Tag: mobile technology

Mobile security fingerprint sensor patented by South Korean company

| February 13, 2015

The business has developed a type of sensor that can be embedded beneath a display panel.

A new kind of technology that could make a considerable difference to mobile security has just been patented by a company in South Korea, marking what could potentially be a future turn in the direction being taken in fingerprint scanning on smartphones and other devices.

The technology allows the fingerprint sensor to be embedded underneath a smartphone’s display panel.

The company that has patented the technology, CrucialTec, has only just received the approval that it needed for the patent in question. According to reports, the company first filed for the patent back in 2012. This is an interesting development, as the announcement followed closely on the heels of one that revealed that Apple had filed to patent technology relating to fingerprint scanning in its own mobile security TouchID tech.

Apple’s patent showed that it was seeking to patent mobile security tech that would bring its scanner beneath its display.

Mobile Security - fingerprintApple’s patent filing showed that the company has been trying to take its fingerprint scanner off its home buttons in order to add it under the display of the devices. This move would be an important one for Apple, as it would make it possible to make some considerable changes to the design of its various mobile devices, such as the iPhone.

It has not yet become evident whether or not the patents that have been filed by CrucialTec and by Apple are in any level of conflict with one another, but that will certainly be an important discovery as things move forward. Keeping in mind that CrucialTec is a supplier of fingerprint scanners for Huawei, the importance of these patents becomes even greater.

Huawei is among several of the lower end smartphone makers that have been cutting into the market share of the high end gadgets from Apple. It isn’t unlikely that this mobile security technology will start to send the companies into some intense legal action in order to ensure that they will be able to hang on to the technologies that they have sought to patent.

Mobile technology is the latest prison currency

| February 12, 2015

The stereotype may be cigarettes, but courts are finding that inmates are now trading illegal cell phones.

A new case before the Ipswich Crown Court has placed the spotlight on the one of the latest currencies to make their way into prisons, which involves mobile technology, typically in the form of illegal cell phones.

The case involved a man named Jason Brown, who was caught attempting to smuggle SIM cards into prison.

Brown was caught trying to smuggle a small quantity of cannabis, in addition to two SIM cards to be used in mobile technology devices, into a jail in order to give them to a serving prisoner. The 19-year old revealed to investigators that he had been required to bring the banned items into the prison last year on September 20, because he owed someone money and that individual was forcing him to transport the items as payment.

This case had a broader importance, which was to place the spotlight on the role of illegal mobile technology in jail.

Mobile Technology - JailBrown managed to bring the SIM cards into the jail, but was caught taking something in a crisp packet out of his pocket and handing it over to a prisoner. The intervention by the staff was immediate and brown was detained. What was discovered in the packet was cannabis, the SIM cards for mobile devices, and a touch of spice that is believed to have been added in order to help to cover the odor of the drug.

According to prosecuting attorney, Andrew Jackson, in jail, various types of cell phone, smartphone, and associated accessories, such as SIM cards, are used as a “healthy currency”. On the other hand, Joanne Eley, the defending attorney, explained that although Brown had several prior convictions, there weren’t any that had anything to do with drug use or dealing. He had been dropped off at the prison and was informed that he would need to make his own arrangements to get home again.

Brown claimed that he did not know that drugs or mobile technology were contained within the package. In fact, according to Eley, Brown didn’t even know which inmate would be receiving the delivery. He gave a guilty plea for two offenses of having brought prohibited items into a jail.