iPhone 5S Fingerprint Sensor Will Soon Have Competition

With the TouchID fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5S, Apple could break new ground in consumer electronics by taking biometric technology mainstream. In fact, industry experts agree that other manufacturers will soon follow suit with their own fingerprint scanners.

Built into the home button of the iPhone 5S, the Touch ID system scans the finger of the person pressing the home button. For the owner, the phone unlocks immediately — no lock code necessary. The system can also eliminate the need to enter a password when downloading new apps from the App Store.

During the keynote, Apple senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller explained the fingerprint sensor in detail: "It's a touch-capacitive sensor. It's super-thin — it's 170 microns thin, that's just thicker than a human hair — yet it's very high resolution: 500 pixels per inch. You can turn your finger and read it in any orientation." Read more...