HID Global and Iris ID Systems, formerly LG Electronics, Iris Technology Division have announced that the IrisAccess platform iCAM7000 can be used with select Near Field Communications -enabled BlackBerry 7 smartphones.  The BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 smartphones activated with HID Global’s iCLASS digital credentials will be compatible with the installed base of iCLASS readers that are embedded in the iCAM 7000 series for applications ranging from physical access systems in buildings to applications that track time and attendance, and other identity dependent applications.

The two companies say using a NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone, the iris templates of a user are securely stored to an iCLASS digital credential on the phone.  That credential can then be presented for authentication by holding the NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone in front of an iCAM7000 series iris camera, just like users do today with a physical iCLASS smart card.

Charles Koo, president and CEO of Iris ID Systems, says: “As a long time HID Connect Premier Partner, we are excited to be part of this new implementation which allows iris technology to be coupled with a NFC-enabled smartphone.  This is a key milestone for our identification technology; iris recognition is a perfect solution for providing strong authentication for enterprise security.  As we did with iCLASS credentials some years ago, we are pleased to be first in bringing iris recognition biometrics to a host of secure identity dependent access control applications with NFC-enabled smartphones.”

“This is an important milestone in the deployment of mobile access and identity solutions using NFC technology on smartphones,” says Dr Tam Hulusi, senior vice president of Strategic Innovation, HID Global. “NFC-enabled smartphones represent a complementary new platform that we believe will expand the access control market and our card services business while improving user security and convenience.”

Pilot programmes using BlackBerry smartphones activated with iCLASS digital credentials and iris identification are planned for later this year. HID Global says it expects that its embedded iCLASS technology will be generally available for the BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 and BlackBerry Curve 9350/9360 smartphones later this year.