LONDON: iWallet is delving deeper into biometric authentication solutions with a new partnership. The company has announced it is teaming up with NEXT Biometrics to integrate the latter’s fingerprint sensors into its products.
iWallet is, of course, the company behind the iWallet product as well as the iPassport. The products are essentially wallets and passport holders, respectively that feature digital and biometric security features to protect their contents. The ‘techcessories’, as the company calls them, use fingerprint-based biometric locks, RFID-blocking technology, and Bluetooth tethering to that end. With its new partnership, the company appears to be looking to upgrade that first part with more advanced biometric technology; NEXT Biometrics is indeed a major player in the biometrics industry, with its CEO having recently predicted “high volume growth” going forward for the latter half of this year.
iWallet’s CEO Jack Chadsey says his company has “committed to purchase a minimum of 10,000 NEXT NB-2020S sensors over the next twelve months, though based upon the early interest from major manufacturers in licensing iWallet’s patented BIO-BLU technology, we wouldn’t be surprised to see that number increase 5-10 times.”
It’s also worth noting that iWallet appears to focus a lot of its efforts on the BIO-BLU technology mentioned by Chadsey above. The technology is meant to create an encrypted Bluetooth connection to other devices, allowing for biometric authentication undertaken on the iWallet, for example, unlocking a connected app as well. That could make iWallet’s forthcoming devices more than extra-secure accessories; they could indeed become digital keys for a range of connected apps and devices.
