Following in the turbulent aftermath of Apple’s iPhone 5S announcement – which brought with it the Touch ID and a hurricane of discussion – the authentication, verification and authorization markets turned their collective gaze on Tampa, Florida, this week as the Biometric Consortium Conference 2013 (BCC) – and the widely talked about Biometrics UnPlugged: Mobility Rules even that preceded it – turned the discourse to the changes facing the industry. To that effect, during the opening panel of the BCC brought with it the announcement that next year’s conference will be undergoing a name change. Don’t worry, you’re still invited, but in order to reflect the changes in the identity industry (which obviously includes biometrics) next year Tampa will be hosting the Global Identity Summit presented by the Biometric Consortium Advisory Group.
Straying from the topic of sunny Tampa and focussing on the ultra-hot market that we call Asia, Fingerprint Cards AB continues to expand its influence through the presence of its swipe sensors on mobile devices. With design wins from an existing, distinguished and anonymous tier two client, the news of a soon to be launched Chinese smartphone, and the announcement of Finger Q – a micro USB enabled biometric solution for Android users – it looks like FPC won’t be letting up on the region any time soon.
Continuing on the subject of integrating biometrics with mobile devices, Suprema operating partner Entertech Systems made public it’s commitment to integrating its BioConnect solution into smartphones once the research into NFC allows for it to be leveraged as an access control application. Using “template on a smartphone” technology, Entertech stands to bring BYOD to new levels, turning it not only into an efficiency policy, but also a physical access security solution.
Bringing it all back to Tampa and the BCC, representing the mobility interest was CrossMatch Technologies was present and championing mobile border control solutions, demonstrating all of the newest features of the SEEK Avenger multi-modal handheld device, which combines in-the-field credential reading capabilities with finger and dual-iris biometrics for airport, customs and immigration applications.
More follow up reporting on this year’s BCC will be coming starting on Monday, as well as in depth coverage of exactly what went on at the highly successful Biometrics UnPlugged event. Be sure to stay fixed on Mobile ID World, as well as our sister site findBIOMETRICS to stay informed on where identity will be leading you.
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