On Hit NPR Show Across USA, NEXT Biometrics CEO Projects Fingerprint Sensor Use in Smart Cards & Phones, PCs, Access Control, IoT & More


NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(Marketwired - Mar 8, 2016) - On the "Here & Now" show, National Public Radio's syndicated hit news and talk show, global fingerprint sensor expert Tore Etholm-Idsoe, CEO of NEXT Biometrics, told millions of listeners across American about the growing use of fingerprint technology in daily life, including Smart Cards, PCs, tablets, access control for homes and businesses, wider use in Smart Phones and more devices in the Internet of Things (IoT).

At NEXT Biometrics, the world's leading provider of lowest-cost high-quality fingerprint sensors, the CEO said, "We target markets for our advanced fingerprint sensors in the mass market one-to-one context, for which you need to be able to process fingerprint identification and authentication in typically less than one second." NEXT, based on Oslo, Norway is publicly traded on the Oslo Bors (OAX: NEXT). 

In the NPR interview with Jeremy Hobson, acclaimed host and news anchor of the popular nationwide radio show, Etholm-Idsoe said, "Fingerprint sensors will now start appearing in a lot of different contexts. Think of it, every day we authenticate ourselves tens of times or more, even up to hundreds of times in different contexts, as we increasingly use fingerprint technology to enter smart phones or tablets or even our homes and more."

Promoting the appearance, NPR said, "Fingerprint recognition technology is replacing passwords in smartphones, key fobs and many other consumer products. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Tore Etholm-Idsoe, CEO of Next Biometrics, about the future of his industry." The interview is posted at: http://tinyurl.com/jbckenz.

Hobson asked Etholm-Idsoe to detail how NEXT Biometrics customers use fingerprint recognition technology. The NEXT executive said, "Rather than having to type in a password, fingerprint technology will be used in a lot of different contexts such as access control for homes and businesses, for small devices that are entering the market now at an increased pace, as well as in keyfobs and many more applications."

He added, "The fingerprint sensor market was slow until 2013 when Apple put a fingerprint sensor on its iPhone and that changed the dynamic of the market considerably. Now you have fingerprint sensors in almost all smartphones."

Asked about security, the CEO said, "Fingerprint sensors significantly raise the bar for criminals who can often break into pin codes and passwords. In fact, the most common password in the world is 'Password.'" He added. "It's not easy to steal a fingerprint and even creating a fake finger requires placing a finger in a mold and a typical victim is not likely to be willing to cooperate. If you suspect someone has stolen your index fingerprint, just change your designated print to another finger, as most people have nine backups."

"Here & Now" is produced by NPR's Boston flagship affiliate WBUR. The show is broadcast weekdays by more than 500 NPR stations in every state, city and region of America. Hobson interviewed the NEXT CEO from his studio in Boston to a studio in New York, where the Etholm-Idsoe was visiting on business before returning to NEXT headquarters in Oslo, Norway.

NEXT CEO Etholm-Idsoe told NPR, "There are a lot of projects happening now to expand fingerprint technology in tons of devices and applications." NEXT has focused its resources on quality dependent market segments that require high levels of security and convenience coupled with the ability to serve close to 100% of a given population. These markets include Smart Cards, NEXT-Enabled markets, traditional markets, high-end smartphones and quality notebooks. NEXT technology is well suited for these markets.

NEXT is on the cutting edge of fingerprint authentication in the potentially huge Smart Card segment. Based on its patented technology, as previously reported by the company, NEXT's durable highly-reliable fingerprint sensors are ultra-thin and flexible for use in expected large smart card market and with its low price leadership, NEXT is also especially well positioned for the growing use in Internet of Things (IoT) market sectors in years ahead.

ABOUT NEXT BIOMETRICS:

Enabled by its patented Active Thermal Principle, NEXT offers high quality area fingerprint sensors at a fraction of the prices of comparable competitors. A wide range of NEXT product formats including Smartphones, Tablets, PC's, Doors, Time registration systems, Payment terminals, Flashdrives, USB-tokens, Key fobs and many more are targeted.

NEXT Biometrics Group ASA, online at www.NEXTbiometrics.com, is a publicly-listed company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with sales, support and development subsidiaries in Seattle, Silicon Valley, Prague, Taipei and Shanghai. Media and Investor contacts for NEXT Biometrics: Tore Etholm-Idsøe, CEO, Tore.Idsoe@NEXTbiometrics.com and Knut Stalen, CFO, Knut.Stalen@ NEXTbiometrics.com.

Contact Information:

Contact:
Brian Dobson
DobsonPR.com

203-613-2222

NEXT Biometrics CEO Tore Etholm-Idsoe on National Public Radio's hit show "Here & Now" told millions of listeners across American about the growing use of fingerprint technology in daily life. NEXT is the world's leading provider of low-cost high-quality fingerprint sensors. Tore Etholm-Idsoe, CEO of NEXT Biometrics, holding a NEXT fingerprint sensor.  NEXT is leader in low-cost high-quality fingerprint sensors.