Next nets ‘significant’ design-win with new fingerprint-enabled keyboard

Next Biometrics has secured a “significant” new design-win with an unspecified Asian customer. The customer’s end-user product is a medical keyboard for industrial use, with Next supplying the fingerprint biometric modules and touchpads for the keyboard. It marks Next’s first design-win for the touchpad segment.

“The estimated order value for this design-win is in excess of NOK three million with planned delivery during 2025,” said Joshua Chiu, senior vice president and head of sales Southeast Asia at Next.

“Following the launch of this touchpad on keyboard, we are also working with this Asian customer on three additional touchpad projects, which are expected to be in the market in Q2 2025,” he continued. The product is being demonstrated at CES 2025.

In addition, Next delivered a NOK 8 million ($702,424) order before 2024’s end. The order came via one of Next’s Chinese distribution partners and was part of a previously communicated design-win that targeted the growing government ID market in Africa. Next said the demand for its Active Thermal fingerprint biometric sensor has increased outside of China, particularly in the global government ID sector.

Around the same time, Next signed a new multi-year MoU with an Indian OEM. The strategic agreement is valued at approximately NOK 18m ($1.58m), the company claims, with the parties targeting the law enforcement and banking industries in Europe and South Africa, as well as the growing MOSIP market in Asia and Africa.

The MoU states that the Indian OEM will design and manufacture an authentication device featuring Next’s FAP30 sensor, which will be compatible with both Windows and Android devices. The authentication device will be battery driven and targets the “continuous need” for secure biometric authentication in the law enforcement and banking industries.

“South Africa is the leader on the African continent and as such [is] a significant and powerful trend setter,” said Digvijay Singh Kanwar, senior vice president and head of sales for India, U.S., EU and Africa at Next. “Due to Africa’s unique climate, sensor solutions for this market must be resistant to weather conditions and durable.”

He continued: “Our new FAP30 fingerprint sensor is a premium biometric security product, which not only meet all the above-mentioned demands, but it is also easy to integrate and consumes less battery than competing optical solutions.”

Kanwar said the FAP30 will be ready for mass production in the latter half of this year, with improved samples expected to ship to the Indian OEM in the first half. As engineering samples have been achieved, Marcus Lauren, chief product officer at Next, commented that the market demand has been stronger than expected, with the size of the sensor being the right fit for all relevant UN projects based in Africa.

“One of the strongest features of the FAP30 is its outstanding picture quality and built-in anti-spoofing, which provides unmatched capability to detect liveness in the finger,” Lauren said.

“The larger size is naturally also an important feature that ensures a more complete picture of the fingerprint.”

Earlier last month, one of Next’s Indian partners successfully completed a 5000 FRR (False Rejection Rate) test, securing an important milestone in the Aadhaar UIDAI L1 approval process. The 5000 FRR is an industry standard that measures and certifies on-field performance of biometric systems. It is a mandatory step for companies aiming to become L1 certified for their devices and be compliant within India’s Aadhaar. Next Biometrics provided its FAP20, one of its Active Thermal fingerprint biometric sensors, to the Indian partner.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Next Biometrics  |  research and development