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Apple Filing Patent on Touch ID

Apple Touch ID
The patent office is delivering more information on what to expect from Apple in the next few years. Foremost of several innovations by the giant tech company is their foray into the area of "Fingerprint Sensor in an Electronic Device."

The Apple application shows how Touch ID might be placed directly inside the touchscreen of an iPhone or iPad instead of under the home button. The patent would allow users to have their fingerprint scanned by pressing on a specific location on the screen of the handset or tablet.

Security could be enhanced on the iPad by requesting that the user verify his identity by matching the fingerprints on all five fingers on one hand. A palm print could also be employed.

Previous attempts to embed a fingerprint scanner inside a touchscreen have resulted in the placement of additional layers on top of the display which harmed the quality of images seen on the screen.

Additionally, touch inputs sometimes would not register on a touchscreen outfitted with the additional material. Apple plans on getting around this by using an integrated circuit that would be placed on the bottom of a cover sheet or on the top of the display. Using a "transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide," Apple would be able to prevent a drop in the quality and clarity of the images seen on the touchscreen.

The patent filing is partly credited to Dale Setlak, co-founder of AuthenTec. The biometrics company was purchased by Apple in 2012 to help it produce the current Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
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