Urgency in Apple's Talks with AuthenTec Hints at Rapid Adoption of Fingerprint Scanning Technology

[2005CTS]

Not that Apple can't afford it, but a $1/share jump screams desperation to me. Unusual for Apple to bow to the demands of a supplier. Me thinks another player was involved.

$1 premium is worth it to avoid the nastly legal issues that could come from licensing agreements gone wrong down the road.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Not sure where you get a year. According to the report, it looks like Apple offered $7 on May 1st, and came back in July with the $8 offer. That is a huge jump in the span of two months.

It was closer to 3 months - but it sounds more like a negotiation to me than anyone being desperate.

 

[2005CTS]

I don't believe it will be the exact same hardware though.

Of course not. I suspect the application for the iPhone was specifically designed for Apple...which eventually resulted in Apple buying the tech to keep it locked up as an Apple exclusive. Plus - when you read the specs - it has been greatly improved since its introduction to the world on the original Atrix.

 

[Moof1904]

oh and there is a hole behind the poster...

I got all the other references, but what movie is the hole behind the poster from?

 

[xero9]

As someone who recently joined the NEXUS program (joint Canada/US program for speedy border crossing, for those who don't know), iris scans are where it's at! Nothing more awesome than walking up to iris camera, letting it take a quick picture, and being able to identify me simply by that. Not sure what the complications would be of adapting the front facing camera for such use, but that would be way more useful to me than a fingerprint reader.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Of course not. I suspect the application for the iPhone was specifically designed for Apple...which eventually resulted in Apple buying the tech to keep it locked up as an Apple exclusive. Plus - when you read the specs - it has been greatly improved since its introduction to the world on the original Atrix.

Right, I'm referring to the news we've heard over the past few months about fingerprint scanning being built into touch screens themselves. I don't see any reason to have to "swipe" if the sensor is large enough.

 

[SmoMo]

The shawshank what?

I got all the other references, but what movie is the hole behind the poster from?

Yeh, I've never heard of it either.
I was just throwing that one in there in case anyone wants to make a movie about a hole behind a poster.

 

[Steve121178]

I hope they do, and I hope “whatever it is” becomes one of the many standards Apple has launched and then shared with the rest of the tech world to use as well.

I've been using fingerprint scanners for years. They usually find their way into high-end laptops. My work notebook (ThinkPad T420s) even has facial recognition if I want to enable it. It works really well, if you are away from the computer for a (user) defined period of time it automatically locks the machine. Very clever tech! I can even power my ThinkPad up just my scanning my finger.

Also, I've had fingerprint readers in my personal Sony Vaio's for as long as I can remember. I find them easier than typing annoying passwords in. Hopefully Apple can get with the times and implement it in their computers & gadgets in some form or another.

 

[Iconoclysm]

As someone who recently joined the NEXUS program (joint Canada/US program for speedy border crossing, for those who don't know), iris scans are where it's at! Nothing more awesome than walking up to iris camera, letting it take a quick picture, and being able to identify me simply by that. Not sure what the complications would be of adapting the front facing camera for such use, but that would be way more useful to me than a fingerprint reader.

I think fingerprints are easier with a phone than having to put it up to your eye - like when your phone locks while using the GPS in the car.

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I've been using fingerprint scanners for years. They usually find their way into high-end laptops. My work notebook (ThinkPad T420s) even has facial recognition if I want to enable it. It works really well, if you are away from the computer for a (user) defined period of time it automatically locks the machine. Very clever tech...

I've had fingerprint readers in my personal Sony Vaio's for as long as I can remember.

The facial recognition stuff is too easy to counterfeit. Fingerprint reading isn't new, but the tech in this device is very new.

 

[Steve121178]

The facial recognition stuff is too easy to counterfeit.

But facial combined with fingerprint to unlock the computer...? The data is more secure using this method instead.

 

[BornAgainApple]

As someone who recently joined the NEXUS program (joint Canada/US program for speedy border crossing, for those who don't know), iris scans are where it's at! Nothing more awesome than walking up to iris camera, letting it take a quick picture, and being able to identify me simply by that. Not sure what the complications would be of adapting the front facing camera for such use, but that would be way more useful to me than a fingerprint reader.

Not sure if the technology could fit in such a small form factor yet. Not to mention the processing power/battery drain ratio it would take to run it.

 

[KdParker]

I wonder how this would be used?

