This week’s collection of top biometrics news stories from FindBiometrics is about as varied as it gets, with topics ranging from WhatsApp security to industry testing to enterprise IoT. But as varied as it is, this week’s roundup isn’t exactly full of surprises; at least a couple of the top stories cover news that would…
Goodix has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NXP Semiconductors’ Voice and Audio Solutions (VAS) business. The deal includes offices in Europe and Asia as well as intellectual property holdings related to VAS. Having established itself as an important supplier of fingerprint scanning solutions for smartphones, including the in-display sensor technology that is currently…
Healthcare-focused identification and authentication specialist OrangeHook has entered into a non-binding merger agreement with public safety applications provider Kologik, with biometric patient identification to be a key focal point going forward. The companies have not disclosed the terms of the agreement, but have signed a Letter of Intent and appear enthusiastic about potential synergies of…
The biometrics industry is perhaps one of the most active markets in the world, with a constant stream of activity pertaining to strategic alliances, technological integrations, product launches, and more. And this momentum can sometimes be seen on the highest level of corporate activity – mergers, acquisitions, executive appointments, and corporate restructuring. There has been…
“With the acquisition of Idfy, we strengthen our ability to execute faster and deliver better digital identity solutions to the market,”- Gunnar Nordseth, CEO, Signicat Signicat, a Norway-based provider of digital identity management and e-signature solutions, has announced its acquisition of Idfy, a compatriot firm specializing in API-based solutions for online authentication. The acquisition entails…
“This acquisition represents a powerful accelerator of the strategy we have been implementing since 2015; by providing a unique range of digital technologies and skills, it strengthens the differentiation of our solutions and positions us as partner in the digital transformation of our customers.” – Patrice Caine, CEO, Thales In the wake of its acquisition…
Airport IT solutions provider SITA has acquired MEXIA Interactive, a passenger analytics specialist. The latter, a private company based in Canada, was founded in 2011, and has developed technology designed to predict passenger bottlenecks and queues in airport facilities. It also assesses metrics pertaining to passengers’ retail activities, helping airport administrators to find additional revenues…
Nuance Communications has signed an agreement to sell its Document Imaging division to Kofax, an automation software provider based in California. The deal is valued at $400 million in total. In a statement announcing the agreement, Nuance explained that selling off the Document Imaging division “enables Nuance to focus the business entirely on its conversational…
Just a week after pushing back the anticipated close of their merger deal, Thales and Gemalto have announced that they’ve obtained another regulatory clearance needed for the project. The latest is from South Africa’s Competition Commission, the seventh of 15 approvals needed from regulatory authorities around the world in order for Thales to proceed with…
The leadership at Gemalto and Thales are adjusting their expectations with respect to their proposed merger, announcing that they now expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2019. The announcement comes after the news that the US Committee on Foreign Investment had given the merger its thumbs-up last month, marking the 6th…
“Adding Crossmatch to our company will extend HID’s market leadership in the trusted identity space and allow us to fulfill the promise of biometrics in critical identity applications.” –Stefan Widing, President and CEO, HID Global ASSA ABLOY, the parent company of HID Global, has acquired secure identity solutions provider Crossmatch. In announcing the acquisition, the…
San Diego-based speech recognition firm LumenVox and Munich-based voice recognition specialist VoiceTrust have merged to form a new company focused on offering speech-driven biometric authentication solutions. The new company, which has not yet been named, is majority owned by Ramphastos Investments, a venture capital firm based in the Netherlands. In a statement, LumenVox and VoiceTrust…
“They have also received antitrust clearances from China, Israel, and Turkey; all told, they have received six of the 14 regulatory clearances needed from authorities around the world in order for the merger to happen.” Thales and Gemalto have cleared another major hurdle as they race toward their desired merger: Thales’ acquisition of Gemalto has…
NEC appears to have taken a significant stake in California-based iris biometrics specialist Tascent, announcing a new investment in the firm. In a statement announcing the investment, NEC did not disclose its size or value, but a subsequent press release from Tascent confirmed NEC’s participation in a $19.5 million series B funding round which the…
“Kairos’s announcement placed a particular emphasis on the capability of EmotionReader’s technology to overcome demographic bias, which has been detected in other facial recognition systems and has led to serious concerns about racial discrimination as such technologies are increasingly used for law enforcement and border control.” Miami-based facial recognition specialist Kairos has acquired Irish startup…