Let me be clear, Apple has clearly stated they do not plan to open fingerprint access to other App developers, but that does not mean they will not in the future. iPhone 5S/C is NOT the first mobile with biometric sensor, Motorola Atrix, LG 3800, LG eXpo. It seems LG was working with Authentec, yes it is the same company Apple acquired in 2012. During the same time speculations had started about why & how apple plan to leverage Authentec acquisition.

No doubt it is the next generation of fingerprint biometrics where you do not need to scroll your finger to get authenticated. Soon after the acquisition Apple filled a  NFC + biometric sensor patent, this made evident that next iphone would be with biometric & NFC which would boast the mobile payments industry.

But iPhone 5S / C is just launched with biometric which I feel is lame without NFC. Above all as I mentioned Apple has claimed it won’ allow third party access to the biometric solution. Will this phone turn out to be another laptop with biometric which yet no one in the industry use as part of the authentication.

So few days back now Apple announced another Patent where they claim to have integrated NFC & Biometric reader/scanner in the same home button screen such that they dont need to change the design of iPhone 5 to iPhone 5S. The idea is brilliant that they could maintain their metal back side with new metal finish colors. But it was surprising to see they did not increase the size of the device, which probably is because of their design cycle. This leads to another guessing work till the next announcement of new iPhone model if it would be with NFC & if the size of the screen will increase or no.

There are many questions raised by the new iPhone launch:

Will consumers use it What kind of consumers will use it Is the sensor good to recognize consumers in pottery, farming, and other skilled profession where their skin layers get eroded over period of time Will Apple store data on server or on device For unlocking surely it need to be on device or else phone need to be connected to internet all the time & that could lead to increase in data usage If biometric data is on device then it is hackable and can be forged Does it make any sense for using biometric for Apple app store purchases only ? How is apple planning to manage authentication across iphone, ipad, ipod, apple TV devices which do not have biometric security can the phone have whole family biometric security ? Like one iphone would have husband, wife and kids fingerprint to  unlock the phone . Like right now kids know father and mother iphone password and they start using it Will fingerprint biometric be integrated with their peer-to-peer money transfer solution for which Apple has filed another patent What about Privacy ? Does Apple want to enter remittance, banking & payments business ?

The list can go on and on, so it would be really interesting to know if Apple can once again spark the change in customers behaviour & mentality to give their identity impressions to Apple simply to buy apps from app store. Unless, apple makes it mandatory some way to use only biometrics from the new iPhone 5C / S.

As of now it does not look promising to mobile payments or mobile banking at all. This seems to be more like a trial to test the water but a expensive way to test it.

Original author: admin