These days, an increasing number of devices are adopting fingerprint readers as a far more secure alternative to a simple password, and some notebooks have these built-in – although if your existing laptop doesn't have a fingerprint scanner, you can always add one courtesy of a new dongle from Synaptics.
Synaptics USB fingerprint dongle couldn't be any easier to use – you just plug it into a free USB port, go through a few simple setup steps, and that's it.
It's a compact little dongle so it can simply sit in your notebook as a permanent fixture (of course, you lose a USB port because of it), and you can then login to your machine with a touch of your finger via Windows Hello (or indeed Microsoft Passport) which is incorporated with Windows 10.
The price is right
Synaptics says that its dongle will be cheaply priced, so security won't cost you an arm or a leg (maybe just a fingertip), and it will be offering the gadget to PC vendors who could potentially bundle it with their machines.
With laptop and PC upgrade cycles becoming longer, as components like processors and graphics cards drift towards obsolescence at a far slower pace, it could be a long time before some of us buy a new notebook which might have an integrated fingerprint reader.
At least with this little gadget, you can easily add the tech to your existing machine. However, you'll have to wait a little while yet, as this USB dongle isn't expected to be available until the start of next year.
Via: Slashgear
- Also check out: Behavioral biometrics – the future of security
