After publishing our first piece of information about the upcoming Windows 9 and Windows Phone 9 operating systems back in May, we were slightly cautious about revealing anything else, mainly because we did not want competitors to copy these features.
However, upon learning that Apple has recently acquired a company that specializes in fingerprints, there is no turning back now because this is pretty much what we have written months ago.
– Fingerprints
You implement a small area on the back of your phone that can read fingerprints. Now, how is this useful? Let’s begin with the obvious:
a) Amazing for security when you want to unlock the phone
b) It asks you for a PIN during credit card checkout? You pre-enter PIN in the APP and next time it asks you for pin, you just touch that area with your tip and boom, it enters and confirms PIN for you, No more numbers! You could also just hot your phone while screen is canned (while holding finger) and it won’t even ask you for PIN, everything is automated, scan and done.
c) Now this is where the amazing begins… Your fingers have 5-10 unique finger prints, correct?
1) You think IE is the only way you can set this up? SMS auto replies are wasting the time, the result? You get SMS: Hey, call me asap. What do you do? You touch the fingerprint reader with your 1st finger and it automatically replies: Busy right now, will call you later. Touch another finger and it enters whatever you have pre-typed! Again, everything is at your fingers! 1 second vs. 20 seconds.
There are so many possibilities it’s ridiculous.
You could do fingers as a quick launch. Opened start screen, finger touch and boom, you are playing Angry Birds in an instant. Finger touch with another one and you are surfing your favorite web site.
The question is: did Apple also learn about this months ago and hence made a panic purchase?
Stay tuned, we have one more part to reveal.