Apple Applies for Patent on Fingerprint Sensor Packaging System

[TMay]

Oh boy, here we go with getting defensive about seeing facts!
Seriously... grow up.

Yes... in this instance, Apple is copying a feature that has been used on a mobile phone before.

Let's just hope their implementation is better or it will disappear just as fast as the one on the Atrix did.
Motorola dropped the feature on the Atrix 2.

Funny how Apple rumored to be implementing a feature, in this case a fingerprint scanner, is copying some earlier implementation of Motorola's, when the facts are more likely that Apple has been investigating fingerprint scanners for some indeterminate time and has not made the decision to implement the feature due to the technology not being fully baked. The Patent seems to bear this out.

One of the many No's that Apple is proud of, while at the same time buying a company noted for providing fingerprint sensors and IP for same.

Perhaps Apple is waiting patiently for other companies to expose all of the bad implementations before perfecting and implementing its own, which seems to follow Apple's past design decisions.

 

[kas23]

really? apples & oranges. when scanning fingerprints you have only a few true-positives to choose from (the source prints data). when parsing natural language, you have thousands & thousands of words to analyze...

Really? How many thousands & thousands of permutations of the English laguage are there to simply tell Siri to set your alarm for 6:00 AM? Certainly way too many for for lowly mobile processor, right? Are you saying the iPhone could not locally programmed to recognize that simple phrase, but will be able to distinguish thousands of lines less than 500 microns apart (just a tad more complex than a qr code)?

 

[Espionage32]

Motorola did it two years ago on the Atrix.
Nice feature, just poor location of the sensor. (it was integrated into the power button)

Image

Yah i love this feature of the phone.

 

[appleisking]

Amazing, Since Apple are going to use the technology its the next best thing, if Samsung were to bring it in it would be a "gimmick" I love these forums lol.

1. Nobody says its the next best thing
2. This is not a gimmick, if implemented properly, ull never have to enter another password again. (of course not the same thing as next best thing, just something cool and convenient). I doubt anyone, even the biggest samsung hater, would call it a gimmick if samsung had it.
3. Notice Macrumors: you don't expect a certain level of biasm? Most everyone here is an Apple fan.

 

[luckydcxx]

Why are you people so concerned if the government has your fingerprint? What are you doing that is so illegal that you think you are being tracked? It's like the people in the cash lane of a toll booth. They don't want the government tracking their ezpass, even thought it is cheaper and more convenient. I couldn't care less is the CIA, FBI and police wanted to follow me around all day tracking my every move.

 

[BvizioN]

in before someone says "What if I burned my fingertips and i don't have fingerprints anymore!"

Well! Then you just disable the fingerprint scaner just like you disable or unable the passcode, don't ya? Don't expect the whole world to stop using it, lol.

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Why are you people so concerned if the government has your fingerprint? What are you doing that is so illegal that you think you are being tracked? It's like the people in the cash lane of a toll booth. They don't want the government tracking their ezpass, even thought it is cheaper and more convenient. I couldn't care less is the CIA, FBI and police wanted to follow me around all day tracking my every move.

Because 21'st century people love paranoia.

 

[lk400]

I bet we don't see it until the iPhone 6. Wait, that's going to have NFC. I bet we don't see it until the iPhone 6s.

This could go hand in hand with a more secure NFC. Fingerprint activates the NFC so no skimming issues or need to enter password, run apps etc.

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Kinda said it 1/2 jokingly, but you are living in a fantasy world if you think the govt. has the peoples best interest as priority #1.

Also this isn't a Obama/Bush thing, both are absolutely atrocious when govt. overreach. Bush created the Patriot act / expanded NSA and Obama is perfecting and polishing it up.

Combine this with 3D printing and the possibilities are limitless.

 

[macs4nw]

Nice, I'm sure there will be software add-ons for this functionality. For example that you iPad or iPhone will play a barking sound when your cat is touching the device. Or when your girlfriend touches your iPhone screen that this device will send you an sms or something like that. Or what about a finger identification counter? One press on a button and it tells you how many different people have touched the device...

Yes, you're right....I'm bored right now..

Bored maybe, but creative.

 

[macs4nw]

Although 99% of people have nothing to worry about, it is not "if" but "when" will Apple be subpoenaed for fingerprint data. Then again, if a law enforcement agency wants fingerprints, they could easily just request them from the individual, but this is going to make fingerprint searches easier on the grand scale.

Something to think about.....

This will be useful for buying stuff (no more passwords) and Find my iPhone.

This by itself, could put a big dent in the market for stolen iPhones: the phone will only work with your fingerprint. I know, I know, the re-sale market, you say. But that problem could be solved with a simple central registry, or a mechanism whereby only the registered rightful owner can re-store the phone to factory settings, prior to handing it over to the buyer. Contrary to the nay-sayers, this can be implemented.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

This would be great for families where multie people use the same device. It will log into their account according to who's finger scan it read.

 

[maxosx]

This will be useful for buying stuff (no more passwords) and Find my iPhone.

Think again

 

[SPUY767]

Motorola did it two years ago on the Atrix.
Nice feature, just poor location of the sensor. (it was integrated into the power button)

Image

I read the patent and it doesn't have anything to do with fingerprint scanning, merely a different, and completely patentable, method of constructing a fingerprint scanner in order to make the units more accurate, reliable, and cost effective.

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fingerprint scanner is neither new nor innovative.

See my other posts regarding what this patent is rather than shooting off at the mouth. This patent has nothing to do with the scanning of a fingerprint itself, merely the construction of the scanner.

 

[rjohnstone]

I read the patent and it doesn't have anything to do with fingerprint scanning, merely a different, and completely patentable, method of constructing a fingerprint scanner in order to make the units more accurate, reliable, and cost effective.

