Tag: biometrics

Smart Bra wearable technology launched under OMbra label

| January 7, 2016

A connected apparel maker has now announced its latest form of clothing based wearables.

OMsignal, the wearable technology apparel company, has now announced the launch of two new offerings, one of which is a sports bra that comes with some traditional features as well as sensors that provide feedback on mobile devices.

The OMbra is made out of antimicrobial meshing as well as stretchable fabric into which there are biometric sensors.

These biometric sensors have been worked into the clothing in order to allow it to be used as wearable technology. When worn, the sensors can track various functions such as running economy, heart rate, cadence, and fatigue levels among others. This sports bra works along with the other major offering from OMsignal, which is a running platform called OMrun. It is through that platform that all the various metrics can be observed and tracked.

The OMrun is designed to translate the wearable technology’s feedback inot useful information for the wearer.

Wearable Technology - Image of BraThe OMrun platform also offers the user of the wearables with a “Biometric Coach”. This feature helps to make it possible for a user to see how her latest biometric results compare to some of her previous results as well as with a goal that she has set prior to the run.

While these wearables are clearly designed for a female market, the first launch from the company, back in late 2014, had been meant for male athletes. That was designed in the form of a men’s shirt that has been on the market since that time.

While the products created by OMsignal are quite unique, they are being added to a marketplace that is increasing rapidly in size. Moreover, it is expected to be a category that will see a considerable amount of rapid growth over the next few years, as well. The wearables sector, as a whole, is working hard to reach mainstream status with tech embedded clothing forming a rising part of it.

This suggests that OMsignal is going to be facing an increasing amount of competition over the next few years as more rivals start to make their own product launches.

RBC is first bank in Canada to use mobile security with fingerprint verification

| June 9, 2015

The Royal Bank of Canada will now be embracing Android M biometric support for authentication.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has now announced that it is going to become the first Canadian financial institution to use biometrics for mobile security by way of fingerprint scanning for authorization.

This will allow RBC to use fingerprints as another layer of security authorization for its mobile wallet app.

This announcement also stated that the mobile security will be possible through the addition of new features available through Android. Google first announced those new features at its developers conference. They will become available through the use of Android M, which presently remains in the form of a developer preview. That said, it is expected that this version of the software will be rolled out later on in 2015. It has been speculated that the Android M rollout will likely occur at the same time as the release of two new mobile devices under the Nexus brand.

The Android M mobile security feature will allow fingerprints to be detected and analyzed for authentication.

Mobile Security - biometricsThis will allow any app to be able to use the feature to detect the user’s fingerprint and integrate it into its capabilities for authentication.

According to the RBC digital, payments and cards division executive vice president, Linda Mantia, “This new feature heightens security while providing an exceptional client experience with a simpler and quicker process for authentication and payment.”

Furthermore, beyond fingerprint scanning, the mobile wallet app from RBC will also be adding further digital security features through the Confirm Credentials APIs that have been integrated into Android M. This will make it possible for device users to be able to gain access to secure apps from banks and password managers without the need for having to create new PINs, passwords, or other types of security patterns.

RBC will be rolling out its complete wallet app set of features later in 2015 at which point it is expected to make a relatively large update. At that time, it will be integrating the new mobile security features as well as public Host Card Emulation support.