There's been a long-time debate about when biometrics applications for security would explode. I think we've hit that tipping point. Just this morning, I was referred to a post on Apple Insider (a site dedicate to news and info about Apple Computers) which indicates that Apple may be considering implementing a biometric security process into its popular iPhone device.
From the article, it sounds like the company wants to keep the biometric security element from being overt, and there might even be a possibility of re-purposing an existing sensor (like the CMOS photo sensor) to be used for the biometric capture, or of "hiding" the sensor in the device. The ideas range from recognizing the shape of someone's ear, to voice recognition and even a far-flung idea of DNA recognition (I guess you want to cover all of the potential ideas when you do a patent filing!).
There's no doubt that as the iPhone has gone from being a trendy consumer devices into being adopted strongly by the business community that its security growth has to match that steady rise in sales numbers.
-Geoff
