iPhone-Based FingerPrint Reader to be Tested by the FBI

Earlier this year we found out that Arizona police officers were undergoing significant training on smartphones and applications. Hackers uncovered the private information, which depicted a police department frantically trying to keep up with the times.

Now it looks like members of law enforcement are going to get a little more hands-on with the technology. Cult of Mac is reporting that mobileOne, an iPhone fingerprint-reading accessory, will be among devices that undergo trials by the FBI next year…

The mobileOne slips over an iPhone or iPod touch and turns the device into a full-blown biometric reader. Not only will it be able to capture high quality fingerprints, but using the device’s Wi-Fi, it will be able to quickly scan national databases for matches.

As you can imagine, time and portability mean everything to officers in the field. Being able to carry a device in your coat pocket that can scan and match fingerprints within minutes is a huge improvement over taking a suspect back to the station and doing it there.

We’ve talked a lot about the versatility of the iPad and the many industries it’s changed, but the iPhone is also a chameleon. Thanks to its accessory port, it can do anything from accepting payments, to scanning barcodes, to now reading and matching fingerprints.