That explains things a bit

It's Apple's fault that the Nexus 6 doesn't have a fingerprint sensor (The Verge)

Former Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside has confessed that the dimple at the back of the Nexus 6 was originally intended to play host to a fingerprint sensor. Back in 2011, Motorola was a pioneer in bringing fingerprint recognition to its Atrix 4G smartphone, however the company it used then, Authentec, was purchased by Apple a year later for a price of $356 million. Authentec were, in Woodside's judgment, the best supplier around and "the second best supplier was the only one available to everyone else in the industry and they weren’t there yet."

Fujitsu Ultra High Spec Smartphone Prototype Has a Fingerprint Reader

Fujitsu’s Quad-Core Android Phone Offers Powerful Specs (GottaBeMobile.com)

The phone is said to be coming to Asian markets, and Fujitsu has recently revealed that it wants to tackle the European mobile market so this latest addition may find its way to Europe soon. When I spoke with the company’s executives at CES 2012, Fujitsu is also ambitiously eyeing to break into the U.S. mobile market within the next couple of years.

The above article makes a useful companion to this post, reproduced in its entirety below. It also has a video in which the fingerprint reader makes a last-minute cameo.

Unless my eyes deceive me, the Fujitsu phone seems to treat the fingerprint reader more thoughtfully than the Motorola ATRIX did. The Fujitsu has a touch platen located in the center of the top half of the back of the phone whereas the Motorola placed a swipe platen on the top edge of the handset (post and photo here). So the Fujitsu should be easier to use because a more convenient sensor form factor in a more natural location on the device.

Mobile Devices and Biometric Modalities
Smartphones and tablets combine the most powerful attributes of the networked computer and the cell phone, extending the web into every nook and cranny of the globe.

In one awesomely tiny package they facilitate data collection, storage and access to data stored elsewhere.

As a platform for near field communication (NFC) and SMS One-time passwords, mobile devices are also increasingly being used to deliver identity management applications by using a person's known possession of the device as a way of verifying their identity. In access control lingo, mobile devices are being used as tokens.

Using mobile devices is a dream come true for businesses that rely upon tokens: Your customer already owns it; If they lose it, they will be aware of the loss very quickly and they will replace it at their own expense; People are disinclined to lend their phone/credential to someone else; Etc.

Now to the question of securing the device itself and biometric modalities.

Fingerprints are currently the most frequently used biometric for overtly identifying cooperative, habituated individuals. They have a lot of things going for them. Fingerprints are well-understood scientifically, durable, reliable, and fingerprint ID management techniques have been shown to deliver high return on investment in many applications.

These are some of the reasons I lamented Motorola's announcement that it was leaving the fingerprint sensor out of the Atrix 2. The decision makes sense, though. The fingerprint sensor wouldn't be widely used until developers had written software using it, but including the sensor would drive up the cost of each unit for a thinly-used feature. The innovation chicken-and-egg problem is a real one and Motorola seems to have made the judgement that they weren't gaining enough of an advantage in the highly-competitive mobile device market by including it.

But that hasn't meant the end of mobile device biometrics. Just as businesses that issue tokens have been able to take advantage of the fact that their users are already carrying the necessary technology around with them, biometric identity management application developers are doing the same.

Mobile devices already contain the hardware required to deliver two biometric modalities: a camera for facial recognition and a microphone for voice. These modalities present challenges not usually associated with fingerprint biometrics — in the case of facial recognition challenges include lighting and the well-publicized photograph hack; for voice, background noise can be a problem — but they offer the advantage that the hardware is "free" and never going to be yanked out of mobile devices. That's quite an advantage, and it points to why face and voice biometrics are the front-runners for handset biometrics.

Nice and tidy, eh?

So, what to make of today's news that Fujitsu is set to compete more aggressively in the global handset market?

Fujitsu Aims for European Mobile Phone Market (Financial Times)

Fujitsu’s smartphones will certainly feature electronic money technology – enabling owners to use NFC, the mobile payment system – and biometric recognition to make their use as mobile wallets more secure.

Fujitsu, more than any other handset manufacturer, is deeply involved in biometric sensor hardware (finger, palm) that doesn't currently reside on stock mobile platforms. So stay tuned.

Mobile Devices and Biometric Modalities

Smartphones and tablets combine the most powerful attributes of the networked computer and the cell phone, extending the web into every nook and cranny of the globe.

In one awesomely tiny package they facilitate data collection, storage and access to data stored elsewhere.

As a platform for near field communication (NFC) and SMS One-time passwords, mobile devices are also increasingly being used to deliver identity management applications by using a person's known possession of the device as a way of verifying their identity. In access control lingo, mobile devices are being used as tokens.

Using mobile devices is a dream come true for businesses that rely upon tokens: Your customer already owns it; If they lose it, they will be aware of the loss very quickly and they will replace it at their own expense; People are disinclined to lend their phone/credential to someone else; Etc.

Now to the question of securing the device itself and biometric modalities.

Fingerprints are currently the most frequently used biometric for overtly identifying cooperative, habituated individuals. They have a lot of things going for them. Fingerprints are well-understood scientifically, durable, reliable, and fingerprint ID management techniques have been shown to deliver high return on investment in many applications.

These are some of the reasons I lamented Motorola's announcement that it was leaving the fingerprint sensor out of the Atrix 2. The decision makes sense, though. The fingerprint sensor wouldn't be widely used until developers had written software using it, but including the sensor would drive up the cost of each unit for a thinly-used feature. The innovation chicken-and-egg problem is a real one and Motorola seems to have made the judgement that they weren't gaining enough of an advantage in the highly-competitive mobile device market by including it.

