Rick, Siemens spun out Infineon a couple of months before this deal was announced where the Infineon silicon chip and the IDX BioLogon software would be packaged for sale. This was the long-rumored "Siemens" deal that, through a quirk of corporate restructuring, became the "Infineon" deal.
It gives IDX another outlet to sell its software, but I personally wouldn't rank it at #10 on the year. My nominee for #10 would be the Motorola deal, which seems vastly more important to IDX.
Having done some checking, I get the word that even a 3mm DFR-300+ reader will be too thick to fit on a mass market smart card. That means that silicon will be needed for the biometric smart card application. I have my concerns with the mechanical viability of silicon in any application, so this is a concern going forward in that market.
However, with the Infineon partner, IDX can produce a biometric component that will at least fit onto a smart card. This market, though, is a year or two away . . . and Mastercard is our best hope for it. That should give everyone (including Veridicom and Authentec) some time to improve the silicon reader's durability. I'm sure if IDX could land a Mastercard deal, those chip makers would come knocking at IDX's door. |
