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Biometric vendors announce results
BUSINESSWATCH
company news • IDEX ASA has been granted a US patent which covers measuring structures in a fingerprint using a one-dimensional array. The patent, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Measuring Structures in a Fingerprint”, is expected to give the company a stronger position in the sweep sensor marketplace. The scanner is based on a linear sensor array and the fingerprint is imaged by scanning it past a sensor array, avoiding latent fingerprints being left by previous users. • BioPassword has announced a partnership with Tech Data Corporation to distribute the company’s multifactor authentication solution based on the behavioral biometric of keystroke dynamics. This alliance is expected to establish BioPassword’s two-tier channel model and enable VARs to quickly fulfill growing product demand. In addition, Tech Data will provide marketing opportunities for BioPassword to expand its recruitment of VARs nationwide. BioPassword products include BioPassword Internet Edition for multifactor authentication in web-based environments and BioPassword Enterprise Edition for multi-factor authentication in Active Directory networks and Citrix Presentation Server environments. • Precise Biometrics has announced its interim report for January–September 2006. The group’s net sales for the interim period totalled SEK 36.3 million (US$5.09 million) and for the third quarter SEK 7.4 million. Liquid capital at the close of the interim period was SEK 14.3 million. The board has nominated Thomas Marschall as the new President and CEO of the company replacing Christer Bergman, effective 1 November.
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company news
Saflink restructuring cuts company in half A drastic restructuring exercise at biometric and smart card middleware vendor Saflink Corporation will see its staff numbers cut in half in a bid to reduce operating expenses and improve operational focus. The majority of the company’s remaining workforce will now be dedicated to Saflink’s Registered Traveler initiative. In addition, the management said it plans to focus its business development resources on the sale of its software and hardware authentication products through existing and new distribution partners. Saflink management says it has garnered strong relationships with companies that have mature, national product distribution infrastructure, and that Saflink’s sales activities will be more cost effective through indirect channels. In an earlier announcement, Saflink announced several changes in its executive leadership. Steve Oyer, a member of Saflink’s board of directors and chairman of its audit committee, was named interim chief executive officer, while Glenn Argenbright, Saflink’s current president and CEO, was named chairman of the board and president and general manager of Registered Traveler Solutions, a division within Saflink that is focused exclusively on the national Registered Traveler (RT) program initiative.
partnership
ePassport partnership announced Siemens Biometrics Centre and Cognitec Systems, a provider of face recognition technology and systems, have announced details of a partnership in the areas of border control and ePassport solutions. The partnership covers the integration of Cognitec’s face recognition software into Siemens’ multi-biometric solutions designed for the issuance of biometric passports as well as solutions for biometric support of border control. Siemens has already successfully delivered a complete system for capturing and verifying biometric data of Swiss citizens to the Government of Switzerland. This system is based on the Siemens Homeland Security Suite which offers software for reading and checking of biometric travel documents, and for capturing and verifying of facial images and fingerprints. Cognitec’s software is used for live capture of facial images and checking their quality
against the recently published ISO and ICAO standard, and to compare images of the passport holder taken by a live camera with the digital photograph stored in the ePassport.
financial results
Biometric vendors announce results Bioscrypt and L-1 Identity Solutions have reported financial results for their third quarters ended 30 September 2006. Bioscrypt’s revenue for the nine months were US$12.6 million, up by 13% from the US$11.1 million reported during the same period of the previous year. Net losses in the nine-month period were US$4.5 million or US$0.08 per share, compared to US$4.2 million or US$0.07 per share in the same year-earlier period. Bioscrypt’s third quarter revenue of US$3.8 million narrowed by 8% from the US$4.1 million reported during the same period of the previous year, but Robert Williams, president and CEO of Bioscrypt commented: “The revenue shortfall we experienced in Q3 has not detracted from our belief in the future of biometrics and in particular our VeriSoft offering. We are confident that our software solution that supports multiple authentication technologies including biometrics will be in demand from organizations that are looking to consolidate their physical and logical identity infrastructure.” L-1 Identity Solutions consists of, among other things, the historic operations of Viisage Technology and Identix which merged on August 29, 2006. Revenue for the third quarter of 2006 was $39.8 million compared to $14.3 million in the third quarter of 2005, an increase of $25.5 million. Of the increase, $20.8 million relates to acquired businesses including Integrated Biometrics Technology (IBT), SecuriMetrics, Iridian Technologies, and Identix, while US$4.7 million (or approximately 33 percent) represents organic growth primarily from increased volume of US passports and document authentication products, the company claims. The company reported a third quarter net loss of US$29.3 million, or US$0.60 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of US$2.1 million in the third quarter of 2005. Robert V. LaPenta, chairman, president and CEO of L-1 Identity Solutions, said: “L-1 realized US$20 million in synergies from the merger of Viisage and Identix.” Revenue for the first nine months of 2006 was US$88.1 million compared to US$51.3 million for the same period in the prior year, an increase of US$36.8 million. Of this US$2.7 million represented organic growth. Biometric Technology Today • October 2006
company news • IDEX ASA has been granted a US patent which covers measuring structures in a fingerprint using a one-dimensional array. The patent, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Measuring Structures in a Fingerprint”, is expected to give the company a stronger position in the sweep sensor marketplace. The scanner is based on a linear sensor array and the fingerprint is imaged by scanning it past a sensor array, avoiding latent fingerprints being left by previous users. • BioPassword has announced a partnership with Tech Data Corporation to distribute the company’s multifactor authentication solution based on the behavioral biometric of keystroke dynamics. This alliance is expected to establish BioPassword’s two-tier channel model and enable VARs to quickly fulfill growing product demand. In addition, Tech Data will provide marketing opportunities for BioPassword to expand its recruitment of VARs nationwide. BioPassword products include BioPassword Internet Edition for multifactor authentication in web-based environments and BioPassword Enterprise Edition for multi-factor authentication in Active Directory networks and Citrix Presentation Server environments. • Precise Biometrics has announced its interim report for January–September 2006. The group’s net sales for the interim period totalled SEK 36.3 million (US$5.09 million) and for the third quarter SEK 7.4 million. Liquid capital at the close of the interim period was SEK 14.3 million. The board has nominated Thomas Marschall as the new President and CEO of the company replacing Christer Bergman, effective 1 November.
