TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: New Gadget Makes Theft of Mobile Phones Harder

New Gadget Makes Theft of Mobile Phones Harder

Reuters News Wire (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Thu, 13 Oct 2005 13:52:34 -0500

Finnish scientists have invented a device to make it harder to steal
mobile phones and laptops by enabling them to detect changes in their
owner's walking style and then freeze to prevent unauthorized use.

The VTT Technical Research Center of Finland said the device, which is
has patented but has yet to sell, could prevent millions of portable
appliances being stolen every year.

"A device is equipped with sensors that measure certain characteristics
of the user's gait. When the device is used for the first time, these
measurements are saved in its memory," VTT said in a statement.

The gadget would monitor the user's walking style and check it against
the saved information. If the values differ, the user would have to
enter a password.

"Compared with passwords and traditional bio-identification, the new
method is simple: confirmation of identity takes place as a background
process without any need for user's intervention," the researchers
said.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: Marcus Jervis: "Seattle's Free Wi-Fi Hits Some Snags"
Go to Previous message: Consumer Affairs Report: "Dialing For Dollars? SBC Leads the Way in Political Pump Priming"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page