I keep my eye on Patently Apple for a glimpse at the future of Apple products. They serve a niche in our community, and I applaud them for that. Today, they made note a patent that Apple has purchased from three engineers from Oregon. From the description on PA, this patent covers a certain aspect of using sensors in flat panel displays. I am not a biometric or patent expert, so I would suggest that you take a look at the description yourself if you’d like the technical details. As for the patent itself, you can take a look at the image below.
I am less interested in the technical aspect than I am the possibility of this technology. Anything that could lead to better security with less hassle is something I feel we should get behind. Even if this is just a precursor to a biometric scanner on Apple products in the future, this is something we should stop, and take note of right now.
What do you think? Do you think biometric scanning has a future with Apple products? Sound off in the comment section of this post to have your voice heard.
Article Via Patently Apple
Image Credit: Fazen & Patently Apple
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The first respondent, whilst making some good points, has misunderstood the technology Apple have secured the patent against. He's right in saying that numerous other companies have introduced fingerprint technology to their devices, such as the swipe capacitative fingerprint reader on laptops. However, this is not what Apple are proposing. They are looking to introduce the fingerprint scanner underneath the touchscreen interface, without any interference to the screen. Yet again, this is a subtle change from Apple which has a dramatic effect on the way one interacts with the device. If you really think about it, why is Apple so successful? Because they really think about the user and now that technology is a mass-take-up product, the aesthetic is as if not more important than the function.
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LikeI'm all for it as long as I don't get locked out of my phone.
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LikeGrant
One or more companies have implemented fingerprint imaging devices on their computers and telephones. The technology is not that new or exotic. Apple's eventual adoption of a biometric scanning/imaging capability is a virtual certainty. The first application would be to secure the phone from unauthorized used. A logical extension would be to validate the phone's user to a distant contact (e.g., vendor, bank, correspondent, etc.)
The key issue is the degree of precision such a device could provide. Current technology does not quite sustain a high reliability identification. Some phone companies are looking at iris imaging as an alternative to fingerprint technology. It's still a challenge, but the iris image could provide a far more reliable identification verification.
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