6
company news
Saflink restructuring cuts company in half A drastic restructuring exercise at biometric and smart card middleware vendor Saflink Corporation will see its staff numbers cut in half in a bid to reduce operating expenses and improve operational focus. The majority of the company’s remaining workforce will now be dedicated to Saflink’s Registered Traveler initiative. In addition, the management said it plans to focus its business development resources on the sale of its software and hardware authentication products through existing and new distribution partners. Saflink management says it has garnered strong relationships with companies that have mature, national product distribution infrastructure, and that Saflink’s sales activities will be more cost effective through indirect channels. In an earlier announcement, Saflink announced several changes in its executive leadership. Steve Oyer, a member of Saflink’s board of directors and chairman of its audit committee, was named interim chief executive officer, while Glenn Argenbright, Saflink’s current president and CEO, was named chairman of the board and president and general manager of Registered Traveler Solutions, a division within Saflink that is focused exclusively on the national Registered Traveler (RT) program initiative.
partnership
ePassport partnership announced Siemens Biometrics Centre and Cognitec Systems, a provider of face recognition technology and systems, have announced details of a partnership in the areas of border control and ePassport solutions. The partnership covers the integration of Cognitec’s face recognition software into Siemens’ multi-biometric solutions designed for the issuance of biometric passports as well as solutions for biometric support of border control. Siemens has already successfully delivered a complete system for capturing and verifying biometric data of Swiss citizens to the Government of Switzerland. This system is based on the Siemens Homeland Security Suite which offers software for reading and checking of biometric travel documents, and for capturing and verifying of facial images and fingerprints. Cognitec’s software is used for live capture of facial images and checking their quality
against the recently published ISO and ICAO standard, and to compare images of the passport holder taken by a live camera with the digital photograph stored in the ePassport.
financial results
Biometric vendors announce results Bioscrypt and L-1 Identity Solutions have reported financial results for their third quarters ended 30 September 2006. Bioscrypt’s revenue for the nine months were US$12.6 million, up by 13% from the US$11.1 million reported during the same period of the previous year. Net losses in the nine-month period were US$4.5 million or US$0.08 per share, compared to US$4.2 million or US$0.07 per share in the same year-earlier period. Bioscrypt’s third quarter revenue of US$3.8 million narrowed by 8% from the US$4.1 million reported during the same period of the previous year, but Robert Williams, president and CEO of Bioscrypt commented: “The revenue shortfall we experienced in Q3 has not detracted from our belief in the future of biometrics and in particular our VeriSoft offering. We are confident that our software solution that supports multiple authentication technologies including biometrics will be in demand from organizations that are looking to consolidate their physical and logical identity infrastructure.” L-1 Identity Solutions consists of, among other things, the historic operations of Viisage Technology and Identix which merged on August 29, 2006. Revenue for the third quarter of 2006 was $39.8 million compared to $14.3 million in the third quarter of 2005, an increase of $25.5 million. Of the increase, $20.8 million relates to acquired businesses including Integrated Biometrics Technology (IBT), SecuriMetrics, Iridian Technologies, and Identix, while US$4.7 million (or approximately 33 percent) represents organic growth primarily from increased volume of US passports and document authentication products, the company claims. The company reported a third quarter net loss of US$29.3 million, or US$0.60 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of US$2.1 million in the third quarter of 2005. Robert V. LaPenta, chairman, president and CEO of L-1 Identity Solutions, said: “L-1 realized US$20 million in synergies from the merger of Viisage and Identix.” Revenue for the first nine months of 2006 was US$88.1 million compared to US$51.3 million for the same period in the prior year, an increase of US$36.8 million. Of this US$2.7 million represented organic growth. Biometric Technology Today • October 2006