UPDATE: Watch the full presentation of Mobile Revolution 2.0: Biometrics, Smartphones, IoT now!

About 600 million smartphones with biometric sensors are currently in use, according to new research from Acuity Market Intelligence. That number is approximately 28 percent of the total number of smartphone devices on a global scale, says the firm. What’s more, there is a steady increase in the number of smartphone models featuring built in biometrics — the value nearly quadrupled over the past year, from 52 to 197.

Click to sign up for our free webinar, Mobile Revolution 2.0: Biometrics, Smartphones, IoT.

Acuity has been on top of the mobile biometrics wave from the start, accurately predicting that Apple would incorporate a fingerprint sensor onto an iPhone model before the Cupertino company’s acquisition of AuthenTec, which inevitably lead to the introduction of Touch ID on the iPhone 5S. Since then, the firm has been actively forecasting the mobile biometrics market as it grows.

With biometrics now in the hands of consumers around the world, thanks to handsets from ZTE, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Nokia, Hauwei, LG, Xaiomi and many other OEMs, the mobile revolution’s first wave was a success. Indeed, nowadays with a smartphone launches without some sort of built-in biometric authentication feature it’s cause to raise an eyebrow. And for good reason: not only are biometrics in the hands of consumers, but they have a use.

When Touch ID first launched in 2013 there wasn’t a ton of things a user could do with it. She could unlock her device and use it to log into the App Store, but that was about it. Then, with the launch of Samsung’s first fingerprint smartphone, the Galaxy S6, it started to become clear where things were headed. PayPay announced support for transaction authentication via the sensor, and so we began on the path to our modern mCommerce landscape, one in which a growing number of smartphone users around the world are using fingerprint, face and voice biometrics to authenticate financial transactions.

So, now that people are using all sorts of biometrics that are easily available to them on a daily (or at least weekly) basis, where do we go from here? For a long time the answer has been healthcare and enterprise, but the rise of the Internet of Things and wearable tech is broadening the scope of possibility. The first mobile revolution got biometrics into the lives of users everywhere, building a strong foundation for what’s coming next.

To that end, FindBiometrics is holding a webinar this Friday, March 18, 2016 at 11AM Eastern. Hosted by FindBiometrics president Peter O’Neill, the live webcast will present a discussion with an expert panel of:

• Maxine Most, Principal, Acuity Market Intelligence
• Clive Bourke, President, EMEA & APAC, Daon
• David Harding, CTO, ImageWare  Systems Inc.
• Todd Thiemann, VP Marketing, Nok Nok Labs

Attendees can expect to gain insight into the next phase of the mobile biometrics wave sweeping across the globe. Registration is free, and attendees can expect an opportunity to participate in the discussion in an interactive question and answer period.

Register now and spread the word!

(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)