Innovation of the week

last updated 8 January 2015

“The era of one-tap authentication is about to begin,” said Casey Newton in TheVerge.com. Apple’s new flagship device, the iPhone 5s, will hit store shelves this week with an innovative fingerprint scanner called Touch ID. Instead of punching in a password to unlock the home screen or make purchases in iTunes, users can simply press a finger against the home button to quickly authenticate their identity. Analysts believe “Apple’s push into fingerprints will put biometric security squarely in the mainstream of consumer electronics,” leading to a phasing out of the humble password. First, though, Apple will have to work out a bug, said Danny Yadron and Ian Sherr in WSJ.com. The sensor doesn’t respond well to “moisture-laden fingers covered in sweat, lotion, or other liquids.”