Microsoft Patents a Windows Key Fingerprint Sensor

Over the past year, some smartphone manufacturers have started phasing out dedicated fingerprint readers in favor of in-display fingerprint sensors. Now a recently published patent suggests that Microsoft is looking into alternative sensor placements with its laptops.

According to the patent, Microsoft would embed a fingerprint sensor in the Windows key, thereby inserting its fingerprint reader directly into the standard keyboard. The potential feature is a sleeker way to integrate fingerprint recognition technology into a laptop, especially when measured against current options that place a separate fingerprint reader elsewhere on the device.

As with any patent, there’s no guarantee that Microsoft will follow through with its Windows key fingerprint sensor. However, fingerprint recognition technology is integral to the ongoing efforts to eliminate passwords, and is becoming an increasingly common feature on laptops and other mobile devices. For instance, Lenovo recently added a fingerprint reader to a ThinkPad designed for the healthcare industry.

Microsoft’s proposed scanner would complement the biometric authentication features in Windows Hello, which already supports fingerprint authentication on devices from computer manufacturers like Samsung, Acer, and Dell.

Source: Windows Central

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March 13, 2019 – by Eric Weiss