Fingerprint biometrics are quickly becoming standard on smartphones and other mobile devices as consumers and enterprises begin to embrace post-password life and business. BIO-key International has been endeavoring to provide sensor manufacturers with the flexibility and security options that top OEMs demand and it’s paying off.
BIO-key announced today that in Q4 of 2014 it reported growth in mobile and new OEM revenue. Its OEM and Mobility business segment generated over $500,000 in revenue in Q4 2014. Looking at the full fiscal year, BIO-key’s OEM business, including mobility, raked in almost $2 million.
Jim Sullivan, BIO-key’s vice president of strategy and business development, comments on how the company has made itself appealing to manufacturers looking to attract tier one OEMs:
“BIO-key is delivering technology to sensor manufacturers that enables them to offer solutions to meet the wide spectrum of secure authentication options their tier one OEMs require,” says Sullivan. “Rather than placing security, convenience and interoperability at cross purposes, our customers can utilize BIO-key’s flexible algorithm suite for everything from small sensor and in-device matching to highly secure, robust matches in the context of a security-sensitive use case. Our proven interoperable algorithm accommodates our customers’ sensor technologies as they evolve over time between swipe and area, capacitive and thin film approaches. BIO-key is unique in serving this full range of use cases.”
In the press release announcing the revenue growth, BIO-key reflected on 2014, singling out the launch of its strategic development agreement with InterDigital as a major milestone leading to the success in its mobility and OEM business. After that partnership, BIO-key also began collaborating with Micro Devices and Trustonic.
Last year also saw BIO-key licensing its algorithm to sensor manufacturers like IDEX and NEXT Biometrics, whcih in turn also cintributed to the repoted revenue growth. The company notes that its biometric software gives customers the option to authenticate on device or in the cloud without sacrificing user convenience or security. This, combined with the versatility in sensor size that Sullivan noted, positions BIO-key’s technology as a prime choice for a very wide range of identity applications.
BIO-key chairman and CEO Mike DePasquale states, “Through our partnerships, we have developed a true end-to-end platform that provides highly accurate fingerprint matches on any device or in any network or cloud. We are also working to include software to detect ‘liveness’ reducing ‘spoofing’ that has affected many popular biometrically enabled devices. OEMs, VARs and platform providers can universally rely on BIO-key products and systems for their unique designs and businesses.”