On June 1, Synaptics unveiled an ultra-small form factor USB module that enables Natural ID secure fingerprint authentication on any PC. The device is called the Turnkey USB Fingerprint Solution.
According to SlashGear, Synaptics is a company specialized in interface controllers, like mobile touchscreens and laptop touchpads. Recently, the company has also been raising its profile in the biometrics markets.
Synaptics aims to make biometrics technology more accessible to users and device manufacturers. Last February, the company announced a fingerprint sensor that can fit under a smartphone volume button. Last week at Computex, Synaptics unveiled a fingerprint USB module that can provide better security features to any desktop or laptop.
Fingerprint scanners used to be more of a novelty on smartphones just a few years ago. Now they can be found on almost every high-end device, and increasingly even on mid-range ones.
In the past, some expensive, enterprise-grade laptops have had fingerprint scanners. But it is only now that desktops and laptops are catching up.
In this context, Synaptics has come with a Turnkey USB fingerprint solution. The fingerprint scanner fits in a USB module and can be attached to any computer that has a full-sized USB port.
According to Tech Times, Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya, a customer identity management provider, said that within the next decade traditional passwords will not be used anymore as an authentication form. Brands that are consumer focused need modern infrastructures for customer identity management, supporting biometrics and other more secure authentication methods.
Synaptics' USB fingerprint scanner is such a solution for PC owners who need new ways to unlock their computers. The vice president of marketing at Human Interface Systems Division Synaptics, Godfrey Cheng, said that the critical want for PC protection and the fast growing of online payment systems have led to the current development of biometric authentication in the computer industry.
Synaptics plans on starting mass production of its biometrics device by fourth quarter of the year. It is expected that the USB fingerprint scanner will arrive on the market by early 2017.
