FingerprintReader
Latest
UPEK's Eikon helps Mac users get fingerprinted
Tired of watching all of your PC friends with their fancy, new-fangled fingerprint readers, showing off how protected their computers are and how safe their data is? We feel your pain, Mac dudes and dudettes, and so does UPEK. Enter the company's Eikon "digital privacy manager," or, as we like to call it -- a fingerprint reader. Using the USB-powered device, users can enjoy privileges common to most PC users these days, like; logging onto their computers, accessing password protected websites, opening administrator access on their system, and generally looking like a super-futuristic bad-ass. The Eikon is available now and selling for the astounding price of $39.99
Xplore Technologies' iX104C3 rugged Tablet PC
So what is it with Xplore Technologies' and their insistence on calling random strings of letters and digits "model numbers?" Regardless of the nonsense, they've expanded their lineup further with a new offering that boasts a host of new security features like a finger print reader and user accessible hard drive and PC card bays for those who deal with sensitive data . This tablet was built for a beating -- its magnesium alloy shell and shock-resistant hard drive complement its ability to withstand dust, moisture, and extreme temperatures. Powered by an Intel processor and sporting an XGA screen, you'll have the world at your fingertips with all this connectivity: wLAN, wWAN, PAN (Bluetooth) and GPS wireless are all options here. If you just can't wait to get your hands on the iX104C3, well, you'll have to anyway; complete specs, pricing and availability are all currently unavailable -- but but that's no big surprise. [Via Mobilewhack]
NEC announces super-sensitive fingerprint scanner
With fingerprint scanners having become almost a commodity item nowadays-- we've already got a hard drive and thumb drive on biometric lockdown -- it looks like we may now be in for a sensitivity war (oxymoron?) among these devices similar to the ongoing megapixel escalation in digital cameras. Even though it's probably still vulnerable to Play-Doh-equipped hackers, NEC's new external USB reader offers an impressive 800dpi in its 15-millimeter wide sensor -- it seems the best you can do today is around 500dpi -- which at the very least will marginally speed up your web surfing, thanks to its slim 0.0001% chance of misidentifying a print. This "reading precision of the worldwide highest level" (thanks, machine translation) won't come cheap, though, as the pocket-size PU700-20 will cost about $250 when it ships on August 1st.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
