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

ariza910 said:
That horizontal pill shaped home button rumor from last year makes much more sense now.
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It would make more sense to have it positioned vertically for a thumbprint.

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Digitalclips said:
Oh come on, we've all seen the movie where they cut off the finger from the corpse to gain access .... ;)
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Yeah...the bodies start to pile up and they all have one thing in common...
All are missing their right index finger. The iPhone serial killer strikes again.
 
Iconoclysm said:
PIN input leaves fingerprints that aid thieves in figuring out your PIN, it's becoming so common that newer PIN pads have numbers that change position every time you use them. There is a real need for security on phones in the Enterprise and, with NFC, more need on the consumer side. To say there is no need for this at all is very shortsighted.

Facial recognition is not the way to go, not being able to unlock your phone because you're out skiing/snowboarding or have sunglasses on at the beach or because you are in a Halloween costume or have bandages on your face (lol) would suck. Also, you need to put your face in the picture, imagine that with your phone docked on your dashboard to use your GPS. And finally, it's one of the least secure methods because a simple printout of your face can defeat it.
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Did you see Mythbusters and the fingerprint lock ?
 
MacDav said:
It would make more sense to have it positioned vertically for a thumbprint.

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Not necessarily.. If you try gripping your phone with one hand for normal one-handed operation, your thumb has an easier time going horizontal on the home button than it does vertical.. It's very easy to grip the phone with your thumb laying vertically on the home button.

Regardless of this, many of the earlier comments suggest that the technology will actually be on the screen itself, which is also interesting..

Time will tell.
 
djdover said:
You don't need fingerprints for that. I've always thought this could just as easily be achieved by having an account number that gets typed in with the 4 digit pin. So it's a 5 or 6 digit identification number.

So if I had the first account (1) and my 4 digit pin was 2345, I would just type in 12345 in one go to access the device. Simple. 5 digits would allow 10 user accounts, and 6 would allow 100 user accounts.
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True but this is way cooler. Remember the multi-user-by-face-detection rumor before the 1st iPad unveiled?
 
badmartigan said:
Image

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Looks like this sensor would fit just fine in the outside upper corner of the new iPhone. There is a larger and exactly the same shaped rectangle slot in the frame. Plus, glass coverings will still exist in the upper and lower part of the phone and would explain why the headphone jack went to the bottom.

As well, it seems that a lefty or righty holding the iPhone could easily swipe down an index finger to run a transaction.
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Hmm! Good sleuthing! Looks very feasible indeed! Like you say, also a good reason for the otherwise slightly random (yeah yeah iPod whatever!) headphone jack repositioning. That hole is VERY similar size though.

Just had a go with my 4 both left & right handed and the required action would work just great!

If they get it hidden behind the glass that could be very sexy indeed!
 
IF it is to be in this years iPhone then it won't be a last minute thing. It would have been included from the start and an agreement to allow it in this years iPhone will have already been agreed. The reason for Apple wanting to buy them ASAP, simple if it is in this years iPhone then Samsung and every other company will be knocking on their door to get this technology included in their next phones and Apple don't want that to happen.
 
HiRez said:
Using it for Passbook or mobile purchasing is great, but what I want to see is Fast User Switching on iOS. Would be great for everyone in the family to have their own private data and settings on iPad (the apps could still be shared, as on OS X).
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Fast user switching would be fantastic, but then they wouldn't sell as many iPads.
 
bigchrisfgb said:
IF it is to be in this years iPhone then it won't be a last minute thing. It would have been included from the start and an agreement to allow it in this years iPhone will have already been agreed. The reason for Apple wanting to buy them ASAP, simple if it is in this years iPhone then Samsung and every other company will be knocking on their door to get this technology included in their next phones and Apple don't want that to happen.
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Even then I don't think Apple would bother unless in the cause of working with the company they found some very compatible talent and/or a Technology in development that Apple thinks is valuable.

Finger print scanner while interesting but not that interesting. Not really much of a competive advantage. The tech behind it, either the scanning or processing, could have really valuable insights for improving touch sensors generally.
 
MattInOz said:
Even then I don't think Apple would bother unless in the cause of working with the company they found some very compatible talent and/or a Technology in development that Apple thinks is valuable.

Finger print scanner while interesting but not that interesting. Not really much of a competive advantage. The tech behind it, either the scanning or processing, could have really valuable insights for improving touch sensors generally.
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If NFC tech is coming to the iPhone though it could be valuable. It could mean that a payment will not be allowed unless the owner of the iPhone is the one holding the device at the time of the transaction. It could be a vital feature to protect NFC payments. Currently people are getting debit and credit cards with NFC on it, there has already been cases where people have lost their cards and their cards have been made to use payments via NFC. People have already complain about how they have been near someone else's terminal and they have accidentally paid for someone else's shopping. Also their is already a device out there that can scan someone's details by just having the device near someone and it scanning through people's bags and wallets. We are already seeing new wallets and purses come on the market that have thin pieces of foil inside them to combat it.
If Apple could eliminate all of that then it would be the end for debit cards and credit cards altogether. People would only need their account numbers stored on their iPhone. Protecting that via fingerprint recognition for authorising payments and via their wipe my iPhone app would be a lot safer than the bank cards handed out to you by your bank.

