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Apple Hiring Software Engineer for AuthenTec Fingerprint Sensor Team in Florida

Monday April 8, 2013 9:56 am PDT by Eric Slivka

Apple yesterday posted a new job listing (via AppleInsider) looking for a software engineer to join its team of fingerprint sensor engineers from AuthenTec, which was acquired last year for $356 million.

Apple refers to the job location as its "Melbourne Design Center" located in Melbourne, Florida, which is where AuthenTec was based, and is the only Melbourne-based position currently listed on Apple's job site. The position requires the ability to write "low-level code to configure and control hardware" and experience with firmware-hardware interaction.

authentec_logo

Responsibilities of the position include work on the "LabTool" software used to evaluate the team's chip work, as well as failure analysis software, control firmware for the team's chips, and support for the team's design verification group.

LabTool – Develop, maintain, update and optimize the “LabTool” software that is used for lab evaluation and characterization of the Melbourne Design Center sensor ICs. This includes adding new features as specified by the analog and digital design engineers. Updating the tool to work with new sensors. Automating lab test and characterization. Provide support and debug capability to all groups within Apple that use the tool.

AuthenTec late last year sold off its embedded security group following the acquisition by Apple, leaving a core of fingerprint sensing and identity management groups in place to drive Apple's work in those fields. AuthenTec is also said to be cutting off non-Apple customers of its fingerprint sensor technology, leaving Apple with exclusive use of the technology and its associated intellectual property.

Apple has been rumored to be including fingerprint sensing technology in the iPhone 5S later this year, but there has not yet been any concrete evidence of such an addition.

Top Rated Comments

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jonAppleSeed

80 months ago

Guess no fingerprint scanner in the iPhone 5s?
Wont be enough time to implement this I would imagine.

Rating: 10 Votes

Radio

80 months ago

Oh god we can see the headlines now

"iPhone 5S phones failing to unlock due to finger print sensor issues"

Steve jobs "you're touching it wrong."

Rating: 6 Votes

nepalisherpa

80 months ago

I would love the ability to unlock my phone without a passcode. Plus, imagine when there is no more "Did you change your passcode again? What is it?" from your spouse again. :D They will be SOL when you are not near the phone. :D

Rating: 3 Votes

calaverasgrande

80 months ago

The only thing I can say for sure about every authentec enabled laptop I have ever seen is that nobody uses the fingerprint authentication, and a lot of users are actually scared of it.
Not kidding! I have literally seen dozens if not hundreds of those fingerprint readers taped over.

What next, "smart cards"?

Rating: 3 Votes