October 30, 2004
Biometric Cell Phones Coming
Steve Mansfield, vice president of marketing with AuthenTec, estimates that new biometric features will be built into mobile phones in China during the first half of next year. These same features will hit the European market during the second half of 2005. "The U.S. will see those same features by the end of 2006," he told TechNews World.
Biometric technology has been around for more than a decade with little fanfare. However, interest is heating up forbiometric security devices in communications. Iris scanners, voice recognition modules and fingerprint readers promise to raise the bar on locking down access to computers, networks, Web sites and even cell phones.
One of the hottest markets for biometrics is the mobile phone industry, where consumers abroad are already embracing its security and convenience.
"Biometrics in much more convenient than PIN security. And convenience is what sells biometrics in phones," Mansfield told TechNewsWorld.
According to Mansfield, five cell phone models with fingerprint sensors are already in the Japanese marketplace. South Korea's LG Electronics introduced two biometric security models in September.
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