A Step Closer to iWallet: Apple Buys Fingerprint Sensor Maker AuthenTec
Apple prepares something big for its users, as big as its latest investment. Apple Inc. will buy AuthenTec Inc. in a deal that value about $356, as AuthenTec unveiled in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Melbourne, Florida-based company, AuthenTec produces chips for fingerprint recognition and NFC (near-field communication), chips for mobile phones and security software. Its products are licensed to companies such as Samsung Electronics, Lenovo Group, Fujitsu and Dell.
The fact that Apple just received the patent for a Point-of Purchase System with an NFC interface, camera, biometric sensor, and scanner and that it has agreed to buy a company that makes chips for NFC is no coincidence. The Cupertino Company’s plans for iWallet are getting serious.
Apple received the patent for iWallet few months ago and with the new patent for an NFC interface, we can clearly state that mobile payments are on their way to our iPhones. Yet, I wander how long the road will be.
Source: Reuters, Patently Apple
Apple is likely to be the top mobile processor maker by end of the year 
Apple wins patent for iWallet 
One Step Closer to Wednesday Mountain Lion Release – Upgrade Facts