Google has achieved human parity in its speech recognition technology, according to the latest entry in Kleiner Perkins’ annual Internet Trends report, delivered by the firm’s Mary Meeker at last week’s Code Conference in California. Defining an accuracy rate of 95 percent as the ‘Threshold for Human Accuracy’, the report indicates that Google has now…
Google is enabling voice recognition for its smart home AI assistant. It isn’t being used for authentication purposes, but rather to allow users to set up multiple accounts for voice interaction with the same device. In other words, once configured, Google Home can tell who’s talking, and will tailor its responses to that person’s preferences.…
FindBiometrics president Peter O’Neill recently spoke with Travis Jarae, CEO of One World Identity (OWI). The conversation begins with a look at the organization’s Google-based origins before delving into what to expect at OWI’s inaugural K(NO)W Identity Conference, it’s potentially controversial headlining keynote speaker, and how discussions of privacy will be handled at the groundbreaking…
Having acquired some empirical validation of second-factor authentication, Google is now urging its Adwords partners to adopt such security measures. Adwords is one of the biggest digital advertising programs in the world, and as such Google is keen to ensure that customers using its service have some essential security in place to mitigate the threat…
Google might bring one of the neat new features of its Pixel smartphones to some older devices, according to new reports. The Pixel lets users swipe as they scan their fingerprints in order to get quick access to notifications, a feature that Samsung may be seeking to emulate for its own forthcoming devices. But with…
Google may have settled a longstanding debate about whether it’s Bill Murray or Tom Hanks featured in a popular Facebook post. The photo was uploaded to a group called “Reasons My Son Is Crying”, and depicts a man mimicking a crying toddler’s expression. It was the kid’s mother who uploaded the photo, and she included…
“Android Pay users will soon be able to pay on hundreds of thousands of new sites […] using their preferred device authentication method – like fingerprint recognition.” Google announced today that it has entered into strategic partnerships with Visa and Mastercard to expand the Android Pay mPayment platform across the mobile web. In early 2017, Android…
Fingerprint Cards has announced what may be the highest-profile integration of its fingerprint sensor technology yet. Its FPC1025 sensor model is being used in Google’s new flagship mobile devices, the Pixel and Pixel XL. It’s a major validation for the company, which has established itself as a leading sensor supplier to the mobile market primarily…
Google is bringing its Incognito search function to its iOS app, and is adding biometric security to the mix. Incognito search is already available on the Google Chrome app, letting users browse the web in a way that doesn’t tie their searches to their accounts, allowing for a certain measure of privacy. Now, that same…
Last week at FindBiometrics we continued to explore the world of law enforcement biometrics while acquisitions, both speculative and real, brought some excitement to the industry news. Fingerprints, facial recognition, and iris biometrics all made headlines, while an interview gave insight into the one of the newest big names in biometrics. – Sign up now…
The Indian government is inviting the world’s mutlinational tech giants to work with it on incorporating its national biometric ID program, Aadhaar, into their devices and services. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which administrates Aadhaar, convened a meeting to discuss the idea a few weeks ago, inviting leaders from companies like Apple, Google,…
Google is testing out fingerprint scanning for its Chromebook laptops. At least, that’s what it appears to be doing based on some recent developments on the back-end of its Chromium web browser software. According to new reports, recent updates to Chromium code repositories—communal data hubs for developers’ projects—indicate that Google’s developers are working on fingerprint sensor…
Google’s efforts to enhance its speech recognition technology’s ability to understand regional accents could be much more expansive than originally thought, according to a new report from The Verge. Earlier this month, reports emerged of Google soliciting Scots to record short audio samples, presumably to help its technology come to grips with the Scottish accent.…
Google is trying to better understand Scottish speech. The company recently posted a request for Scots to record a series of phrases that it will use to improve its speech recognition technology. Google says the work will take about three hours to complete, and it will pay for the work—£27 for adult participants and £30 for…
The FIDO Alliance is seeing growing enthusiasm for its authentication standards in a world that is increasingly dissatisfied with password-based security. The organization has announced that more than 200 products are now FIDO Certified. That suggests considerable growth, given that FIDO had only reached the 150-product mark in April; and indeed the consortium says that it has seen…
Google could give the password a fatal wound this year, according to plans that have emerged from the Google I/O developers conference last week. Daniel Kaufman, head of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team, revealed that the company aims to replace passwords on Android devices with passive authentication by the end of 2016. It’s…
Google researchers have developed a speech recognition system that runs “faster than real-time on a Nexus 5 Android smartphone.” Moreover, it can sustain high speed and accuracy while running offline. The researchers accomplished their aims partly by integrating contextual data directly into the app; for example, in order to process the voice command, “Text Kendrick, ‘On…
Google has now fallen into the same legal trap that ensnared Facebook and Shutterfly. The company now faces a lawsuit over alleged violations of Illinois legislation covering biometrics and privacy. The lawsuit pertains to Google’s use of facial recognition with its Google Photos app. A Chicago resident claims that a user took multiple photos of…
Google is testing out an experimental payment option for Android Pay based on facial biometrics. The company recently put out a call for participants for its new Hands Free project, which will operate in the South Bay area of Silicon Valley in cooperation with select merchants including McDonald’s and Papa John’s. One part of the project…
The latest version of Google Docs introduces dictation, or “Voice typing”, as its makers call it in a blog post announcing the feature. It’s pretty much what it sounds like. Users who turn on the feature will be able to dictate the content of their documents, with Google’s speech recognition deciphering their language and producing…
Google is teaming up with computer vision specialist Movidius to bring enhanced image recognition to its Android smartphones. The partnership will see Google integrate Movidius’ flagship MA2450 processor chip into its devices. Movidius says the MA2450 is “the only commercial solution on the market today with the performance and power-efficiency to perform complex neural network computations…
