August 30, 2013 – by Peter B. Counter
This week a report from TechNavio laid it all down on the table: consumer biometrics is undeniably on the rise, and boy is that rise steep. According to the report available for purchase on its website, TechNavio is forecasting a growth rate of 40.45 percent CAGR until 2016, citing the increasing demand for biometrics in personal devices.
Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) is certainly an example of the demand that consumer grade fingerprint biometrics is on the rise, at least in Asia where it has announced four new design wins (DW): three from an existing customer, one from a tier-two manufacturer in China, all of them for smartphone and tablets to be released before the close of Q4 2013. Not to leave us waiting until the leaves turn color, FPC sensors were featured in a Korean smartphone launched by Pantech this week.
In the verticals however, fingerprint scanning is continuing to bolster United States law enforcement, with MorphoTrak’s MorphoBIS making a big splash in Sarasota County. The Sheriff’s Office in Sarasota purchased the fingerprint verification system for a reported $1.2 million and it is already pulling its weight, speeding up authentication processes as well as aiding in solving open cases that the previous system used by the department was unable to close.
Elsewhere in the industry news, we find a report from Markets and Markets analyzing the multi-factor authentication market predicting that the industry will be worth $5 million by 2017. Passwords and PINs are simply not secure enough on their own, and two, three, four and five step processes are not only becoming smart and necessary, but enforced by companies like Google. To this effect, automated pharmacy management solutions provider ScriptPro has entered a multi-year agreement with Xelios that will give customers biometric alternatives to old ID card and PIN systems.
Of course, multi-factor authentication is only one aspect of biometric security, especially now that cloud-based ssytems are becoming more and more common with mobile device management solutions operating in virtual spaces. Fujitsu has come up with a new homomorphic encryption method that allows secure operations to be undertaken without the secured information having to be decrypted. It’s a complicated solution that will no doubt directly benefit the Japanese company’s mobile biometric and vascular technologies.
Finally, facial recognition was honored by crowdsourced trend analysis website WikiTrend.org, being chosen as a spotlight topic. The trend wiki covers the camera-based biometrics solution from inception to present day offering insight to its strengths, weaknesses, and the interesting obstacle of public perception.
As we enter September, look out for more mobile fingerprint news as Apple takes to the stage, expected to reveal a biometrics ready iPhone and the industry turns its focus to Tampa where both Biometrics UnPlugged: Mobility Rules and the Biometrics Consortium Conference 2013 will be taking place.
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