CBA Japan to Aid Apple Competitors

Because rivals cannot obtain Apple-controlled authentication technology, access to CBA Japan’s optical fingerprint sensors and algorithms provides makers of Android and Microsoft products with alternative security hardware and software.

TOKYO /BUSINESS WIRE/ -- Biometrics pioneer and Tokyo Institute of Technology venture company CBA Japan Inc., in the wake of Apple's acquisition of AuthenTec, is offering makers of Android products and to Microsoft providers worldwide:

• Exclusive use of CBA's optical fingerprint sensing technology in Android and Microsoft products
• Use of its optical fingerprint sensing technology in tablets and notebooks

Bescause Apple's competitors cannot obtain parts from Apple, their only choice is to use the optical fingerprint sensing technology from CBA Japan, already being supplied to 1 million phones made by Sharp. It is against this background that CBA Japan is offering the use of its optical fingerprint sensors and fingerprint algorithms to all Android product manufacturers and all Microsoft-related manufacturers worldwide. This will enable companies worldwide to stave off Apple and AuthenTec and develop their businesses.

Following Apple's acquisition of AuthenTec and its fingerprint authorization technology, CBA Japan has been flooded with inquiries from major manufacturers in Japan and overseas, who were quick to grasp the significance of the acquisition.

Apple disclosed its acquisition of the fingerprint authorization technology company AuthenTec in a SEC filing on July 26, paying $8 per share for AuthenTec for a total price of $356 million. Melbourne, Florida-based AuthenTec, founded in 1998, is a NASDQ-listed provider of fingerprint authorization technology. The company's security solutions include fingerprint authorization-related hardware and software for PCs and mobile devices. Its fingerprint sensing technology is used by Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard in its PCs, and Fujitsu in its REGZA smartphones.

Apple has not made an official announcement yet, but expectations are that it will integrate the fingerprint authorization technology in its mobile devices for use in mobile payment settlements for online and conventional shopping, as well as Web logins and digital signatures.

The acquisition is likely to pose problems for Apple rivals such as Google and its Android providers and Microsoft and its OEM hardware manufacturers. AuthenTec's fingerprint sensor has been widely used among Apple competitors such as Acer, DELL, Lenovo, ASUS, Samsung, and Toshiba. AuthenTec has had a close alliance with Hewlett-Packard (HP), providing the fingerprint authorization solution for one of HP's major products, SimplePass, used in all of HP's notebooks.

CEO Hiroaki Kunieda of CBA Japan commented, "We are proud that our company can offer our fingerprint authorization technology and optical fingerprint sensors, developed in Japan, and thereby contribute to the spread of fingerprint authorization technology throughout the world."

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