Fujitsu Adds Mobile Phone With Fingerprint SensorFujitsu Adds Mobile Phone With Fingerprint Sensor

Mobile phone makers and their partners are showcasing some of the most innovative mobile devices at this week's Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona. One of them is the FOMA F905i, a new Fujitsu mobile phone with integrated fingerprint sensor security for safeguarding personal information and mobile commerce transactions.

The FOMA F905i comes with a fingerprint sensor provided by AuthenTec. It resides outside the mobile phone on the back panel, enabling users to authenticate themselves with a finger swipe. The sensor uses AuthenTec's TruePrint technology, which reads below the surface of the skin to the live layer where the "true" fingerprint is located, according to AuthenTec.

The main purpose of the sensor is to protect personal and corporate information on mobile devices if they are lost or stolen and to secure transactions related to mobile commerce and online banking, where users can log in to mobile banking sites without Personal Identification Numbers or passwords.

The phone comes with international roaming capabilities and supports both 3G and GSM cellular networks.

Fujitsu already offers 14 mobile phone models with AuthenTec fingerprint sensors and plans to launch additional phones with the capability. In Japan, for example, store and restaurant patrons use sensors on their phones to unlock mobile payment applications and make purchases using the phone by tapping it on a payment terminal.

"Many more AuthenTec-enabled models will be introduced in the future, offering peace of mind to our subscribers through convenient fingerprint security which protects the phone, its stored information, and its mobile payment capabilities," said Hideyuki Saso, president of Fujitsu's Mobile Phone Group, in a statement.

The FOMA F905i is available through NTT DoCoMo in Japan, but the phone can be used globally, including in the United States.