Wednesday, May 18, 2016

NFC/fingerprint sensor patent tips off exciting iPhone 5S Home button potential


Much has been made about the highly-expected iPhone 5Scontaining a fingerprint sensorwithin the Home button. Other talk has surrounded the promise of Nr Field Communiions (NFC) and ’s off-and-on interest in the technology. It apprs both a fingerprint sensor and NFC may join together to turn the next iPhone into an electronic wallet and more.According to a new patent that’s surfaced in Europe, theiPhone 5Smay include an updated Home button encircled by a ring which detects your finger. But this super-charged Home button also adds NFC, potentially replacing s and enabling secure wireless e-commerce, next-eration docks and other exciting opportunities…By using a ring that is capacitive, your finger’s presence is detected just as in the case of your iPhone’s screen, without the need to press the Home button to initiate a fingerprint scan. Such a design appred insupposed iPhone 5 packingfrom China.Also, by linking that fingerprint datawith NFC technology, the patent could give new life to contactless payments. Although convenient, the inability of contactless payments to link a credit card with the card holder has held back the technology’s expansion beyond small purchases.The Europn patent, discovered yesterday byPatently, also calls foroptical input/output sensors built right into the Home button that maygather fingerprint data optically, but also use the optical structures of the fingerprint sensor to communie with external equipment, such as docks.“ notes that the docking accessory may be implemented using a stand­-alone housing or it may be incorporated into a vertical or horizontal slot in an automobile system, a stereo system, television, or other kind of equipment,”Patently writes.A next-eration dock, depicted in the patent drawing above, would enable wireless NFC signals to be conveyed between the iPhone’s Home button and NFC structure loed in the dock itself.You’d dock your iPhone such that the Home button lines up with the optical sensors built into the dock.The dock would need no USB or Lightning connector and could bebuilt into next- devices, car infotainment systems and more.Not to mention totally rethinking the need for s, another potential use for this combination fingerprint sensor and NFC transmissions is supercharging ’scurrent Passbook appliion.The patent described could allow you to store your fingerprint data, sending it along with any bar to help vendors identify not only that the credit card, airline ticket or other item is valid, but that your are the rightful owner.The NFC + fingerprint sensor combo used in conjunction with Macs could theoretically bolster up security of ’ AirDrop wireless file transfer technology, built into OS X Mountain Lion and coming to compatible iOS devices with the relse of iOS 7.
LED-illuminater fingerprint-scanning iPhone 5S Home button concept byMartin Hajek.Although the patent appliion was first filed in 2012, its only recent discovery in Europe revls is continuing the practice of initially keeping its connection under wraps.By using the name of a little-known inventor or employee as the initial assignee, any srches for would not uncover the patent. This suggests views the technology as potentially valuable for future licensing.

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