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Apple yesterday posted a new job listing (via AppleInsider) looking for a software engineer to join its team of fingerprint sensor engineers from AuthenTec, which was acquired last year for $356 million.

Apple refers to the job location as its "Melbourne Design Center" located in Melbourne, Florida, which is where AuthenTec was based, and is the only Melbourne-based position currently listed on Apple's job site. The position requires the ability to write "low-level code to configure and control hardware" and experience with firmware-hardware interaction.

authentec_logo.jpg
Responsibilities of the position include work on the "LabTool" software used to evaluate the team's chip work, as well as failure analysis software, control firmware for the team's chips, and support for the team's design verification group.
LabTool - Develop, maintain, update and optimize the "LabTool" software that is used for lab evaluation and characterization of the Melbourne Design Center sensor ICs. This includes adding new features as specified by the analog and digital design engineers. Updating the tool to work with new sensors. Automating lab test and characterization. Provide support and debug capability to all groups within Apple that use the tool.
AuthenTec late last year sold off its embedded security group following the acquisition by Apple, leaving a core of fingerprint sensing and identity management groups in place to drive Apple's work in those fields. AuthenTec is also said to be cutting off non-Apple customers of its fingerprint sensor technology, leaving Apple with exclusive use of the technology and its associated intellectual property.

Apple has been rumored to be including fingerprint sensing technology in the iPhone 5S later this year, but there has not yet been any concrete evidence of such an addition.

Article Link: Apple Hiring Software Engineer for AuthenTec Fingerprint Sensor Team in Florida
 
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Apple yesterday posted a new job listing (via AppleInsider) looking for a software engineer to join its team of fingerprint sensor engineers from AuthenTec, which was acquired last year for $356 million.

Apple refers to the job location as its "Melbourne Design Center" located in Melbourne, Florida, which is where AuthenTec was based, and is the only Melbourne-based position currently listed on Apple's job site. The position requires the ability to write "low-level code to configure and control hardware" and experience with firmware-hardware interaction.

Responsibilities of the position include work on the "LabTool" software used to evaluate the team's chip work, as well as failure analysis software, control firmware for the team's chips, and support for the team's design verification group.AuthenTec late last year sold off its embedded security group following the acquisition by Apple, leaving a core of fingerprint sensing and identity management groups in place to drive Apple's work in those fields. AuthenTec is also said to be cutting off non-Apple customers of its fingerprint sensor technology, leaving Apple with exclusive use of the technology and its associated intellectual property.

Apple has been rumored to be including fingerprint sensing technology in the iPhone 5S later this year, but there has not yet been any concrete evidence of such an addition.

Article Link: Apple Hiring Software Engineer for AuthenTec Fingerprint Sensor Team in Florida

Here comes the revolutionary new iFinger.
 
Seems like adding a fingerprint sensor is more than just a "spec bump" -- which has historically been all the "S" models are. Although, they did add Siri for the 4S so maybe fingerprint sensors would show up in a 5S. Perhaps they'll make the home button also a fingerprint sensor?
 
I would love the ability to unlock my phone without a passcode. Plus, imagine when there is no more "Did you change your passcode again? What is it?" from your spouse again. :D They will be SOL when you are not near the phone. :D
 
iPhone 5S here we come... leather wallet goes bye byes. You will even see women's purses being made differently within a couple years. Have a funny feeling we may have to wait till iPhone 6 for all this though...

The wallet will be gone before we all know it. :cool:
 
Guess no fingerprint scanner in the iPhone 5s?
Wont be enough time to implement this I would imagine.
 
Seems like adding a fingerprint sensor is more than just a "spec bump" -- which has historically been all the "S" models are. Although, they did add Siri for the 4S so maybe fingerprint sensors would show up in a 5S. Perhaps they'll make the home button also a fingerprint sensor?

I'd love a touch based home button. I'm always too scared to overuse and break it and have to turn to use the disability button on the home screen. This sensor looks more like a security type thing.
 
The only thing I can say for sure about every authentec enabled laptop I have ever seen is that nobody uses the fingerprint authentication, and a lot of users are actually scared of it.
Not kidding! I have literally seen dozens if not hundreds of those fingerprint readers taped over.

What next, "smart cards"?
 
The only thing I can say for sure about every authentec enabled laptop I have ever seen is that nobody uses the fingerprint authentication, and a lot of users are actually scared of it.
Not kidding! I have literally seen dozens if not hundreds of those fingerprint readers taped over.

What next, "smart cards"?

It actually seems to suit a phone better than a laptop. It's easy to type a password into your laptop. On a phone, tapping out the same pass code again and again every time you unlock your phone is tedious. Ditto for iTunes authentication, etc. I think this would be very useful for many people.

The question is...is the iphone home button large enough to get an accurate fingerprint scan?
 
iPhone 5S here we come... leather wallet goes bye byes. You will even see women's purses being made differently within a couple years. Have a funny feeling we may have to wait till iPhone 6 for all this though...

The wallet will be gone before we all know it. :cool:

I was thinking the same thing yesterday! I have 2 credit cards, it will at least help to make my wallet becomes thinner haha
 
Oh god we can see the headlines now

"iPhone 5S phones failing to unlock due to finger print sensor issues"


Steve jobs "you're touching it wrong."
 
If they are just now hiring the software engineer, I don't see how the fingerprint sensor will be part of the 5S
 
The most important feature of something like this for me would be the 'off' switch in settings. I think fingerprint sensors are gimmicky and would likely make a smartphone, that device you touch with your fingers all the time, more insecure IMHO.
 
Seems like adding a fingerprint sensor is more than just a "spec bump" -- which has historically been all the "S" models are. Although, they did add Siri for the 4S so maybe fingerprint sensors would show up in a 5S. Perhaps they'll make the home button also a fingerprint sensor?
Siri could have just as easily been added to the iPhone 4 (and even 3GS). But this really does require additional hardware.

But if they are just now placing an ad for employees I don't see it coming to the 5S.



Michael
 
If Apple's going to jump on this fingerprint bandwagon, it has to work and work well. If they're able to make a solution that works well, we'll see other handset makers try to copy Apple's implementation, no doubt. Maybe in two or three years, fingerprint scanners will be as common on phones and tablets as the voice assistants are becoming today.

Lenovo (IBM) used to have fingerprint scanners on their ThinkPads -- not sure if they still do. I tested it a few times and the success rate for reading my fingerprint correctly on the first swipe was about 50%. That's annoying on a laptop but brutal on a phone or tablet when you need to look something up right away.

I want the fingerprint sensor to work so well that once I enable it, I never have to turn it off or fall back to entering a passcode. I hope Apple can pull it off and that they won't implement the technology until they've really made it work well.

Would make it interesting if Apple sets it up so you have the option to require the correct fingerprint plus a passcode to wipe an iOS device. Talk about the ultimate two-factor authentication!
 
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