Biometric Technology Today February 2013 4

NEWS

N E W S I N B R I E F

Adults with excessively dry hands were four times more likely than healthy people to fail fingerprint verification tests accord-ing to a small new study from Malaysia, reports Reuters. A study in the Archives of Dermatology found that hand dermatitis is an upcoming problem with biometrics-based systems.

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Cagliari in cooperation with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Clarkson University has announced the Fingerprint Liveness Detection Competition 2013 that will be hosted by the International Conference on Biometrics in Madrid. Each participant is invited to submit its algorithm in a Win32 console application. The goal of the competi-tion is to compare different methodologies for software-based fingerprint liveness detection with a common experimental protocol and data set. Systems submission deadline is 28 February 2013.

P R O D U C T N E W S

Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies has added the Schlage biometric HandPunch GT-400 to its SwipeClock TimeClock, WebClock, FlexClock and VoiceClock. The timekeeping solution allows organisations to record and verify an employee by the size and shape of their hand in real time.

Neurotechnology has released MegaMatcher Accelerator 5.0, a multi-biometric software and hardware solution designed for large-scale projects that require high-volume, high speed fingerprint and/or iris identification using very large databases. Enhancements in MegaMatcher Accelerator 5.0 are targeted at providing the high level of control, versatility, speed and accuracy required for national level projects such as criminal identification, voter registration, passport issuance and citizen ID where millions or even billions of records are required.

SmartMetric is to start selling its electronic medical records device direct to the public in the US. The MedicalKeyring has built in memory, a computer processor, and a power management system, along with a text and graphic internal database created to allow for the storage and display of medical images and records. Built into the MedicalKeyring is a miniature fingerprint scanner developed by SmartMetric that operates as the key to unlock the device and allow access to the stored medi-cal records.

VoiceVault has announced an enhancement to its voice biometric identity verification plat-form; a replaceable voice biometric capability that provides higher levels of protection against fraudulent attacks on user identity. By extend-ing VoiceVault’s challenge response mode of operation to encompass all digits 0 to 9, an enrolment model that has been compromised, for example through the fraudulent use of recordings, can simply be replaced with one that uses a different set of digits. VoiceVault has also announced that Microsoft has verified its voice biometric identity verification solu-tion as having the ability to handle at least 1bn authentication sessions per year.

The Iscon Mini-Portal body scanner designed for airport screening and loss prevention recently completed a successful live test at Bristol airport in the UK. The trial was organ-ised by the ICTS VeriSys service and is a signif-icant milestone in the preparation for approval by the European Civil Aviation Commission (ECAC). The Iscon Mini-Portal can locate a wide variety of contraband including weapons, pills and powdered substances, tobacco, pre-cious metals, gemstones, and other articles of interest. Iscon may be integrated with various ID and biometric technologies such as finger-print and facial recognition systems.

C O M P A N Y N E W S

Russian Technoserv Group is using German Basler cameras in its biometric identifica-tion systems. Technoserv develops automated identification systems to ensure safety in pub-lic places. The systems use Basler industrial and network cameras to capture images of individuals, which are then processed by the company’s Cascade-Flow recognition software in a customer’s data centre. Technoserv sys-tems have been introduced in a number of sports and transportation facilities throughout Russia, providing automated face recognition capabilities to support security forces.

Fingerprint Cards has received an order for 100,000 units of its swipe sensor technol-ogy, from an unnamed customer, scheduled for delivery in January 2013. This volume will cover the initial pilot run for mobile phones in Japan scheduled for launch in the second quar-ter of 2013. Larger orders for the second-quarter launch are expected from April and onwards.

Fingerprint Cards has been working with Hong Kong-based World Wide Touch Technology and its subsidiaries. World Wide Touch Technology is a manufacturer and design-er of fingerprint biometric modules for laptops. FPC has received an initial order for 800,000

units of the FPC1080A to be delivered during 2013. WWTT launched accessories and prod-ucts featuring the embedded FPC1080A at the CES trade show in Las Vegas in early 2013. The FPC 1080A is to be used in a range of tablets and Android mobile phone accessories, as the secured point-to-point data-exchange platform.

Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) has won a contract potentially worth up to $73m from the US Army Contracting Command to support the service’s efforts to field the latest biometric applications and sys-tems, according to Defence Systems. Under the contract, SAIC will furnish software engineering maintenance and management services in sup-port of quick reaction capabilities overseen by the Army Product Manager for Joint Personnel Identification (PM JPI), the company said. PM JPI provides the US military with a tactical biometric collection capability that enables it to gather biometric data and store it in the Defense Department’s enterprise biometric database.

AMD has licensed CyberLink Corp’s FaceMe facial recognition technology, and has applied this technology to the AMD Face Login applica-tion on its upcoming high-performance A-Series APU platform, Richland and its upcoming low power, mobility APU, Temash. CyberLink’s FaceMe technology uses a face recognition algorithm to provide access to Windows as well as popular websites such as, Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, Youtube and Amazon.

Precise Biometrics’ partner OpenPeak has inte-grated the Tactivo smart card and fingerprint sensor casing for iPad and iPhone with its Sector app wrapping technology to provide multi-factor authentication and security features. The OpenPeak solution includes per-app VPNs and three-factor authentication, including PIN, smart card, and biometric technologies. In January 2013 Precise Biometrics’ share price was reported to have risen strongly on news of a sig-nificant contract with an undisclosed US-based financial information services provider.

Validity Sensors has become an ‘Observer Member’ of GlobalPlatform, the organisation that standardises the management of applica-tions on secure chip technology. Validity’s mem-bership of GlobalPlatform will focus on the GlobalPlatform Advisory Council and Mobile Task Force, which works to understand the busi-ness requirements of the secure mobile services ecosystem to establish an agreed infrastructure.

BIO-key International has announced it received orders in excess of $1m from health-care and blood centre customers in the fourth quarter of 2012.