Fujitsu Launches First Laptop With Contactless Palm Vein Authentication

Fujitsu has announced the first ever mobile workstation that scans the unique pattern of the blood veins in the palm of the hand for user authentication.

The new Celsius H730 features proprietary PalmSecure technology, along with a fourth generation Intel Core i7 vPro processor and a second generation NVIDIA Kepler GPU.

Built in a compact form factor with security and high performance in mind, the device is aimed at a wide range of customers from engineers to financial sector professionals. It will go on sale in Europe by Christmas, with prices starting at £1330.

Secure against cats

Fujitsu is a pioneer of the palm vein authentication method, with several sensors already on the market. However, the Celsius H730 is the first laptop to feature this innovative, and presumably fairly expensive, contactless biometrics technology.

“Vein authentication” uses image recognition and optical technology to scan the normally invisible vein pattern of the palm, back of the hand and fingers. It works by radiating the hand with near-infrared rays. The deoxidised haemoglobin in the palm veins absorbs these rays, thereby reducing the reflection rate and causing them to appear as a black pattern. This vein pattern is then verified against a pre-registered pattern to authenticate the individual.

This idea has been around for a while, but only Fujitsu currently offers contactless vein authentication that captures the image as soon as the user hovers their palm over the device. The company claims an incredibly low false acceptance rate – just 0.00008 percent, and says such authentication is almost impossible to forge, since the data is held inside the body.

The stand-alone palm vein scanners have already been adopted by several Japanese banks and government organisations. The technology has even been built into a computer mouse.

Besides the new authentication method, the Celsius H730 features a 15-inch display, one of the latest generation Intel Core i7 vPro chips clocked up to 3.8 GHz, up to 32 GB of memory, a choice of NVIDIA Quadro video cards and either an SSD or a hybrid drive.

The mobile workstation includes three USB 3.0 port, and a spill-resistant keyboard. The storage is protected from drops by something called the ShockSensor, and the modular bay presents an option to install a second hard drive or a second battery.

In terms of connectivity, the Celsius H730 features integrated WLAN, 3G and Bluetooth, with 4G available as an option.

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