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The Thumbprint-Scanning Phone

by Tim Stevens on May 23, 2007 at 12:47 PM

It wouldn't do for a secure phone to scan just any finger. No, it would have to be a thumbprint scanner, and that's exactly what Chinese cell phone maker Qiao Xing is including in its recently released T100 phone.

To make a call, a user will need to slide his thumb over the small scanner built above the keypad. Once recognized, he's free to use the phone as usual. This not only will help prevent thiefs from racking up expensive calls on a stolen cell, but will also act as a keypad lock, preventing the candybar-style phone from accidentally dialing in-laws as it bounces around in your pocket.

Interestingly the thumb scanner will also work like a touch-pad, enabling a user to glide his thumb over it to select menu items on the screen and navigate the T100's interface. That'll be helpful, because the tiny keypad at the bottom doesn't look like it's good for much. Though this isn't the first scanner-equipped phone to actually see release (Samsung released a similar but more simple phone in Korea over a year ago), it's the first outside of Korea, and the first to use a scanner provided by Atrua, a company that provides standard buttons and controls for a number of phone manufacturers. So, with scanner prices falling and phone makers looking to cram more features into gadgets, expect to be seeing far more scanners in phones soon.

From ubergizmo and Market Wire

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Tags: Qiao Xing T100, QiaoXingT100, security

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