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Software and consumer electronics giant Apple has filed a patent application for a fingerprint sensor that could revolutionise its acclaimed touch-screen devices.
Several months ago, the US-based company acquired mobile security firm AuthenTec, which holds an array of fingerprint recognition patents. This latest move suggests the firm is planning to add biometric technology to its future devices.
Apple’s recent patent filing – detailed by Patently Apple – describes a hardware ‘window’ that can become selectively ‘transparent or opaque’, to reveal an ‘image capture device, a strobe flash, a biometric sensor, a light sensor, a proximity sensor, or a solar panel’ as a means of unlocking a handset.
This technology could enable users to unlock their devices by placing or swiping a single digit against the screen, and have specific commands mapped to another finger for one-touch execution.
