Details emerges on the IDT/MOT fingerprint product . . . from today's Wall Street Journal (B6):
"Consolidating research has made it possible for Motorola to tweak a single innovation for several products. A new semiconductor for sending video signals, for example, works in both an experimental wireless phone and a set-top box for interactive TV. The chip's key elements are also used in a device for fingerprint identification on computer keyboards, soon to be a product, that eliminates the need for passwords."
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Two major points here: First, MOT/IDX will be OEMing in the PC market, not simply cell phones. Second, doing away with passwords implies that the chip itself is marked for identification, a la Intel, and transmits that information in lieu of a PIN. Of course, the authentication level is higher than the Intel system since it will authenticate in conjunction with the authorized fingerprint . . . and (presumably) it will not be a hidden, unknown feature activated without the participation and approval of the user. Having a system like this aids in the 'transparency' of the authentication. The drawback? It would seem to tie the user to the particular keyboard, or perhaps some authorized sets of keyboards.
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