Rumor has it iPhone is Going Biometric
- By Ginger Hill
- Apr 30, 2013
Less than a year ago, Apple, Inc. whipped out and handed over $356 million to purchase AuthenTec, Inc., a fingerprint sensor technology developer with the technology to embed a fingerprint scanner into the glass of the iPhone (and, iPad for that matter), making it one of the very few public companies acquired by Apple.
With this deal, Apple acquired the right to pay AuthenTec to license certain patents, and Apple will also pay AuthenTec $7.5 million for some product development work.
Hmmm, wonder type of product development work? What patents? Fingerprint scanning? Mobile wallet?
Well, rumor has it that the agreement filed with regulators hinted at “a 2D fingerprint sensor for Apple that is suitable for use in an Apple product.” Should that be the case, a biometric element and a mobile payment element is likely to be added to Apple’s next iPhone version.
A fingerprint scanner gives Apple the ability to replace usernames and passwords, giving users an alternative, efficient way to authenticate on their Apple products, namely the iPhone. And, since no two fingerprints are alike, could this be the beginning of truly hack-proof devices?
(Sources: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-authentec-acquisition-apple-idUSBRE86Q0KD20120727
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/04/03/fingerprint-scanning-tech-predicted-to-be-major-component-of-apples-iphone-5s-iwatch)
About the Author
Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.