This week Mobile ID World was coming to you from Barcelona, where Mobile World Congress 2015 was being held. This year, more than ever before, identity management had a substantial presence at the biggest annual event in mobility.
Here is a rundown of how mobile ID was represented at MWC 2015.
The Big Idea
Digital identity, accessibility and connectivity were the big themes of this year’s Mobile World Congress. From the opening keynote onward it was clear that, thanks to the proliferation of connected mobile devices, the next big thing in mobility is strong authentication and digital identity. In order for identity tech to become ubiquitous through, both the Internet and mobility need to spread even further across the world. Judging by some day-two presentations by Facebook and Google, the underserved users of the world are about to find connecting to the Internet via mobile easier than ever before, which is great news for the identity industry.
Here is the big picture news from Mobile World Congress 2015 as it pertains to identity:
MWC 2015: Mobile Identity on Day One
MWC 2015: Day 2 – Accessibility and The Connected Globe
Mobile Month: Biometrics at MWC
Smartphones, Wearables and Authentication
It’s not MWC without a boatload of fancy new smartphones to ogle, and this year many of said devices come equipped with biometrics. From fingerprint sensors to eyeprints and iris scanning, it’s clear this year that a big part of mobile identity moving forward is going to be choice. Of course, it’s not all just about phones, this year smartwatches were all the rage in Barcelona, though many OEMs are still waiting for the Apple Watch’s inevitable success to reveal their next big steps in terms of wearables.
Here is how mobile devices factored into MWC and the mobile device news that buzzed during the week of MWC:
MWC 2015: Samsung S6 has the Curves, Plays the Angles
MWC 2015: HTC One M9 Banks on Customization
MWC 2015: Fujitsu Demonstrates Delta ID Iris Scanning Solution
MWC 2015: LG Unveils Luxury Smartwatch, New Litter of Smartphones
Apple Beats Samsung in Smartphone Sales, Reversing Three-Year Trend
Prestigio to Include Intel Security True Key in Mobile Devices
MWC 2015: Saygus “Super-Phone” Makes Appearance
ZTE Incorporates EyeVerify Biometrics into Flagship Device
MWC 2015: Samsung Selects Oberthur Technologies’ PEARL as NFC eSE
MWC 2015: New Cyberphone Offers “Military-Grade Security”
The Future of Mobile Payments
No consumer use case of biometrics is hotter right now than mobile payments. This week at MWC two new major mobile wallets hit the scene, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, and everyone was talking about the chances they have at competing with Apple Pay. On day four of the conference, Royal Bank of Canada took the stage and added its own disruptive opinion to the discourse: the future of contactless payments belongs to Nymi’s vital biometric wristband.
Check out how the mCommerce conversation evolved this week with the articles below:
MWC 2015: Nymi Called The Future of Payment
MWC 2015: MasterCard Study Finds Consumers Continue to Warm to Mobile Payment
MWC 2015: Spanish Bank Tries to Adapt to Digital Revolution
MWC 2015: Visa Wants to Help Apple Pay Rivals
MWC 2015: Samsung Pay More Distinct Than Generic Name Suggests
MWC 2015: Klarna Offers Unique Solution to Low mCommerce Conversion Rates
MWC 2015: Google Unveils Android Pay
Further Innovation
This week was all about innovation both in Barcelona and all around the world. The Internet of Things continued to be part of the conversation, with Sensory addressing the need for strong handsfree authentication in the M2M network, while FIDO praised the government for embracing strong authentication. BIO-key demonstrated multi-factor authentication on device and in the cloud at MWC, emphasising that service providers and their customers have a choice in how they want to authenticate.
Here are some of the news stories from the first week of March that had us thinking about the future of mobility and security:
MWC 2015: BIO-key Demonstrates Mobile Multifactor Authentication
MWC 2015: ZTE Smart Projector Wins Global Mobile Award
New Ultrasonic System Maps Fingerprints in 3D
MWC 2015: EyeVerify to Fully Integrate Tech into AirWatch Platform
FIDO Lauds Government Embrace of Strong Authentication Systems
Synopsis and Sensory Unveil Ultra-Low Power Voice Recognition for IoT
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Mobile World Congress may be over for another year, but the conversations started this week in Barcelona will have a major impact on the rest of 2015. Stick with Mobile ID World throughout the remainder of March as we continue to unpack this epic week in identity management. Be sure to follow us on Twitter so you don’t miss a beat.
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