Don't you see how big that could be?

How is that not an advantage over Android and BB phones?
 
bigchrisfgb said:
If NFC tech is coming to the iPhone though it could be valuable. It could mean that a payment will not be allowed unless the owner of the iPhone is the one holding the device at the time of the transaction. It could be a vital feature to protect NFC payments. Currently people are getting debit and credit cards with NFC on it, there has already been cases where people have lost their cards and their cards have been made to use payments via NFC. People have already complain about how they have been near someone else's terminal and they have accidentally paid for someone else's shopping. Also their is already a device out there that can scan someone's details by just having the device near someone and it scanning through people's bags and wallets. We are already seeing new wallets and purses come on the market that have thin pieces of foil inside them to combat it.
If Apple could eliminate all of that then it would be the end for debit cards and credit cards altogether. People would only need their account numbers stored on their iPhone. Protecting that via fingerprint recognition for authorising payments and via their wipe my iPhone app would be a lot safer than the bank cards handed out to you by your bank.

Don't you see how big that could be?

How is that not an advantage over Android and BB phones?
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Apple could have, and probably has, secured an exclusive supply contract with these guys to get the same advantage without purchase.
More so buying this company or even exclusive supply contract doesn't stop or even slowdown any other device makers using another companies larger or slower scanner to provide the same function.

Yes better security is good and welcomed. It's not that big unless your bank will back it. Will your bank back it if its locked down to one provider?

Probably no. Which Apple knows but they still want the jump on the others. In the case of a short term advantage an exclusive supply contract would be a better deal. Unless there is something bigger, or at least more long term as an advantage behind the deal.
 
Have you guys learned anything yet? Guess not, so let me help you. This is yet another thing Apple is buying, just to keep out of the competition's hands. They are going to shelve it, and we will never see it.
 
Interesting thread comments about poking holes in finger print recognition. A couple a 101 comments about security, it's never absolute, it never fits 100% of the market and it can always be broken its just a question of how much effort and how much market it addresses. .

Not adding this feature because welders can't use it is as logical as why build phones for people at all because some people are deaf.

The question is what % of the market will you get a valid read from, answer very high. US military has required it for years and guess what happens every time you enter the US at airports.
 
The new iPhone is going to be called iPhone 6, the one after that will be called iPhone 6S, the S for "scanner". 6S will have NFC with Passbook
 
bawbac said:
Great.
Apple currently collects & sells our personal information & now wants our fingerprints for data mining.
Now they are moving toward collecting biological info/profiles.
I see a retina scanner coming soon.

Then when hackers break into apples data warehouse or their highest bidders(I mean clients ;)) storage, they can really steal a persons identity.
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They need not keep your actual fingerprints on file. They can store a cryptographic hash of the fingerprints. This would allow them to compare two sets of prints and know if they were the same but one could never get a picture of your prints from the hash.

This is how passwords are stored. No one needs to keep a file of passwords in oreder to check them. They store the password hashes. (or at least this is how it works on all UNIX-like OSes.)
 
Authentecs fingerprint technology in the Iphone5 would really be a game changer and would fit perfectly with the NFC we've all been hearing about as this would add another level of security to paying with Passport on your iPhone.

Stay tuned this could be one of the new unanticipated changes.
 
newyorksole said:
like Siri?
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or all the map companies they bought. Or that straming website that has become iTunes Match. :)

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bushman4 said:
Authentecs fingerprint technology in the Iphone5 would really be a game changer and would fit perfectly with the NFC we've all been hearing about as this would add another level of security to paying with Passport on your iPhone.

Stay tuned this could be one of the new unanticipated changes.
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This is the difference between Google and Apple. One is taking the time to think things through while another just jump on the newest things.
 
2013 or 2014 no sooner

When looking the time from stuff being bought and then incorporated historical - there is no chance in hell that this will be out in the next 9 month.

and even the next 21 months looks doubtful - Apple is getting all kinds of cool tech like liquid metal, and just look at the first prototype, predating the launch of iphone by 3 years.... (and im sure there is earlier models some were )

september 2014 is when we will see fingerprint in mobile .... earliest ... but perhaps first in pro and air models.. then ipad and iphone
 
NFC with fingerprint validation would be a killer feature and drive NFC adoption into the mainstream when combined with merchant incentives from MasterCard to lower their rates when using what is basically a theft proof technology.
 
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