New scanner thwarts finger hackers

A fingerprint recognition device which confirms that the finger is still attached to its owner will be demonstrated at a US government technology conference next week.

Nitgen Co of Korea will show the new product at the FOSE 2006 government technology exposition in Washington, show organisers said in a press release. 

In a literal case of fingerprint hacking last year, a Malaysian businessman had his finger chopped off by thieves who drove off with the digit still in the fingerprint scanner of his Mercedes. 

While several movies have featured similar scenarios, this appears to be the only real life case of a severed finger being used to bypass a fingerprint recognition security system.

Researchers have previously demonstrated simple techniques for defeating such systems with fake fingertips made from various materials. Nitgen's fingerprint scanner is designed to prevent this type of fraud.

"The system detects fake fingerprints such as silicon, gelatin and film," the show organisers said. No information on the technology behind the system was released.

FOSE 2006 is sponsored by the US government's General Services Administration. 

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Japanese researchers have demonstrated a bendable radio and microcontroller circuit that could herald paper-thin smartcards.

The circuit, mounted in a plastic film less than 0.2 mm thick, contains a 3.3MHz CPU, 66KB of memory, and a radio receiver and transmitter.

Current generation smartcards are about 1mm thick and cannot be made flexible because bending them would destroy the internal circuits.

Researchers at Japan's Semiconductor Energy Laboratory and TDK Corporation told Nikkei Business Press that several years of work would be required to extend the range of the smartcards from a few millimetres to several centimetres. 

This range is a requirement for non-contact smartcard applications like transport cards.

The researchers did not provide details of power sources for the card, but NEC demonstrated a flexible battery last year which, at 0.3mm thick, would appear to be suitable.

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Vodafone KK, the Japanese arm of the European mobile telecoms giant, this week unveiled the first smartphone with a VGA-resolution display. 

The 904SH, manufactured by Sharp, boasts a 480 x 640 pixel LCD screen which is two to four times the display resolution of competing products, according to Vodafone. 

Data released by the company suggests that the 2.4in display will have a density of over 300 dots per inch (dpi). Typical desktop PC displays offer less than 100 dpi, and recent mobile phones reach about 150 dpi.

The 3G phone, due to go on sale in Japan late next month, also features an inertial sensor which detects movement of the phone in three dimensions as well the angle at which it is held.

The vendor claims that this technology will make it possible to use innovative games and other applications.

For example, the handset comes with a 'mobile planetarium' which "displays constellations in real time depending on which way a mobile handset is pointed towards the sky", Vodafone said.

Analyst and media reports have suggested that Vodafone's poor performance in the Japanese market has inspired the company to risk new products with innovative features.