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World's 1st Mini Storage Device With Fingerprint Technology

A small Singapore firm has designed and developed what could be the world's first miniature storage device with fingerprint recognition technology. The device is roughly the size of a cigarette lighter, weighs only 22 grams and can store up to 512 MB of data, including text, graphics, programs, and movies.

Called BioSlimDisk, the device will debut from RiTronics Components Singapore Pte Ltd, which provides security electronics solutions. The device needs no additional cables or external power and can be plugged directly into an USB port in your PC, Mac or notebook. The data in the device is stored using technology as in Flash memory and is encrypted for additional security.

"The security feature allows only authorised users assess to the device's contents, while eliminating the need for users to remember multiple passwords," said RiTronics' managing director M W Heng. "By this year-end, we plan to sell 100,000 BioSlimDisks worldwide and gross up to US$25 million in revenues.'

The device took RiTronics about US$1 million and a team of five engineers working over six months to develop. The company said it has since filed three patents on the product.

The 128 MB version will debut next week at about US$250. Available later will be 32 MB, 64 MB, 256 MB and 512 MB versions. The device is manufactured by OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in Malaysia and China under licence from RiTronics.

Security concerns and the maturing of biometrics technologies will lead to the growing acceptance of biometric products. "After Sept 11, we've been getting a lot more requests on ways to secure data," Mr Heng said. "We've developed this device to address this security issue as well as offer easy portability."

RiTronics plans to incorporate its fingerprint technology into other media like CompactFlash cards - used mainly in digital cameras - and PCMCIA cards, which connect peripherals to notebook computers.

RiTronics' CTO and marketing director M T Seng said: "We believe there is a strong demand for in-built security features to guard against unauthorised access. We expect a widespread demand for such media."

The company will also sell its fingerprint technology to application providers to develop their own end devices. "One of our clients has incorporated our technology into safe deposit boxes. These offer fingerprint authentication as well," Mr Seng said. "We expect such secure safe deposit boxes to be commercially available in Q3 this year."

RiTronics started as a semicon distributor in 1985. It has since grown into a security electronics solutions provider with a regional workforce of 45 employees, including 30 in Singapore.