Category: Technology News

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.

Intel sees wearable technology challenges to be overcome

| February 13, 2015

There are a number of hurdles in the way of having consumers flock to purchase wearables.

While there has been a great deal of hype about wearable technology from the media and through the companies that manufacture these gadgets such as smartwatches and smart glasses, actual consumers have yet to make purchases in droves.

There are a number of different issues that are still in the way, and Intel says that device makers must solve them.

Among the leading problems identified by the CFO of Intel, Stacy Smith, are that the devices are not very attractive (which is an important factor to consider when people will actually be wearing them) and wearable technology needs to be recharged very frequently. Furthermore, the majority of these devices don’t work on their own, but are actually slave gadgets that require smartphones to be fully functional.

That said Intel feels that the most important issue that is currently faced in wearable technology is GPS.

Intel - Wearable Technology Smith explained that GPS is a core component that requires improvement if battery life is going to be enhanced in wearables. The issue is that GPS tracking technology drains considerably more battery life than it would require to power a color touch screen. However, the GPS can’t be eliminated altogether, as it is required in order to be able to use many apps to their fullest capability.

He underscored the fact that “having that location tracking is important.” There is a great deal going on in geolocation technology, right now, particularly in the world of marketing, and that tech will be needed by users who want to be able to receive a discount coupon that can be redeemed in a store they have just entered, for example.

Intel is hoping to eventually provide a solution to that issue through its Curie system-on-a-chip for wearable technology devices. Curie is a tiny little component that has various forms of sensors, such as a pedometer, among others. It has yet to include GPS tracking, but Smith has said that it is not outside of the realm of possibility. “That’s important, and we’ll get it there,” he stated.