BIO-key® to Unveil Enterprise Ready Biometric Identity Platform for Smartphones at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference

WALL, N.J., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BIO-key International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BKYI), a leader in finger-based biometric identification solutions  today announced the company will be unveiling its first ever mobile biometric identification and authentication platform that provides enterprises with the ability to capture and transmit fingerprint biometric data to a secure server for identity and authentication of smartphone, laptop, tablet and desktop users on Wednesday, July 28 , from 6:00 to 9:30PM, in Oracle Corporation's Hospitality Suite at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, CA.

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"We live in a world with 24 by 7 access to information from mobile devices. Application providers and enterprise IT professionals have been struggling with how they can quickly, conveniently and accurately establish the identity of remote users looking to access their sites and applications," said Mike DePasquale, CEO of BIO-key International. "With the anticipated ubiquity of fingerprint enabled smartphones such as the LG eXpo, the first such smartphone introduced in the US market, enterprise application providers now have a more secure and convenient alternative to passwords for their remote users to establish their identity,"

BIO-key partners including Oracle, IBM, Computer Associates and Evidian, who have added BIO-key's biometric identity solution into their offerings, can now provide their enterprise customers a fast, secure and convenient way to assure their users' identities to access enterprise applications through smartphones.

BIO-key is a Gold level member of the Oracle® Partner Network. "The fact that BIO-key's software is interoperable with numerous fingerprint readers is an important feature for Oracle because it enables enterprises to more easily establish identity remotely on a variety of devices – from laptops to tablets to cell phones," said Darren Calman, Director of Product Management, Oracle Identity & Access Management. "Software that can enroll, identify and verify mobile users is critical to our customers with today's work force."

According to IDC's May 2010 Worldwide Mobile Phone Quarterly Tracker report, growth in the smartphone market more than doubled that of the overall mobile phone market in the first quarter this year, stating vendors shipped a total of 54.7 million units in the first quarter of 2010 (1Q10), up 56.7% from the same quarter the year prior. Furthermore, a March 2010 Nielson report predicted that smartphones will become the standard device by the end of 2011, with the number of smartphones in the U.S. exceeding mobile phones.

"Cell phone manufacturers recognize that passwords and PIN codes are not sufficient to secure a cell phone user's personal data or provide secure access to company networks and servers. Over 10 million mobile phones have now added fingerprint readers from AuthenTec into manufacturers' various models to take advantage of the convenient security, personalization and touch control combined with very low solution implementation cost and we see deployments continuing to grow," said Larry Ciaccia, President of AuthenTec, a leading provider of security, identity management and touch control solutions.

"The BIO-key fingerprint biometric software protects user privacy while providing a convenient and significantly more secure alternative to passwords and tokens for a person remotely accessing an enterprise application. With the simple touch of a finger and without the need for other forms of identification, BIO-key's identification software can quickly search an enterprise database of authorized users to positively establish the identity of a remote user," added Dr. Ronald D. Black, Chairman and CEO, UPEK a leader in enterprise and consumer biometric fingerprint solutions.

"Smartphones provide enterprise users with further flexibility to access applications and information from virtually anywhere and at anytime;" commented Rob Baxter, CEO, Validity, Inc, a leading provider of convenient, secure and reliable fingerprint authentication solutions. "BIO-key's biometric enterprise identification platform ensures quick and secure identification of enterprise users from any device running on any platform without the inconvenience of typing passwords, and giving enterprises the reliability and security to include smartphones as part of their IT solution," he added.  

The Burton Group Catalyst Conference, is a five-day, industry-shaping conference that explores cutting-edge ideas, current challenges as well as emerging technologies shaping today's and tomorrow's enterprise. This event is renowned for its attendee-driven agenda, high-profile speakers, in-depth content and fiercely independent point of view. On Wednesday from 6:00 to 9:30 PM, in the Oracle hospitality suite, BIO-key will demonstrate how a user can establish identity on the Oracle Identity Management platform over smartphones and laptops to gain access to data and applications.

Mr. DePasquale concluded, "For years our fingerprint biometric identity solutions have been running in retail, financial, healthcare, education and civil applications using laptops, tablets and desktops equipped with fingerprint readers to authenticate the identity of users. Now, with the proliferation of smartphones, BIO-key has a fast, secure and convenient identity and authentication solution for businesses that need to establish the identity of smartphone users before giving them access to applications and critical information."

About BIO-key

BIO-key International, Inc., headquartered in Wall, New Jersey, develops and delivers advanced identification solutions to commercial and government enterprises, integrators, and custom application developers. BIO-key's award winning, high performance, scalable, cost-effective and easy-to-deploy biometric finger identification technology accurately identifies and authenticates users of wireless and enterprise applications. Our solutions are used in local embedded OEM products as well as some of the world's largest identification deployments to improve security, guarantee identity, and help reduce identity theft.  BIO-key's technology is offered directly or by market leading partners around the world. (http://www.bio-key.com)

About Oracle PartnerNetwork

Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized is the latest version of Oracle's partner program that provides partners with tools to better develop, sell and implement Oracle solutions. OPN Specialized offers resources to train and support specialized knowledge of Oracle products and solutions and has evolved to recognize Oracle's growing product portfolio, partner base and business opportunity. Key to the latest enhancements to OPN is the ability for partners to differentiate through Specializations. Specializations are achieved through competency development, business results, expertise and proven success. To find out more visit http://www.oracle.com/partners.

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About AuthenTec

AuthenTec (Nasdaq: AUTH), provides security, identity management and touch control solutions for enterprise and consumer applications. The Company's smart sensor products and security solutions are used in virtually every aspect of life, from the PC on your desk to the mobile device in your hand to the server in the cloud. AuthenTec's newest generation of TruePrint® smart sensors, TrueSuite® identity management software and TrueProtect™ embedded security products (formerly SafeNet Embedded Security Solutions) provide developers and users secure and convenient ways to manage today's rapidly evolving digital identities and security needs. For more information, visit http://www.authentec.com or follow us at http://www.twitter.com/authentecnews 

About UPEK

UPEK, Inc. ("UPEK") is a privately held company. UPEK is a leader in enterprise and consumer biometric fingerprint solutions. UPEK authentication hardware and software are integrated into laptops from the world's top five largest PC makers, as well as USB flash drives, external hard disk drives, and mobile phones from leading manufacturers. UPEK's ecosystem of over 100 hardware and software partners enables strong authentication solutions for market verticals including healthcare, banking, education, and government. UPEK offers the only silicon-based fingerprint sensor that is FIPS 201 certified for authentication of millions of US government employees and contractors. UPEK also provides consumer packaged goods including the CES award-winning Eikon Digital Privacy Manager, the only fingerprint reader on the market that supports PCs and Macs. UPEK products make your digital world safe and personal. For more info, visit www.upek.com.

About Validity

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Validity, Inc. develops the world's most durable, flexible and highest performing biometric fingerprint solution for information, communication and entertainment devices. Validity's biometric security products enable convenient, secure and affordable solutions for Identity Validation™, including features such as password replacement, identity verification, centralized management for corporate network security, secure wireless transactions, protection of portable data, and physical access control. http://www.validityinc.com.

BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release may be construed as "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act").  The words "estimate," "project," "intends," "expects," "anticipates," "believes" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Act.  These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected on the basis of these statements.  These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue, our ability to develop new products and evolve existing ones, the impact on our business of the recent financial crisis in the global capital markets and negative global economic trends, and our ability to attract and retain key personnel.  For a more complete description of these and other risk factors that may affect the future performance of BIO-key International, Inc., see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.  The Company also undertakes no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE BIO-key International, Inc.