It is exciting to see Apple adopt fingerprint technology for its new iPhone release. Reportedly, they are using active capacitive sensors just like the sensor SecuRam uses in its ScanLogic Swipe. So did SecuRam recommend fingerprint technology to the iPhone team? Nah! But that would have been cool! In the safe lock world fingerprint readers have not really caught on. The first one came out in 2005 but its price was shocking and it had a really slow reaction time. It was faster to just enter your code. As SecuRam entered the safe lock market in 2006, we introduced more affordable, higher quality fingerprint locks.... But they still didn't catch on. Yes, there are the cutting edge techno-geeks who use biometric safe locks because of the cool factor. Then there are the super security-conscious safe owners who want absolutelyno one to even think about getting in their safe. And then there is probably the best use of a biometric safe lock, for those parents who are very concerned about child safety as it relates to guns in the house - fingerprint access keeps their kids safe and their weapons secure. Kudos. But by and large, most people still opt for a numerical code entry to gain access to their safe instead of biometrics. There are 3 predominant fingerprint technologies being adopted by the security market. Appearing in more products than any other technology, is the optical reader. This has become the most widely used reader because of its reliability and consistency. You can tell an optical reader because it uses a glass platen, much like the bed of a photocopier to take a digital representation of the fingerprint during the enrollment process. Each time the enrolled fingerprint is scanned, it compares the reading to the stored digital representation…and if it’s you, you are in. Then there is active capacitive technology. Active Capacitive readers come in two varieties a static reader and a dynamic or swipe reader. In this technology, a small charge is transmitted across the structure of your fingerprint. The capacitance value, or in simple terms the ability of your fingerprint structure to resist the passage of the charge, is equated to a number. Since your fingerprint structure is unique to you, your capacitance value is also unique. Each time the reader sees this unique number it knows it is you, and opens the safe for you. Some of the earlier active capacitive technologies required large surface areas to get a good read. As the technology has been improved over the years, a smaller quantity of silicon can be used in the chip. Also it can detect the capacitance value faster and more reliably. So now you can simply swipe your finger across the sensor. If it is you, you are in. You have probably seen this swipe sensor being used in the laptop industry for the past couple of years. Instead of entering you password, you just swipe your finger. Of course as the big laptop manufacturers, like Dell and Lenovo, began using Swipe sensors, the volume of sensors being manufactured skyrocketed and the price for these sensors dropped substantially. That's good news for you and me: because now you can buy a biometric safe lock for around $150-200, instead of $700-$800. With the iPhone launching its Touch ID, fingerprint recognition may soon become mainstream. With 9 different biometric safe lock options, SecuRam has a fingerprint for almost any safe application. We will have to wait and see how broadly safe owners adopt this technology. In the meantime, enjoy using your new iPhone.
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