Biometrics

Datastrip's award-winning card reader wins GAO approval
Handheld identity verification terminals certified as FIPS-201 compliant; system is the first single fingerprint device to be so honored; mobile system designed to create ad-hoc checkpoints beyond hardwired areas
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REAL-ID roll-out to be delayed
DHS offers states a reprieve by reinterpreting May 2008 deadline; states now expected to begin program at that date, but waivers will be given; late 2009 the new start date
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DHS abandons RFID for US-VISIT exit tracking
Tests at land border crossings found the technology unreliable; RFID tags were embedded in government forms; Smart Card Alliance applauds
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State legislators offer REAL-ID Web site
Intended to drum up opposition to the bill, site includes a searchable database of action at the state level, links to critical studies, an archive of related news stories, and a countdown clock
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Duke students invent "wisdom door"
System uses nine sensors to measure height, weight, and girth; passing through the door can activate any number of responses, including home entertainment preferences; tandem use with RFID envisioned
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L-1 reports strong quarterly earnings
Fourth quarter revenue increases $61 million due to acquisition spree; company reports $164 million annual earnings; strong passport market provides an extra boost
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L-1 wins $2.5 million contract with Texas Dept. of Public Safety
Company to install 100 booking stations using Identix technology; deal a perfect example of L-1’s growth through acquisition strategy
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Fujitsu rolls out PalmSecure vein identification at L.A. hospitals
Hospitals continue to be a lucrative market for biometric technologies; vein-based systems ideal due to hygenic considerations; Softex provides the software under a previously announced agreement
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Munich airport deploys license plate recognition system
GeoVision wins the conract to improve the airport’s parking control system; license plates are scanned on entrance and exit, thereby obviating the need for tickets and cutting down on personnel; frequent fliers rejoice
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SAFE ID closes €10 million second round of financing
Passport personalization company looks to expand its ePassport business, move into other industries; Atlas Ventures and Wellington Partners, as well as the National Innovation Fund of Kazakhstan, put up the cash; deal follows CCR Logistics Systems’s equity purchase
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BIO-Key selected for Oklahoma HMO access control
Company teams up with NextGenID to update identification systems at fifteen medical facilities; deal follows failure to aquire ComnetiX; a good year behind it, BIO-Key is poised for 2007
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Northrop Grumman takes on the biometrics market
With worldwide government spending set to reach $2 billion, it is little wonder that Northrop wants a taste; company opened the Center for Smart Study Solutions in 2003, but its greatest successes have come from a $357 million USCIS award to provide biometric services in support of U.S. citizenship applications and green card renewals
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"Whole face" software to improve composite sketches of criminals
Iowa State researchers show that allowing the witness to dictate the drawing rarely leads to success, even when using software; new approach presents witnesses with a random selection of faces; through process of elimination, a more accurate rendering is created
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Sagem Défense Sécurité to manage Bahrain's biometric immigration system
French company will fingerprint foreign workers upon arrival; residency and work permit to be contained within a single card; Middle Eastern biometrics market booms as countries look for ways to manage borders and keep track of foreign laborers
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Bioscrypt moves U.S. operations to Canada
The biometrics market is growing, but this does not mean that cost-cutting and belt-tightening measures do not get applied, and Bioscrypt — a company describing itself as providing door-to-desktop solutions — is going through such belt-tightening now
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