Finger Print Recognition on your PC

Digital Persona's U.are.U is an ergonomical, easy-to-use computer peripheral that sits unobtrusively on your desk. Designed by award-winning industrial design firm Montgomery/Pfeifer, U.are.U is appealing in its simplicity, evoking a natural response on the part of the user. Compact and highly flexible, U.are.U is able to read any finger, on your right or left hand, at varying angles and degrees of pressure. U.are.U is also versatile, with a cable that can be routed out the front or back of the device, allowing it to be placed anywhere on the desktop. U.are.U is a digital sensor and uses Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology, a new standard computer port that makes the "plug and play" installation of peripherals a reality. Solving many of the problems associated with the traditional serial and parallel ports, USB supports the simultaneous use of dozens of devices at multi-megabit speed and eliminates the need for power cords.

Check out Digital Persona's web site for the latest information and system requirements.

Microsoft Fingerprint Reader

For a couple years now, I've been happily using the DigitalPersona fingerprint reader mentioned above. It was given to me at one of our internal events, and I had let it sit on my shelf collecting dust wondering why I'd ever require a biometric security device to logon to my device. Then, one day, I ran across it while looking for something else, and I decided to plug it in and give it a try. Unfortunately, the personal version of the DigitalPersona device wouldn't allow me to logon with my fingerprint unless I was using the Windows XP Welcome Screen selection (and I favour the Windows standard Logon). So I was just about ready to disconnect it and put it back on the shelf to gather more dust when I read that I could use it to supply usernames and passwords for web sites I regularly visit. Interesting.

Basically, you see a site that requires authentication, touch the reader with one of your registered fingers, then tell the fingerprint software what it should enter into selected fields on the web page. You can also specify whether or not you'd like the "submit" button on the page to be pressed. That's it! Now, the next time you visit that web page, you just touch the fingerprint reader, and everything is done for you. It's actually that simple, and it makes logging into secure sites a breeze. I assume it could be used for any site that has fields you'd like to fill in, but I've used it exclusively for authentication.

I knew that Microsoft had recently come out with their own Fingerprint Reader, and say what you will.... I figured that I could use my new computer purchase as an excuse to try it out. So, even though the DigitalPersona reader had never given me a single problem (other than the Windows XP logon restriction), I purchased the newer, slimmer, and sleeker-looking Microsoft version. And guess what I swiftly discovered? It's also made by DigitalPersona! I was extremely happy to learn this, although I wondered if our version would provide any benefits over the older reader.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Microsoft Fingerprint Reader does allow you to logon to your machine, even if you're using the Windows Classic Logon screen like me. Plus, the interface that allows you to configure fields and buttons on a web page is improved and exceedingly straightforward. As you can see in the screenshot, the software highlights the field on the web page (in this case, a Hotmail password field) that corresponds to the field that you are registering. Then, you can tell it which button to use to submit your information. In my case, it automatically selected the "Sign In" button for me. After I push OK, I'll never have to type these credentials again...I can just use one of my registered fingers.

That's the long and short of it. I am extremely happy with the new reader. For less than $40 this is a nice piece of hardware that offers a lot of convenience. If you're looking for one of a kind and functional gift ideas, this is one I'd highly recommend.

Key Tronic's Secure Finger Scanner
Keyboard provides true secure user Authentication

This system uses fingerprint recognition instead of passwords, to allow or deny access into a desktop computer.  Fingerprint recognition is the most user friendly, lowest cost, and most reliable solution in biometrics.

Upon Installation, the software leads the use through a one-minute enrollment process.  The Key Tronic Scanner Keyboard features a high resolution camera, which captures an image of a fingerprint, converts the image into a template, and stores in on the network.

The Secure Scanner Keyboard eliminates the need for all passwords.  Once the user is enrolled, they simply place their finger onto the Scanner.  The system will perform a verfication process by comparing the currently scanned finger with the previously enrolled fingerprint.

The entire verification process happens almost instantely. Get more information at Keytronic.