IBM and Consumer Direct Link, Inc. (CDL; Costa Mesa, CA) have co-developed the Paron MPC, a unique handheld PC which combines the functions of a PDA, Bluetooth wireless access, cellular telephone, and biometric fingerprint recognition, along with a security-oriented hardware/software architecture. . . .
IBM and Consumer Direct Link, Inc. (CDL; Costa Mesa, CA) have co-developed the Paron MPC, a unique handheld PC which combines the functions of a PDA, Bluetooth wireless access, cellular telephone, and biometric fingerprint recognition, along with a security-oriented hardware/software architecture. In particular, IBM and CDL claim that the Paron represents the world's first handheld wireless device with built-in biometric user authentication.

Although PDAs and other wireless devices are increasingly being used for corporate and personal applications, adoption of handheld computers for use in high-value transactions or for exchange of highly sensitive information has lagged, largely due to wireless data transmission security and user authentication concerns. To enable its use in security-oriented applications, the Paron includes various security functions, including hardware encryption which safeguards biometric user data as well as wireless transmissions. Additionally, CDL supports the device with customized software packages that target secure government and commercial applications.

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