Apple has launched the Apple Watch, complete with heart rate sensors in a move that pundits believe will turbo charge the wearables market and looks set to create a new mainstream platform for biometric technology.
Samsung, LG, and Motorola have already launched Android smart watches and Deloitte has predicted that wearables, including wristbands such as FitBit and Pebble, watches and glasses, would reach 10m units in 2014 and generate $3bn revenues. However many pundits forecast that this sector has the potential to grow much bigger. At present wrist worn wearables focus on collecting biometric data to feed health and fitness apps.
Apple has also thrown its hat into the ring in the payments sector. The Apple Watch and the iPhone 6 models launched at the same time combine fingerprint authentication with NFC (near field communication) payment facilities.
‘Apple Pay’ is currently based on Apple's already launched TouchID fingerprint recognition, alongside token security, but Patently Apple reports that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple 48 patents including a major invention relating to a multimode fingerprint scanner, specifically designed for financial transactions, whereby data may be captured from stationary or moving fingers.
The development requiring that the fingerprint reader be used in the moving finger mode in connection with a financial transaction appears to be aimed at counteracting spoofing attacks that rely on reactivating a residual fingerprint.
There are indications that other major players in the mobile arena are looking beyond plain vanilla fingerprint biometrics. Samsun tweeted a hint that it is considering iris or retina scanning.
The adoption and use of biometrics on mobile devices was seen as the most significant development in the biometrics world over the last 12 months, according to The Biometrics Institute 2014 Industry Survey findings.