Be ready for Aadhaar-enabled smartphones

 

InFocus, a US-based mobile handset maker, is to launch a smartphone that will support Aadhaar authentication by using the iris scanner that this device will have. 

 

To be made available in 2017 in India and will be priced at ₹12,000. 

 

This company has already received STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification) given by the government of India that authenticates usage of Iris-recognition in devices, that is used for linking biometric authentication under Aadhaar project. 

 

InFocus India Country Head, Sachin Thapar, said, "InFocus smartphone features IriTech's superior iris image quality assessment and on-board K7 generation algorithm to provide good quality images and avoid false positives while maximising true positive identification rates."

 

This smartphone having embedded algorithm will be able to complete image capture as well as K7 image generation within 2 seconds and also, it can capture iris image under different environmental conditions, such as direct sunlight. 

 

"Moreover, the biometric data from the InFocus device gets encrypted by a UIDAI key at the chip level in device, making it impossible for anyone but the Aadhaar server to see the information. Such encryption prevents information leakage of all kinds," Thapar added.

 

The company sees great potential in integrating this iris recognition technology in widely used devices like smartphones. 

 

The new smartphone "M425 will be made available in the next 2-3 months, we will bring more devices with this technology as we have received the certification," he added.

 

At present, only Samsung is the smartphone maker that embedded Delta ID's ActiveIRIS technology in its device named, Galaxy Tab Iris.

 

What will Aadhaar enabled smartphone will do for you?

 

Smartphone having Aadhaar authentication will allow users to authenticate their Aadhaar biometrics on their device to avail different government schemes, services as well as subsidies. 

As former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) puts it as, "The InFocus Aadhaar-enabled iris smartphone is a great example of the innovation possible on the Aadhaar platform. The phone is timely as it can be used for applications like opening instant bank accounts with eKYC and as a cashless microATM for merchant payments. This will accelerate JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) implementation." 

 

The new smartphone can be used as secure and reliable biometric solution for various important activities like banking, E-PDS (Electronic Public Distribution System), MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Act) payments, different E-governance services including taxation, passport, education and healthcare.

 

InFocus M425 will be 4G-VoLTE enabled phone to be powered by 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory which can be expanded up to 64GB. This dual SIM phone will have 4.5 inch display and 2.300mAh battery.