Exactly... this was the other point I was making regarding implementation.

Motorola failed not because the feature sucked, it was actually nice and a great way to secure your phone.
It failed because of how they implemented it. I would accidentally shut off the screen all the time while trying to unlock it.
Packaging is everything. Putting the scanner on the power/unlock button was awkward to use at times.
I hope Apple's implementation is better as I really liked not having to remember a PIN to unlock my phone.

Funny how Apple rumored to be implementing a feature, in this case a fingerprint scanner, is copying some earlier implementation of Motorola's, when the facts are more likely that Apple has been investigating fingerprint scanners for some indeterminate time and has not made the decision to implement the feature due to the technology not being fully baked. The Patent seems to bear this out.

One of the many No's that Apple is proud of, while at the same time buying a company noted for providing fingerprint sensors and IP for same.

Perhaps Apple is waiting patiently for other companies to expose all of the bad implementations before perfecting and implementing its own, which seems to follow Apple's past design decisions.

Unless you have anything to back up your "facts" about what Apple was researching 3 years ago, you are doing nothing more than speculating.

Facts are, Motorola did it and released it.

The patent in question is about the packaging of a sensor, not any new fingerprint technology. Read it, don't just look at the pictures.
I'll give you a hint, the sensor described in the patent is made by the same company that made the sensor for Motorola. Both are AuthenTec sensors.
Granted the Apple one will be a newer design given the Atrix was designed 3 years ago.

 

[SPUY767]

Exactly... this was the other point I was making regarding implementation.

Motorola failed not because the feature sucked, it was actually nice and a great way to secure your phone.
It failed because of how they implemented it. I would accidentally shut off the screen all the time while trying to unlock it.
Packaging is everything. Putting the scanner on the power/unlock button was awkward to use at times.
I hope Apple's implementation is better as I really liked not having to remember a PIN to unlock my phone.


Unless you have anything to back up your "facts" about what Apple was researching 3 years ago, you are doing nothing more than speculating.

Facts are, Motorola did it and released it.

The patent in question is about the packaging of a sensor, not any new fingerprint technology. Read it, don't just look at the pictures.
I'll give you a hint, the sensor described in the patent is made by the same company that made the sensor for Motorola. Both are AuthenTec sensors.
Granted the Apple one will be a newer design given the Atrix was designed 3 years ago.

The facts are that this is a patent that has been in the works for years before apple acquired the company that originally filed this patent. Apple has likely been researching fingerprint scanners for a long time, but we'll never know how many feature cul-de-sacs apple has reached.

 

[Klae17]

Think again

Are you saying there is another use for the sensor or that those uses aren't legitimate ?

 

[extradryny]

Well, there's certainly a fair amount of evidence to suggest they 'innovated' the designs of the people who allegedly built and flew their aeroplanes in the few years prior to their flight (actually, to clarify, there's no suggestion they copied designs, just that they weren't first, but they just had a more polished package and better media attention!).

Ha... I knew someone would go there.

It's funny how the first-in-flight war continues today almost a century later, back and forth between North Carolina and Ohio. Hopefully this smartphone sniping doesn't do the same!

 

[beaniemyman]

this innovation would help replace those easily traceable passwords with fingerprints, and i think that would really help make our accounts more safe.

 

[TMay]

Exactly... this was the other point I was making regarding implementation.

Motorola failed not because the feature sucked, it was actually nice and a great way to secure your phone.
It failed because of how they implemented it. I would accidentally shut off the screen all the time while trying to unlock it.
Packaging is everything. Putting the scanner on the power/unlock button was awkward to use at times.
I hope Apple's implementation is better as I really liked not having to remember a PIN to unlock my phone.


Unless you have anything to back up your "facts" about what Apple was researching 3 years ago, you are doing nothing more than speculating.

Facts are, Motorola did it and released it.

The patent in question is about the packaging of a sensor, not any new fingerprint technology. Read it, don't just look at the pictures.
I'll give you a hint, the sensor described in the patent is made by the same company that made the sensor for Motorola. Both are AuthenTec sensors.
Granted the Apple one will be a newer design given the Atrix was designed 3 years ago.

Motorola did release Authentiec's technology first: badly implemented in your own words but certainly first.

The fact that Apple is working on what appears to be a superior implementation is my point, and yes, Apple has most likely been working on it for quite some time. When Apple does include it as a feature, it will be on all the then current generation of iPhones, not just a single or a few models.

 

[KenAFSPC]

What's a good way to prevent the competition from copying your product? Patent every possible implementation that could be competitive with your own.

We've seen Apple file a number of patents recently for implementations of biometric sensors in mobile devices.

 

[twoodcc]

i don't see how a fingerprint scanner is a good thing on the iPhone, but i guess we'll find out.

 

[d0nK]

In 2 years when everyone is doing fingerprint scanners like this, it will suddenly have been obvious.

It has been obvious to a lot of people for years.
It was obvious way back in 2004, the time that Der Zyklus released his "Biometry" album as we watched the tech for fingerprint and retinal scanners grow and infiltrate airports.

I was under the impression that this tech has been sat on for the most part due to the fear, by many, of a Big Brother society.

 

[SPUY767]

It has been obvious to a lot of people for years.
It was obvious way back in 2004, the time that Der Zyklus released his "Biometry" album as we watched the tech for fingerprint and retinal scanners grow and infiltrate airports.

I was under the impression that this tech has been sat on for the most part due to the fear, by many, of a Big Brother society.

How many times must I say in this thread that this patent has nothing to do with any method of scanning a fingerprint in and of itself, only the manufacture of the device.