Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has launched a platform for brands and product manufacturers that will enable them to place “dotless visual codes” on product packaging so that consumers can scan to check a product’s authenticity and get information, discounts and recommendations based on their preferences... More
Archive: Other news
Mountain America offers dual biometric log-in for mobile banking
Mountain America Credit Union has announced the beta release of a dual biometric log-in feature that lets its members access their mobile banking app either by scanning their finger or taking a picture of their eye, claiming to be the first to have combined fingerprint and eye-imaging technology in an attempt to make biometrics available to all of its mobile banking users... More
Google to launch mobile buy buttons?
Google is expected to add buy buttons to search results pages on mobile devices in the coming weeks that will guide consumers to product pages where they can pick sizes, colours and shipping options before completing a purchase... More
Italian zoo visitors walk on the wilder side with iBeacon network
Visitors to Zoom Torino Biopark in Cumiana, Italy will be able to unlock information and rewards on their smartphones thanks to a network of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that send location-based messages to their devices... More
Global biometrics market to hit $14.9bn by 2024
The global biometrics market will increase from US$2bn in 2015 to $14.9bn by 2024, with cumulative revenue for the 10-year period reaching $67.8bn, market intelligence firm Tractica forecasts... More
iPhone 6s to include improved Touch ID
A research note published by KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo has revealed a number of changes planned for Apple’s so-called iPhone 6s, expected to be unveiled in September, including an improved Touch ID sensor which “will improve the Apple Pay experience with faster, more secure readings,” Apple Insider reports... More
First Internet offers Touch ID login
Customers using US-based First Internet Bank’s personal mobile banking application are now able to log in using their fingerprint and Apple’s Touch ID feature... More
Digital Insights adds Touch ID to banking apps
Digital banking solutions provider Digital Insight is to offer Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint verification in the iOS mobile banking applications it supplies to financial institutions later this year... More
Starwood guests unlock hotel rooms with Apple Watch app
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has launched an app for the Apple Watch that enables wearers to tap their device to unlock hotel room doors via Bluetooth... More
Twitter invests in beacon marketer Swirl
Twitter has invested an undisclosed sum in Boston-based proximity marketing specialist Swirl, hinting the social media platform could be looking at using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to push messages. The social media giant has invested alongside Hearst Ventures, Softbank Capital and others in an $18m series-C round, taking the total raised by Swirl so far to $32m... More
Brainwave biometrics to arrive in three years
Consumers could be able to authenticate themselves using brain wave and heart beat bio-signals from as soon as February 2018... More
Microsoft says Hello to biometric security
Windows 10 users will be able to use biometric technology to secure access to their devices, Microsoft has announced... More
Halifax checks pulse of biometric wristband
UK bank Halifax is investigating how Bionym’s Nymi Band, a device that uses the wearer’s unique cardiac rhythm to authenticate their identity, could be used to reduce the need for customers to remember their passwords... More
One in three boarding passes to go mobile
More than 1.5bn airline boarding passes will be delivered via mobile by 2019, up from 745m this year, Juniper Research predicts... More
SXSW to deploy 1,000 beacons
The organizers of the annual SXSW music and film festival are working with Gimbal, RightRound and Urban Airship to place 1,000 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons around the event’s venues... More
CaixaBank lets drivers speak to mobile banking app
Spain’s CaixaBank has launched an app which allows customers to use voice commands to perform simple online banking operations, opening the way for drivers to check balances and initiate transfers as they travel... More
US identity fraud drops, but breaches scare consumers
The number of victims of identity fraud in the US decreased 3% to 12.7 million in 2014 and total fraud losses declined to US$16 billion — a decrease of 11% from 2013 — a study from Javelin Strategy & Research has found... More
Qualcomm demos 3D fingerprint technology for mobile phones
A fingerprint authentication solution that uses ultrasonic technology to scan through a smartphone cover made of glass, stainless steel, sapphire or plastic as well as contaminants on a finger, such as sweat or condensation, has been unveiled by Qualcomm. The technology can “detect if you are you under very difficult conditions,” product manager Max Hamel has told NFC World. More
Apple Watch to replace car keys
Apple is planning to supplant car keys with Apple Watch functionality, CEO Tim Cook has revealed in an interview with the The Telegraph... More
ZTE launches smartphone with retina scanning for authentication
ZTE‘s latest Android smartphone will let owners unlock it by scanning their retinas with a built-in biometric solution from EyeVerify... More