Nice Software is a leader in surveillance. Their latest innovation is the automatic scanning of CCTV footage to detect suspicious behavior. The same system is used to spy on telephone conversations and internet traffic; it can identify callers on the phone using their voice biometrics, alerting the police when certain keywords are detected. It can even detect the emotion in a human voice! Now that’s impressive.

Source - The Register

According to Endpoint Technologies Associates, the number of PCs with fingerprint readers is set to jump by a factor of 15, from 15 million in 2006 to 228 million in 2011. This can be attributed largely to lowered costs, increasing public acceptance and the growing number of potential applications for the technology.

Fingerprint scanners are the most practical of all biometric technologies if we’re talking PCs. Inserted into any redundant keyboard corner, they require a simple swipe of a finger before access is granted. Such application of biometrics was pioneered by IBM in 2004, putting readers on the ThinkPad laptops. In the period of around 1 year, the majority of large PC vendors were offering this bonus security system. As such, companies like AuthenTec and UPEK who have brought about this massive biometric market penetration, are seeing revenues spiral upwards by some 200% a year.

The price for a fingerprint reader in a laptop was initially around $26 per unit - prices now are more like $5. Dell charges $50 to add them to commercial-class laptops, and since introducing them in March, “the fingerprint reader has already far exceeded our forecasts for it,” spokesperson Anne Camden said.

Source - Red Herring

Broadcom has launched a new processor that integrates radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, targeting the biometrics industry. The company’s new processor is designed to secure personal authentication transactions. Broadcom said that its BCM5890 secure processor includes features that prevent tampering or theft of the software and security keys on the processor. The company said that new processor is being shipped in conjunction with a development platform for creating authentication products, including APIs for public key cryptography, and will be embedded with RSA Security’s SecureID technology in the future.

Source - SocalTech

Research & Markets has published a 696 page analysis of the global biometrics industry.

This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Biometrics in Thousands of US$. The major product segments analyzed are AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System), and NON-AFIS (Non-Automated Fingerprint Identification System). The sub-product segments discussed in the NON-AFIS market segment include Finger-Scan, Hand Geometry, Iris/Retinal Scan, Facial Recognition, Voice Recognition, Signature Identification, and Keystroke Dynamics/Typing Rhythms. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan), Middle East, and Latin America. Annual forecasts are provided for each region for the period of 2000 through 2010.

The report profiles 236 companies including players worldwide such as AcSys Biometrics Corp., AiT, AuthenTec, Inc., Biometric Access Corporation, BIO-key International, Inc., Bioscrypt, Inc., Communication Intelligence Corporation, Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Identix, Iridian Technologies, Inc., Precise Biometrics, Motorola, Printrak International, Inc., SAFLINK Corporation, SAGEM, Sensory, Inc., Siemens, TSSI, Veridicom, Inc., Viisage Technology, Inc., and Visiphor Corporation.

The report is priced from EUR€ 3,496, so it’s not for the faint hearted!

As Scandinavian Airlines becomes the first airline to introduce biometric security checks on domestic flights in Sweden, Precise Biometrics has been announced as the overall supplier to this pioneering project. The idea is to ensure the person handling the baggage is the same person boarding the plane. This will be done using biometric security solutions both at baggage check-in and boarding. Those with concerns about the use of their personal information will be glad to know that Precise Biometrics’ solution stores temporary data, which is discarded once the passenger has been verified.Passengers will be required to leave 2 fingerprints; one as their baggage is checked in, and another when they reach the boarding gates. Should the two fingerprints match, the passenger will be verified and allowed onto the plane. The introduction of fingerprint checks in May is due to the Civil Aviation Administration’s tightened security requirements for domestic flights. Precise Biometrics won the procurement in competition with several other companies.

“By using biometrics we can make traveling more convenient for our passengers. The only requirement at boarding is the passenger’s finger; no further ID-document is needed. Thereby we kill two birds with one stone since this technology also means that we meet demands from authorities. Precise Biometrics’ biometric technology is established and we have previously performed tests of the company’s technology with good results”, says Peter Söderlund, Vice President, Product Concepts, SAS.

Airlines are obliged to have a system that guarantees that the person who checks in the baggage on an airline is also on the plane.

“It is gratifying that Scandinavian Airlines is at the forefront of global airlines that use biometrics in order to meet new security requirements made by e.g. EU. Our cooperation with Scandinavian Airlines starts in Sweden, and in the near future we view large- scale international projects as the next step. We also view this order as a breakthrough in an important market sector”, says Christer Bergman, President and CEO at Precise Biometrics.

Source - sys-con.