Even though Apple has flirted with patents that are biometric-based in the past, the world has yet to actually see them implement any real world technology of the sort. However, this fact has not stopped Apple from filing yet another of these patents though, and of course they will be doing another patent registration. Their latest patent application revealed that it was a fingerprint sensor which will be embedded in their incredibly popular iPhone. The patent application goes on to provide a description of the hardware and calls it a “window”. This window then has the ability to become selectively “opaque or transparent”.
When the window is to become transparent, it will then go about revealing a component which is comprised of an image capturing device, a biometric sensor, a strobe flash, a proximity sensor, a light sensor or a solar panel or even a combo thereof. This will then be used as a method for unlocking the phone.
According to the patent application, this biometric sensor which is described in the application might actually be a conventional fingerprint reader. The patent application then goes on to expand on alternative ways of making use of an eye or face recognition technology that has uses far and above that of mere security purposes. It might also hold some e-commerce solutions such as completing online transactions, among many others.
However, you should remember to take any of Apple’s patent applications with a generous portion of salt. Just think about it for a moment – we are yet to see any type of Apple stylus yet. However, this might be the reason why Apple bough AuthenTec, the fingerprint sensor maker, all the way back in July. I suppose in this instance only time will tell.
A lot of controversy has erupted recently with major tech firms slinging around terms like “cyber chemical warfare” because of large tech companies registering patents only to prevent their competitors from developing the technology. This is bad for all concerned, as a company can just register a patent then and leave it dormant because it doesn’t have the resources to develop it, but will deny the world the benefit of the technology before seeing it go to their competitors. Throughout the whole process though, the patent law will have to prevail.