The introduction of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor for the iPhone 5S isn’t exactly new technology – it has been offered for laptops for many years – but is mostly new for the smart phone. Most industry sages predict that you will see this feature on other smart-phones very soon.
So, what is the iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor and how does it work? Simply put, it’s a touch-capacitive sensor that measures 170-um thin, which is just thicker than a human hair but with a resolution of 500 pixels/in. and it scans sub-epidermal skin layers with just a touch. You can even turn your finger and read it in any orientation. And, it can read multiple fingerprints, in case you share the phone.
The sensor scans your fingertip in one of three categories; arch, loop or whorl. The scans are stored and encrypted and every time you scan your fingerprint it is compared to the stored image using details that are smaller than the human eye can see.
The iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor is on top of the tactile home button
Putting the fingerprint sensor in the home button was probably a good idea and Apple realized that they would have to protect the sensor. They improved the durability by using a sapphire crystal and surrounded it with a stainless steel detection ring. What makes the Apple TouchID interesting and useful is that it works for e-commerce transactions like buying songs from iTunes. So you don’t have to enter your user ID and password.
Apple says it stores the print data on your phone, in a place that's inaccessible to other apps or to Apple's remote servers. The company also says it's not possible to convert a fingerprint from a police file into something the phone will recognize, as the sensor reads a sub-epidermal layer of the finger. And the finger needs to be live – so cutting off a thumb won't work.
Where will the fingerprint sensor be on other smart phones?
Yes, Motorola had a fingerprint function a couple years ago in the Atrix smartphone, but I’m not sure how well it was received. The Atrix integrates the fingerprint reader into the wake button on the back of the handset. Apparently, the sensor had a low degree of accuracy and over time it became unusable. The sensor was also fooled by forged fingerprints. Another company, Pantech, a Korean-almost-only smartphone manufacturer also beat Apple to the market with a fingerprint sensor on a smart phone. But it’s not available in the States.
LG and Samsung are expected to have one very soon. That leaves it to speculation as to how the sensor will be implemented and how accurate it will be.
How would others implement the sensor? Blackberry doesn’t have a home button, so they have to come up with another idea – maybe something like the Motorola Atrix. Samsung has buttons but the shape of the fingerprint button may have to be different from the other buttons – or they may have to double up like Apple did. Perhaps looking at the manufacturers of the fingerprint technology will provide some insight.
The mobile fingerprint leaders
The global leaders in the fingerprint recognition solution for mobile devices are US-based AuthenTec and Korea's CrucialTec. Apple acquired AuthenTec last year, so the competition in the fingerprint recognition market is divided into the Apple camp and the Android camp using the technology of CrucialTec.
The smartphone fingerprint recognition technology is divided into the area type (iPhone 5S) and the swipe type (Korean phones?). With the area type, the user holds their fingertip in place over the sensor area, and the fingerprint is scanned. With the swipe type, the user will simply swipe a finger over a surface of the sensor, and the complete fingerprint is assembled.
The biggest advantage of the area type is the intuitive fingerprint recognition environment. However, some observers think that it will be difficult to make the sensor smaller, so it is limited in terms of where in the smartphone it will be installed, and the prices of the parts are over 3 times more expensive than those of the swipe type. The swipe type can have various shapes and be installed anywhere. However, a new Apple patent shows that their biometric reader could be placed on the side (or topside) of devices. Additionally, Apple has patents that use the swipe-type should they ever want to use it.
Apple may have chosen the more expensive technology but so far it looks like it is more accurate than scan technology. Apparently that is why they chose to use the sapphire glass button – because it is better at reading the fingerprint at the sub-epidermal layers of the skin, which ensures that if can’t be compromised.
Questions:
Just wondering but what happens if the sensor is broken? Can you unlock the phone?
Where or how should smartphone manufacturer implement it on your smartphone? Will you use it?
Advertisement
