Japanese technology company develops facial-recognition software for cell phones

• Unless users develop a taste for models that are veritable Swiss knives of cell phones, face recognition may have to compete against other features -- such as music players, video players, radios, TVs and Bluetooth.
• TechExcel CRM sets the standard for today's high-end customer relationship management solution: complete functionality, total process customization, affordable, easy to use, and easy to deploy.
• Download a free, fully functional 30-day trial now.
• The Japanese technology company Omron is ready to launch a feature that equips a mobile device to accurately identify its user.
• The face recognition software uses a cell phone's built-in camera.
• Omron plans to demonstrate the technology at the Security Show 2005, which begins March 2nd in Tokyo.
• The recognition software -- known as the "OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor" -- requires no additional hardware, and the company claims it is 99 percent accurate.
• The technology, which can run on such operating systems as Symbian, BREW, embedded Linux, and ITRON, is supposedly so good it verifies a cell phone owner in less than a second -- even when the angle of the camera does not optimally capture the user's face.
• "It's almost impossible to link value-added features to sales," said Yankee Group analyst John Jackson.
• "What we've found in our research is that most people buy their cell phones based on price," he told NewsFactor.
• Jackson says 34 percent of mobile phone users in North America did not pay for their devices.
• And 85 percent of people with handsets paid less than $100.
• Consumers' lukewarm response to camera phones may have more to do with an aversion to using and paying for wireless network services in order to manage photo files.