Google’s Android has come to terms with a few major Australian banks in negotiating the launch of its mPayment service in the country, according to a new Reuters report. While the company had indicated earlier this week that Android Pay would make its Australia debut in the first half of 2016, it’s now becoming clear…
The FindBiometrics Year in Review is upon us. So far we’ve examined the results from our 13th annual industry survey in the areas of top applications, the role of education, the importance of liveness detection, and the state of the password—you can find a running list of all our Year in Review coverage in the…
Keeper Security has announced a new update for its namesake mobile password manager. The Keeper app is now available for the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. The update is a big one, as now Keeper leverages Android 6.0’s native fingerprint sensor capabilities for biometric authentication as a password replacement. Users need only to scan their…
This past year has been incredible in terms of fingerprint sensor adoption in the mobile device markets. Rarely a week has gone by in recent months without the announcement of another flagship, mid level or low price smartphone that will be shipping with an embedded biometric fingerprint reader. At the center of it all, Precise…
Google is introducing fingerprint-based biometric authentication for Play Store purchases. It’s part of a larger revamp of its online app store that otherwise largely entails cosmetic changes. Presumably intended to improve the user experience and make the app store a little more flashy, the Play Store now has a prominent carousel displaying featured apps, and…
Last week as part of Mobile Identity Month at FindBiometrics we explored the concept of multimodality in mobile authentication. Of course, thanks to the recent mainstreaming of biometric technology, as well as major innovations in cost, size and availability, we now have the privilege of going beyond the concept and looking into practice. There are…
Google has issued its Android Marshmallow OS requirements for third party developers, and is placing an emphasis on security and power. Power, of course, meaning battery life: The new requirements essentially stop developers from messing around with Doze, a system feature designed to ensure that battery is maximally conserved by essentially putting inactive apps into…
Mobility and biometrics are at a mutual point of transformation thanks to a perfect alignment of factors. To celebrate the resulting boom in biometrics, FindBiometrics is pleased to announce that October is Mobile Identity Month. Throughout the next four weeks we will be taking a featured look at how biometrics and mobility are converging, the…
Last week marked the end of September and with it we brought to a close National ID Month. Border control made headlines (and TV appearances), while iris and fingerprint shared the modality spotlight. Here are the top stories in global identity management from the week that was: National ID Last week we brought National ID Month…
Each of these models also features a OneTouch FPC1025 fingerprint sensor powered by Precise BioMatch Mobile algorithms. Google has launched two new Nexus smartphones: The Nexus 5X, manufactured by LG, and the Nexus 6P, which was made by Huawei. The devices were unveiled along with Google’s new Chromecast products at a San Francisco press event…
Precise Biometrics‘ Precise BioMatch Mobile technology is going to power the fingerprint sensors of two new smartphones in what may be the company’s highest-profile integration to date. While Precise Biometrics declined to name the smartphones in question in a press release, it did indicate that the integration came by way of partner sensor hardware maker…
Google’s latest Nexus smartphones – the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, manufactured by LG and Huawei respectively – have been announced, each featuring the OneTouch FPC1025 fingerprint sensor from Fingerprint Cards AB. The sensors have been integrated into the smartphones’ Nexus Imprint feature, which is Google’s flagship handset biometric security introduced with the new devices.…
Google has drastically improved its speech recognition technology, the company’s Speech Team has announced. In a new blog post, the team members details how they improved the technology to make Google voice analysis both more accurate and faster. Essentially, the team has refined the Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) that replaced the 30-year-old Gaussian Mixture Model…
Google has begun its US launch of Android Pay, its own mPayment platform. In an announcement on the Android blog, the company explained that the service will be “rolling out over the next few days, and this is just the beginning.” The service is currently compatible with any NFC-enabled Android mobile device running KitKat 4.4+,…
Google has added some major new features to Google Docs for Android users. The web services now allow integrated google searches, automatic chart generation, and speech recognition. It allows for a much-improved user experience on Android smartphones. Information can be googled directly from the app and data can be dropped into spreadsheets on the fly, with…
Google has two new Nexus smartphones in the works, according to rumor. The devices are being made by LG and Huawei, respectively. The speculation comes by way of the @OnLeaks twitter account, which has convinced many in the industry of its reliability with past predictions. LG’s new Nexus will be similar to the Nexus 5…
Google has patented a contact lens that can scan the wearer’s iris. The lens works by scanning light reflected off of the iris via embedded sensors. The company hasn’t revealed any specific applications for the technology, but presumably it could be used as a kind of continuous biometric authentication, if the lenses are able to…
Fingerprint Cards (FPC) has helped Google to develop the fingerprint sensor capabilities of its new Android M operating system, the company has announced. FPC provided Google with prototype devices based on its FPC1020 and FPC1025 sensors. The collaboration has helped to push up FPC’s shares by 5.1 percent, according to a Reuters report from Olof…
Application security developer Nok Nok Labs has announced a couple of major new developments in its efforts to provide users and organizations with highly secure authentication solutions. Both revolve around the company’s flagship S3 Authentication Suite. In exciting news for Google enthusiasts, the platform has been integrated into Google’s newly unveiled Google Android M Developer…
The new version of Google’s Android mobile operating system is going to have built-in fingerprint authentication according to a BuzzFeed article by Joseph Bernstein. The OS, called Android M, will debut at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco next week. The native system may actually have been meant to come out with Lollipop…
Google has unveiled a new facial recognition system that it claims is the most advanced ever made, according to a Fortune article by Derrick Harris. Called FaceNet, the system was revealed in a new paper published by Google’s three-person research team. According to the Google researchers, when tested on Labeled Faces in the Wild, a…