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yalanand
So will we see finger print sensors embedded in future iPhones ? Will this ...
MClayton
Anything the makes mour stuff secure with fewer false negatives would be worth a ...
Apple to acquire fingerprint chip firm Authentec
Dylan McGrath
7/30/2012 1:37 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO—Apple Inc. has signed a merger agreement to acquire AuthenTec Inc., a provider of fingerprint ICs, sensors and software for security, for about $356 million, according to a regulatory filing.
In a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, AuthenTec (Melbourne, Fla.) said its board of directors unanimously approved the merger agreement, under which Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) will pay $8 per share to acquire the company.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of AuthenTec shareholders, according to the filing.
According to a Businessweek report, the deal would mark Apple's second largest acquisition on record.
In 2010, AuthenTec acquired rival Upek Inc., creating the world’s largest provider of fingerprint sensors and identity management software.
In a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, AuthenTec (Melbourne, Fla.) said its board of directors unanimously approved the merger agreement, under which Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) will pay $8 per share to acquire the company.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of AuthenTec shareholders, according to the filing.
According to a Businessweek report, the deal would mark Apple's second largest acquisition on record.
In 2010, AuthenTec acquired rival Upek Inc., creating the world’s largest provider of fingerprint sensors and identity management software.
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eewiz
7/30/2012 1:53 PM EDT
NFC payments are going to replace card/cash payments to great extent in future. And the main hurdle here is security and identifying the user. So I think the acquisition makes total sense for Apple. In a few years, we might be able to see a finger print sensor integrated into the home button of the iPhone
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dylan.mcgrath
7/30/2012 1:56 PM EDT
Interesting move by Apple. Yet another example of a tech firm angling to improve security. I was surprised to see the report that said this was Apple's second largest acquisition. The biggest was the acquisition of NeXT in 1996 for $400 million. That one brought back Steve Jobs. Any chance of a similar impact here?
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Oprimus Lime
7/30/2012 6:50 PM EDT
I'd say there's an almost certain probability that the acquisition will NOT bring back Steve Jobs!
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Luis Sanchez
7/30/2012 4:47 PM EDT
This acquisition lets us have a glimpse of the future. However, considering the present, I wonder why the use of fingerprint sensors isn't as popular. I mean, I've been using laptops for quite sometime now and have always relied on typing the security password. Why aren't we using the fingerprint yet? Is this technology like speech recognition, unreliable?
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eewiz
7/30/2012 11:08 PM EDT
Haha I have thought about this also. I think the reason is speed and reliability. Inorder to reliably detect the user, it would take ~10 sec + multiple misdetections sometimes which add to the time. You can type the password in less than 5sec. So users never uses the FP sensor. Same problem with the Face recognition login. By integrating something like this into the home button, the phone can sense continually(while doing normal tasks) whether the phone is in different hands and may mitigate this problem to some extent.
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junko.yoshida
7/31/2012 10:42 AM EDT
Actually, in the past, Authentic did provide its fingerprint recognition chip to Fujitsu, and Fujitsu offered PCs with that capability. (many years ago, though)
When I interviewed Authentic's then CEO, he said that the accuracy is not the real issue with any security products. The more important is to figure out the right level of security -- in order to decrease the false negatives.
Nothing turns off consumers, if their fingerprint fails at their own personal computer.
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GREAT-Terry
7/30/2012 10:01 PM EDT
I think the reliability of fingerprint recognition is high, provided the sensor is built right. We all see fingerprint recognition systems in immigration department and it is almost the basic tool to identify a person. However, it may not be the case yet in portable machine. I've used fingerprint built-in my laptop a few years ago and sometimes it just failed to recognize my finger well! Maybe there is more breakthrough coming after Apple's acquisition.
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chanj
7/30/2012 10:27 PM EDT
What is so special of Authentec that draws Apple interest?
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elctrnx_lyf
7/31/2012 2:55 AM EDT
Integrating finger print sensors into iPhone sounds really new. This could be something to look out for in the recent future.
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moxbox
7/31/2012 2:28 PM EDT
Authentec makes some of the best biometric sensors, and used on many laptops. Mine works reliably with a single swipe, and is much faster than typing a secure password. The other technology that Apple gets is their enterprise
security software, which Apple can use to help secure their "cloud" based servers. This was a very smart acquisition by Apple, and should benefit both companies greatly.
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MClayton
7/31/2012 4:08 PM EDT
Anything the makes mour stuff secure with fewer false negatives would be worth a lot of money.
More IP wars coming perhaps?
Or price increases for competitors using their sensors? Its always about the money and market share war games.
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yalanand
8/6/2012 12:43 AM EDT
So will we see finger print sensors embedded in future iPhones ? Will this prompt Samsung and other android phones to also work on providing the same feature ?
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