But that hasn't meant the end of mobile device biometrics. Just as businesses that issue tokens have been able to take advantage of the fact that their users are already carrying the necessary technology around with them, biometric identity management application developers are doing the same.

Mobile devices already contain the hardware required to deliver two biometric modalities: a camera for facial recognition and a microphone for voice. These modalities present challenges not usually associated with fingerprint biometrics — in the case of facial recognition challenges include lighting and the well-publicized photograph hack; for voice, background noise can be a problem — but they offer the advantage that the hardware is "free" and never going to be yanked out of mobile devices. That's quite an advantage, and it points to why face and voice biometrics are the front-runners for handset biometrics.

Nice and tidy, eh?

So, what to make of today's news that Fujitsu is set to compete more aggressively in the global handset market?

Fujitsu Aims for European Mobile Phone Market (Financial Times)

Fujitsu’s smartphones will certainly feature electronic money technology – enabling owners to use NFC, the mobile payment system – and biometric recognition to make their use as mobile wallets more secure.

Fujitsu, more than any other handset manufacturer, is deeply involved in biometric sensor hardware (finger, palm) that doesn't currently reside on stock mobile platforms. So stay tuned.

Biometric Applications on Android Tablets

You're going to start seeing a lot more of this, and not just with biometrics.

Android platform adapted for biometrics (UPI)

"EB's platform is cost-effective and allows fast turnaround, which helps government agencies stay current with their handheld devices. Rather than developing small batches of high-cost, highly specialized product, EB's platform allows us to integrate low-cost modular attachments to meet the needs of specific agencies, while simultaneously producing high volumes of core products at substantially lower cost per unit."

The combination of technologies would allow a broad range of stand-along and network-connected biometric applications for U.S. government agencies, the companies said.

A couple of points:
♦ Right now, Android is the only viable option for this type of product development.
♦ The diversity of mobile hardware running Android is really impressive, and amazingly inexpensive.


See Also: Motorola Atrix 2 Has No Fingerprint Reader. Motorola designed and (briefly) sold an Android device with an on-board fingerprint reader.

In other Atrix news: Motorola Mobility Announces Availability of Motorola ATRIX in Turkey.

Motorola Atrix 2 Has No Fingerprint Reader

Nooooooo! (itBusiness.ca)

The company removed the biometric fingerprint scanner, as well; when I asked a Motorola representative about this at CTIA, the rep said that it wasn't a widely used feature.

Two days after gushing about the possibilities offered by a fingerprint reader on an Android smartphone, we learn that Motorola has removed the fingerprint reader from the Atrix 2. Needless to say, I'm disappointed.

The sensor couldn't have been a widely used feature until developers had time to write software using it, which they certainly would have done if only a manufacturer such as Motorola had shown a commitment to making the hardware available. Any developer that had written software for it just had the chair pulled out from under them, and those who were looking forward to the opportunity can now focus their attention elsewhere.

Mobile hardware is a tricky business. There is a tension between the market signals from the "make 'em cheaper" vs the "make 'em more secure" crowd. It's unfortunate for the "make 'em more secure" crowd that they lost an opportunity to vote with their wallets.

Mobile Handset Review: Motorola Atrix 4G (The One with a Fingerprint Reader)

Motorola Atrix 4G review (Engadget.com)

Like most slate phones, the front of the device is nearly all screen, save for the familiar Android buttons along the bottom, and the front-facing camera and earpiece up top. Along the top rear of the phone is a power / sleep button which just happens to be a fingerprint scanner too, and the 3.5mm headphone jack. Along the right side of the phone is the volume rocker (easily accessible with your thumb during calls if you're right handed). On the left side you'll find the Micro USB and HDMI ports. Around back, the stylishly patterned casing is broken by the 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a speaker along the bottom of the phone.

As far as truly unique hardware goes, the fingerprint scanner seems fairly novel -- but in practice it's a little frustrating. It does work as advertised, but being told to re-swipe your finger if it doesn't take when you're trying to get into the phone quickly can be a little bothersome. Unless you really need the high security, a standard passcode will suffice for most people.

Fingerprint scanner quibbles aside, the Atrix 4G is one of the better looking Android devices we've had a chance to use. We would have liked to see higher quality materials in play here, but despite the housing, the phone comes off as both sleek and rugged -- a great combo for something that will likely be doing double (if not triple) duty in your connected world. From an industrial design standpoint, this device more than holds its own against the the best of the best on the market right now.

Image Source: Motorola

A few observations and a caveat:

Caveat: I've never held one of these devices. I'm just going by what's in the quoted section of the article linked above and what I can infer from the picture.

♦ The fingerprint reader is at the top-center of the back of the device. This seems like a good choice, extending the possibility that both right-handed and left-handed people could use the sensor conveniently using the device as a phone.
♦ It's a swipe fingerprint sensor, as opposed to a static fingerprint sensor. Swipe sensors require far less real-estate than static ones but they also require more user training.
♦ The sensor seems to be in an "alley" that should help the user find it without looking at the device and guide the finger across the sensor, making it easier to use.
♦ The sensor is also the power button, so the Motorola folks didn't just jam a fingerprint reader into some random spot, they gave it a place of honor.

All in all, it's hard not to get excited about the possibilities offered by manufacturers incorporating biometrics into mobile platforms. Motorola appears to have opened the door to these possibilities in a thoughtful and meaningful way. Given the amount of information in our pockets nowadays, it seems likely that this is only the beginning for consumer mobile biometrics.