Category: Technology News

Instead of depending on passwords, which are riddled with problems on every side, the company is headed elsewhere.

TalkTalk has now announced that it will be boosting its mobile security by way of voice recognition technology that will allow their customers to access their accounts, following a hack that revealed thousands of personal customer details in 2015.

Customers phoning TalkTalk support can provide identity confirmation through the sound of their voices.

This has been made possible through the new mobile security biometric technology implemented by TalkTalk for identification purposes. The tech recognizes the user’s identity through an analysis of the voice characteristics of the speaker. In order to set up the voice based security system, the customer is asked to repeat a phrase three times. Through that repetition, the technology develops a blueprint of the voice of that individual. That way, the next time the customer service is phoned, the system will recognize the individual’s voice.

This customer service and mobile security feature eliminates the requirement for providing personal details.

While it remains the standard for people to use their mother’s maiden name or another password in order to access accounts, TalkTalk is stepping away from that process so that the voice alone will be all that is needed. Moreover, this new program, called TalkSafe, will also be able to reduce the amount of time required for the phone call. Instead of having to go through a time consuming process of checking personal details to confirm identity, voice authentication will do it automatically, right at the start in a few short seconds.

According to TalkTalk, this is one of the most secure and safe ways for a customer’s identity to be confirmed. The reason is that the biometric tech is able to capture more than 100 different voice characteristics. This includes the shape of the nasal passage and the larynx, in addition to the way words are emphasized and pronounced and the speed at which they are spoken.

When discussing this digital and mobile security tech, the company’s consumer managing director, Tristia Harrison, explained that “We’ve listened to what our customers have told us about wanting a simple, secure service. TalkSafe is an important and exciting step on that journey.”

While power pack technology is continually improving, it won’t be for a long while before it makes it to devices.

There is no doubt that wearables are going to continue to be produced and are evolving very rapidly, but the one thing that doesn’t seem to be changing is their need for backup battery packs.

Because of that, many in the industry say the value of the devices will need to improve significantly.

The short lifespan of the built-in batteries means that regular users of devices such as smartwatches will need to get used to carrying portable battery packs with them in order to ensure that they don’t run out of juice before the end of the day. For that reason, the device makers behind wearables like that will need to step up their game and prove to users that the gadgets are well worth the extra effort.

Fortunately, innovation is far from running dry in wearables, so battery packs are likely here to stay.

Battery life is one of the main concerns of the wearable technology industry at the moment. While designers and manufacturers are attempting to be able to create products that will impress, they’re also trying to do so in a way that will last for a reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately, the current market appears to be swamped with devices that run slowly, that contain software that doesn’t have much of a “wow” factor, and that aren’t all that attractive as something to be worn on the body. This is improving, but battery power isn’t.

Since the technology for making sure wearables last longer between charges doesn’t seem to be getting better at much of an impressive rate, many in the industry are recommending that the companies behind these wearable technology devices focus on different features. The improvements to the lifespan will happen, but that looks like it will be a long way off. Therefore, the key to success at the moment seems to be in making sure the devices themselves are worth the added effort of charging more frequently.

By making wearable technology as important to users as their smartphones, they will be certain to think that carrying battery packs and connecting to them now and again will be well worth keeping the smartwatches on their wrists.