14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Hello is clearly a pretty important feature for those who move to Windows 10 and aim for superior security, but unfortunately, it requires hardware that on some computers does not exist.
And yet, manufacturers are now working on accessories that can make Windows Hello a feature supported on all computers, and Synaptics is one of the companies that jumped on the bandwagon with an ultra-small USB module that includes a fingerprint reader.
Although the dimensions of the USB module are not available right now, you can easily see in these photos that it’s extremely small, and it doesn’t take too much space on your PC or laptop.
“Following a simple user enrollment procedure, secure authentication is completed with a single touch of a finger, enabling swift PC access and the full use of Windows Hello and Microsoft Passport. Synaptics Natural ID solutions are FIDO Certified (Fast IDentity Online), providing broad compliance with an industry-wide ecosystem of products,” Synaptics explains.
With Windows Hello, users can thus configure fingerprint authentication and make their devices more secure, thus restricting access to the desktop only to users who are enrolled in the operating system.
In production in Q4 2016
Synaptics hasn’t unveiled details regarding the pricing and availability of the new device, but it has mentioned in a statement that it’s supposed to enter production in the fourth quarter of this year. It’s already on display at Computex if you want to give it a try before the public launch.
“Our new USB fingerprint reader expands our line-up of PC peripherals, enabling our customers to offer consumers myriad options for adding fingerprint sensing to existing notebook and desktop PCs,” said Godfrey Cheng, Vice President of Marketing, Human Interface Systems Division (HISD) Synaptics. “This low cost turnkey solution can easily be bundled or sold separately.”
The device is specifically designed to work with Windows 10 and Windows Hello, and Synaptics expects demand for such devices to increase in the coming months as more users move to the new OS.
