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Intel's Prints Are All Over This One

Chip maker investing in fingerprint-reading systems, banking on a bright future for biometrics.

By James Niccolai, PCWorld   

The companies said Digital Persona will help Intel incorporate the fingerprint technology into the Common Data Security Architecture, a technology framework being compiled by Intel, IBM, and others that is designed to help developers build secure, interoperable applications for making Internet transactions.

Through CDSA, hardware and software developers eventually will be able to embed Digital Persona%squots fingerprint technology in keyboards, laptop computers, and even automobiles as a means of verifying a user%squots identity, said Fabio Righi, Digital Persona%squots president and chief executive officer.

Intel%squots is the first investment by a major IT company in a manufacturer of biometrics technology, according to Righi, and it%squots a sign that the Internet demands a more convenient way for users to verify who is at the other end of an Internet connection, he said.

Digital Persona also recently secured an undisclosed investment from IDG Ventures, a venture capital firm owned by International Data Group. (IDG is the parent company of the IDG News Service and PC World Online.) The two investments combined represent about a 20 percent stake in the company, Righi said.

Digital Persona%squots flagship product is the U.are.U fingerprint recognition system. U.are.U employs a sensor about the size of a mouse to reads users%squot fingerprints, granting them access to a system or network. The company plans to release the Windows 98 version of U.are.U. in July, officials said.

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