Alright, buckle your seatbelts, because this one's good. Forget cheaper phones or Apple "phablets" for a minute, because the latest rumor bubbling up to the surface involves incorporating a fingerprint scanner into the next iPhone.
The new feature would undoubtedly be a more efficient way to secure your device than the current methods of typing in a four-number password (or drawing a shape on a grid, for that matter), but it could also pave the way for making easy, safe money transactions in stores.
The speculation comes courtesy of the Huffington Post, which is rounding up rumors now that KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo wrote a letter to investors specifying that a fingerprint sensor would be a big feature in Apple's next phone. Kuo's credentials are seemingly pristine; he has successfully predicted the features of most major Apple initiatives since the iPhone 4S.
Back in July 2012, Apple bought a company called AuthenTec for $356 million. Located in Florida, AuthenTec develops security technology based on fingerprint scanning. The acquisition was a pretty big deal, especially since the terms of the purchase kept the company from licensing its technology out to its customers - that meant companies like Samsung and Nokia were out of luck. Apple had the technology all to itself, fueling speculation that it was going to include the sensor in its future products.
While the most obvious use for the fingerprint scanner would be for security purposes, it actually holds the potential for more commercial features. If the next iPhone does allow users to make payments at the cash register by pressing the phone up to a special sensor, then fingerprint-sensing capabilities could make those transactions safer to perform.
As for how likely it is that the next Apple handset will actually do this, it's worth noting that many thought it would actually be available with the iPhone 5.
"If fingerprint scanning is not among this year's new features, it looks likely to appear in the next handset update," wrote the Guardian's Juliette Garside about one month before the iPhone 5's release.
"AuthenTec signed a development contract with Apple in July which runs until September 2013, just in time for next year's iPhone launch," she added.
