple iPhone fingerprint reader means government business – September 5, 2013
It might just do what it did for the MP3 player or the phone. Today, the colossus speaks.
So that’s why Apple stopped including a cloth for wiping off finger prints from the face of their mobile devices? finger prints are actually a good thing? Yea, thats the ticket.
This way the NSA will be able to say definitively who wrote a specific email or made a specific phone call from any particular device.
Buy Alcoa stock.
Down vote this if you like, but that’s exactly what will happen.
I love and trust Apple, but if we’re going to let them key fingerprints to digital activities, we need to know how they’ve helped the government subvert the law and the constitution.
Won’t be long before the cops can print out a life size photo of your fingerprint and use it to unlock your phone. They’ve already got your prints.
I use Eikon fingerprint scanners – originally made by UPEK, later merged onto Authentec- and Authentec SW on my Macs. I have had no problems with them other than the fact that Apple shuttered the company and discontinued the product after buying the company.
FYI- although Authentec has been shut down, the SW drivers and application are available on a self-service basis. Any USB device with Authentec sensors will work with the freely available software. Zvetco and others market their devices as Windows only, but the models with Authentec sensors installed work fine on a Mac with the Authentec SW.
“breath new life”? When did fingerprint recognition die?
lol. Exactly.