Medical centre implements PalmSecure

The City of Angels Medical Centre has adopted Fujitsu Computer Products of America's PalmSecure biometric authentication device in its urgent care department.

The device was selected to establish a stringent employee identification process throughout the IT system.

This will ensure patient care safety and help the centre comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements of security and privacy standards.

A partnership has been formed to integrate a biometric encryption software service developed by US-based Ceelox, with fingerprint-swipe, sensor-based hardware by Symwave. No terms were disclosed.

One Ceelox product allows for biometric user-authentication before gaining access to a PC, external drives and networks, a release says. Another protects confidential information by enabling users to simultaneously encrypt files and copy or move them.

The partnership will enable consumer electronic, PC and PC peripheral manufacturers to incorporate biometric security into consumer and enterprise products, the companies say.

India's Andhra Bank is looking at setting up biometric ATMs within and outside Andhra Pradesh in the next 12 months. The bank has also obtained approval to ply mobile ATM vans in the twin cities.

Biometric ATMs absolve the need for a PIN number, by using thumb impressions for identification, and are particularly easy to use for rural and uneducated masses.

Andhra Bank becomes the third bank in the country, after ICICI Bank and Dena Bank, to set up a biometric ATM. The bank is looking at adding 250 ATMs by March 2008, of which at least 175 will be biometric ATMs.

Associated lower costs and increased accuracy has many school administrators looking to biometrics as means of authenticating students, reports SecureIDNews.

According to Jay Fry, CEO of biometric developer, identiMetrics, "price is no longer an obstacle... Today, biometrics can actually be priced competitively with bar code readers, swipecard (magnetic stripe) readers and PIN pads."

Although it is unclear how many schools are utilising biometrics, Mitch Johns, CEO and president of Food Service Solutions, reports his company has 65 school districts using the company's solution.

Sharp was the first mobile manufacturer to use a VGA screen on a phone, and it is now hoping to update the VGA screen and turn it into a fingerprint reader.

The VGA touch-screen in development at the Sharp European labs has a resolution of 640x480 pixels and can run at 30 frames per second. A built-in image sensor has the power to read and authenticate fingerprints.

It is hoped the screen will be integrated into a cellphone to add touch-screen controls and biometric security.