Biometrics

Amazon today announced a new contactless authentication device called Amazon One, and it's definitely a little weird. Instead of using something like a card with an NFC module built in, you'll instead use your palm. The device is getting a very limited roll out in two of its Amazon Go stores as an authentication option for entry, but the company sees Amazon One being used for a wide array of services in the future.

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Smart locks have been offering hi-tech ways to secure our homes but their apps ironically only provide old and less secure ways of securing access to those locks. Many phones these days provide biometric security in the form of face recognition and fingerprints to have a more accurate and foolproof way to gain access to a smartphone or files. Finally, August and Yale smart locks can now take advantage of these same technologies but the feature comes with one important catch.

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Google advises using Chrome's built-in features to remember information you repeatedly enter into web pages, including and especially the ones you use for secure transactions. Whether you're comfortable handing Google your logins and credit card details is a different question but it's unarguably convenient and potentially safer in some ways. It's still not completely convenient, though, and there are still a few steps that Chrome's Autofill can be made quicker yet even more secure, something that Google will soon be rolling out to Android, starting with biometrics support for credit card info.

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Code included with the latest update to builds of macOS Big Sur suggest that FaceID and/or TrueDepth camera tech are coming to the Mac. MacBooks and iMac computers could very well get their own 3D depth-sensing cameras in the very near future if what this code indicates comes to fruition with what's called "PearlCamera."

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Police forces in London, UK, have confirmed they will be switching on controversial Live Facial Recognition (LFR) systems, aiming to spot known criminals or suspects in crime hotspots around the city. The system will be able to flag individuals on a watch-list, picking known faces out of the crowd.

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JDI or Japan Display, Inc. is perhaps best known for making, as its name implies, display panels, many of which end up on smartphones. It does, however, also dabble in technologies only related to screens on the periphery, like biometrics and imaging sensors that can be placed under its display. Its latest boast may not yet have any display-oriented application but the new ultra-thin image sensor it has developed is in itself already impressive in how it combines two properties often found in two separate sensors.

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Plastic cards tried to make paper cash a thing of the past and phones are now trying to return the favor. All of these payment systems, however, have one thing in common. They all require you to carry something with you, something you could potentially lose. Your hand, on the other hand, is always by your side (hopefully) which is why Amazon is reportedly looking into technology that will let people pay with just their palm.

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As anybody who has tried an in-display fingerprint sensor will have discovered, not all biometrics are created equal, and Qualcomm is hoping its new 3D Sonic Max system edges ahead of the pack. Set to debut on smartphones in 2020, the latest generation of the ultrasonic fingerprint biometrics aims to re-right the ship after frustrations around Samsung's Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10 security.

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Qualcomm has revealed its newest security system, with 3D Sonic Max promising faster, easier, and more secure in-display fingerprint recognition. The new technology is the latest iteration of Qualcomm's ultrasonic biometrics, dramatically increasing the space that your fingertip will be recognized on a device.

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Facial recognition is slowly but surely becoming the focal point of the next tug-of-war on privacy as more and more companies and governments are embracing the technology for their own needs. While an effective tool in safeguarding phones and computers, it is also feared to be a more subtle but more intrusive way to monitor people without their knowledge. It is against that backdrop of uncertainty that the US Homeland Security is proposing that face recognition checks in all US airports be done on all travelers, including the country's own citizens.

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Although rumored and expected to be one of the first, Samsung came terribly late to the in-display fingerprint scanner party. Perhaps in an attempt to make the delay worthwhile, Samsung also opted to adopt a kind of biometric technology that none of its rivals had: Qualcomm's in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. While presented as a feature bullet point, that has become a security liability for this year's Samsung flagships and it may force the world's largest smartphone maker to abandon ship quickly.

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Although not as damning as the fate that awaits Huawei, Samsung is facing its own ordeal that could damage its reputation in the financial and security industries. Its ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint was already long overdue but is now proving to be less secure and accurate as it was promised to be. Samsung has already begun rolling out an update that addresses the latest complaint but, while swift, might be a bit too late to assure some banks for a while.

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