To activate or deactivate certain apps? Or to control system access?

 

[Iconoclysm]

But facial combined with fingerprint to unlock the computer...? The data is more secure using this method instead.

Now you're just getting into the impractical, talk about a pain the ass.

This method reads beneath the skin, by the way, capturing a fingerprint of the surface skin will not work to fool this device.

 

[R0bert]

Right, I'm referring to the news we've heard over the past few months about fingerprint scanning being built into touch screens themselves. I don't see any reason to have to "swipe" if the sensor is large enough.

You have to "swipe" to unlock/authenticate to prevent doing it by accident.

 

[Iconoclysm]

You have to "swipe" to unlock/authenticate to prevent doing it by accident.

How is there an accident between pressing the home button and wanting to unlock? Can you think of a situation where you'd only want to press that?

EDIT: I think I misunderstood what you meant. You would probably still need to swipe the screen, yes, but not have to input a PIN.

 

[ChrisA]

Placing a finger print sensor rght on the touch screen would be the best user interface. It would be totally transparent to the user. Basically the iPhone would continuously check that only the an authorized was using the phone.

I'd like to see the same thing on door handles on houses, cars and file cabinets. NO KEYS you just reach and open the door and if you are the right person it opens.

Well for now having the sensor on the home bottom would be good enough but Ideally the sensor would be on anything you need to touch. Then if your device fell into the wrong hands (pun intended) it would be useless to him.

Worse than useless if the iPhone sent the fingerprints of unauthorized users back to a big database. No one would steal in iPhone.

I'm not the first to think of this. A well know Sci Fi book written 40 or 50 years ago had a device that would only operate in the hands of it's intended user. People have been wanting this for decades, or longer.

 

[Steve121178]

Now you're just getting into the impractical, talk about a pain the ass.

This method reads beneath the skin, by the way, capturing a fingerprint of the surface skin will not work to fool this device.

Camera snaps your face in a millisecond and it takes 2 seconds to scan your finger. That's hard?

 

[TMay]

Not that Apple can't afford it, but a $1/share jump screams desperation to me. Unusual for Apple to bow to the demands of a supplier. Me thinks another player was involved.

Maybe, but the fingerprint scanner means more undecideds buying future iPhones. I imagine that this is an easy investment to make for Apple even at the $1 premium.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Camera snaps your face in a millisecond and it takes 2 seconds to scan your finger. That's hard?

Yes, because you then need to make sure you're in the picture and your face is completely exposed.

 

[R0bert]

How is there an accident between pressing the home button and wanting to unlock? Can you think of a situation where you'd only want to press that?

EDIT: I think I misunderstood what you meant. You would probably still need to swipe the screen, yes, but not have to input a PIN.

No you are right, if the sensor could be built into the home button without swiping that would be enough, no need to swipe anymore.

 

[2005CTS]

I suggest we talk more about the Motorola Atrix. More I say, more!

I wasn't trying to take over the conversation with Atrix references - just that as often happens in fan sights - folks aren't familiar with the competition...especially two year old competition. Since I had an Atrix before I bought my 4S - I am intimately familiar with the device - and this helps to frame the context around how this might work and where the technology first came from.

 

[Bezetos]

I would be VERY surprised if this made it into this year's iPhone. Apple isn't one to rush these things...

The new iPhone is launching next month. It's been definitely in production for the last few months, otherwise it would be impossible for them to produce enough phones for the launch.

 

[D.T.]

Can you elaborate on what it did/ looked like ok your motorola atrix please? I remember setting about it vaguely. Pictures would be great also! Thanks.

Edit: I found a YouTube video.

Again - folks....look back to the original Atrix. The home/power button was a finger print scanner. It worked great...and that was two years ago.

It worked _OK_. I had plenty of misreads, to the point where I disabled it. Conceptually, very cool, but the Atrix implementation was just not as good as it needed to be for the rapid unlock I expect from a phone (that's also doubling up as a camera). Part of it was the kind of peculiar angle of the reader/power button, it was angled on the top, rear corner (this was without the case shown below FYI).

Here's a decent picture of the reader from my actual phone for the Juiceman:

 

[VulchR]

Does anybody know if this technology is actually based in fingerprints or some other form of finger biometrics (dimensions, skin conductance or capacitance profile)?

 

[wallinbl]

How long until nvidia pitches a fit over that logo?