Biometrics

When you think about portable biometric identification devices (you do think about them, right?), you likely picture relatively bulky contraptions. This week, however, California tech company AOptix announced its new Stratus biometrics system, that’s based around the user’s existing iPhone 4 or 4S.  Read More

The uniqueness of a fingerprint has helped keep thumb drive files, computer systems and wallet contents safe from intruders for a good while now. Now, a team from Carnegie Mellon is breaking fingerprint recognition technology into new ground with the development of a secure payment system named PayTango, that uses a fingerprint scanner to identify shoppers and pay for items.  Read More

A lot of parents worry when their kids first start taking the school bus by themselves. What if they’re snatched from the bus stop? What if they get off at the wrong stop? What if the bus is hijacked? Well, while the Kidtrack system can’t keep any of those things from happening, it can at least keep track of which children are on which buses, and where.  Read More

If you watch a handwriting expert authenticate a signature, they will talk about echoes of the process of signing one's name – darker or lighter lines reveal pressure variations, the shape of the loops reveals the shaking of the hand, and the flow of the ink shows if the signature was laid down without hesitation. These echoes of the act of writing make a signature far more revealing than a simple squiggle on paper. Now researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD) have created a credit card that contains a thorough description of these signature traits, which can be used for instant authentication.  Read More

Apple has established a familiar pattern with its iPhone releases. Redesigned model (iPhone 3G, 4, 5), followed by a physically-identical spec bump/new software model (iPhone 3GS, 4S). So, unless the company shakes things up, we’ll be seeing an iPhone 5S in 2013. An analyst with a proven track record has some supposed details about the new iPhone.  Read More

The Ford Motor Company recently invited Gizmag to attend its Go Further With Ford 2012 conference on technological trends, which took place last Tuesday through Thursday in Detroit. One of the presentations that we took in looked at the automaker’s MyFord Touch system, and where that technology may be heading. Among other things, the Ford engineers want the system to be able to automatically ascertain how mentally-taxed the driver is, so it can determine if it should deliver notifications to them, or just shut up and let them drive.  Read More

While fingerprint-reading security peripherals aren't exactly the new kids on the block, the latest offering from AuthenTec has two distinct things going for it - its compact size and its US$10 launch price. The Eikon mini is Mac and PC compatible, has a built-in USB connector and when plugged in, measures just 0.6 x 0.75 x by 0.5 inches (15 x 19 x 13 mm).  Read More

Since creating the first contact-free palm vein authentication sensor in 2003, Fujitsu's biometric security solution has been getting smaller and smaller. Now, the company has developed a new system that's half the thickness of current offerings yet retains the same performance and accuracy levels as the latest commercially-available PalmSecure designs. The Japanese tech giant is claiming the title of the world's smallest and slimmest palm vein authentication sensor for its new creation and says that it will likely be headed for use in mobile products such as tablet computers, although there's currently no indication as to when that might be.  Read More

Fingerprint recognition has long been used to protect sensitive data on USB drives - here’s another approach. This 8GB USB storage device uses voice recognition software to detect a password spoken by the user.  Read More