Biometrics Goes CE

Online staff -- Electronic News, 11/16/2005

When most people hear the term biometric sensor, they think homeland security. But while that’s certainly a market that has received a great deal of attention, another market promises a much greater return for makers of security devices that use fingerprints or eye prints in lieu of a password.

At least that’s what AuthenTec has discovered.  The seven-year-old maker of RF-based fingerprint sensors has been selling its devices into the consumer electronics market and has seen sales skyrocket over the past few years. 

“A lot of people pay attention to the homeland security market, but it’s not where the volume is,” said Jim Burke, VP of the Melbourne, Fla.-based company. “There are a limited number of airports out there.”

But there are millions of consumer devices in the market in the form of cell phones and laptops, and millions more sold every year.  That’s the market that has meant success for AuthenTec

“It took us five years to sell the first million devices,” Burke said. “Now we are selling 1 million per quarter, and our market has been tripling each year for the past three years.”

AuthenTec’s first sensors sold for $40 to $50 but today’s sell for under $5.

“They have a smaller footprint, lower cost and greater accuracy,” said Burke. And those things make them ideal for the consumer electronics market, providing a higher level of security to the devices that individual consumers use every day.

The company’s devices are being used in cell phones and laptop computers sold to consumers, primarily in the Japan market, as well as password manager devices and password manager-enabled mouses. Such password managers store a user’s passwords so that he or she just needs to swipe his or her fingerprint to gain access to the laptop, to email, or to any of the many Web sites where he or she is a member.   In addition, AuthenTec has gained some traction with companies that sell laptops to IT organizations in North America.

The sensors can be used to lock down personal devices such as phones and laptops so only the owner can use them.  This is critical in Japan where consumers are using their phones as electronic wallets for mobile commerce to pay for purchases by sending money from their bank accounts to point of sale terminals. A bank has teamed up with the technology companies to enable this network there.  To ensure the security of their funds, consumers are relying on fingerprint sensor as a measure of safety for their money.

 “Security is a differentiator,” said Burke. “And in addition to security these devices are also adding convenience.”

AuthenTec’s technology enables consumers to store 20 fingerprints on devices – 10 scanning your fingertip from top to bottom and 10 scanning your fingerprint from bottom to top.  Users can then designate different functions or “hotkeys” to each finger scan.

The AuthenTec device uses RF signals to bounce a signal off the fingertip of a user and read the ridges.  According to Burke, it reads the print under the skin rather than the surface, so it is more accurate.

A consumer trial for a biometric cell phone is underway at an undisclosed location in the United States, and biometric laptops are also being tested for the consumer market. Biometric cell phones will make their debut in the United States in 2006, according to Burke, and laptops that use the technology will be here at the beginning of 2006.