AuthenTec Unveils Breakthrough Fingerprint Sensor Technology for the Wireless Market

(Business News & Technology News, 7 Apr 2008)

AuthenTec has released a breakthrough in durable, thin profile fingerprint sensor packaging technology that expands aesthetic and product integration options for makers of cell phones, ultra mobile computers, and other consumer electronics. AuthenTec's TouchStone packaging technology will enable a new class of fingerprint sensors that combine all the features of TruePrint technology with thin, durable, easy to integrate, waterproof and surface-mountable packaging for today's stylistic cell phone designs.

Unlike all other semiconductor components embedded within a consumer electronic device, fingerprint sensors must be durable enough to withstand the common wear and tear experienced on the outside of the device. Millions of today's cell phones integrate an AuthenTec fingerprint sensor on the outside of the case for easy user access, which also exposes the sensor to coins, keys, pens and other potentially abrasive objects commonly found in a purse or pocket. TouchStone technology extends the already proven durability of AuthenTec sensors by tripling the protective coating over the fingerprint sensor die. Its thin package profile also enables flat surface mounting on the outside of a mobile device's case, providing improved tactile feel when using AuthenTec's TrueNav menu navigation feature.

"TouchStone technology will help open up a host of new applications and products for AuthenTec fingerprint sensors, which are already used in millions of PCs, cell phones and other consumer electronics devices," says Art Stewart, AuthenTec's Vice President of Wireless Products. "This breakthrough technology can be applied to existing mobile phones as well as a new generation of cell phones, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), key fobs and other applications where previous fingerprint sensors were too thick or lacked adequate durability. TouchStone packaging technology has already been designed into new cell phones, the first of which will be introduced later this year."

TouchStone-packaged sensors will be based on the company's patented TruePrint technology, AuthenTec's unique solution that reads below the surface of the skin to the live layer where a person's true fingerprint resides. This unique subsurface approach enables AuthenTec sensors to read virtually every fingerprint, every time—a critical requirement in any fingerprint-enabled device. And like previous generations of AuthenTec sensors, TouchStone technology will allow the use of the company's TrueNav menu navigation features, TrueFinger anti-spoofing security, and TrueMatch pattern matching to ensure the industry's highest level of security, usability and convenience.

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