Can the iPhone 5s push biometrics into mass appeal?

Until the announcement of the iPhone 5s' finger print scanner or 'Touch ID', you were more likely think of Biometric technologies at an airport or with your passport than on your phone. That's because historically, the technology has only really consistently made mainstream news when added or adopted to immigration procedures and passports, normally holding facial data and/or fingerprints. Despite this, biometric identification has evolved and made its way to a variety of locations in the last decade, from to Disneyland's fingerprinting on entry to identifying high value customers in retail and even processing payment with your face alone. However, the opportunities such technology can provide are counterbalanced by concerns about privacy and data security, as the possibilities for widespread consumer biometric uses are consistently dogged by concerns about who stores your data.

3D printing is becoming more tangible and so are its copyright problems

3D printing, like many emerging technologies, is a great opportunity slowly finding a myriad of problems to solve. The decreasing costs and increasing quality of 3D printers, driven by groups ranging from Makerbot and Formlabs down to Maplin’s budget Velleman K8200, has meant that the hardware is becoming increasingly accessible. Companies such as UPS are also increasingly focusing on making 3D printing accessible through their network of locations, negating the need for hardware investment. Meanwhile websites such as Thingiverse and technology such as 3D digitizers and extrapolation technology are creating more and more things of which to print and innovators are creating the amazing and the worrying. With operating system support coming in version 8.1 of Windows 8 and brands such as DVV, Amazon, Nokia

and others expanding the way the technology is used, 3D printing looks poised to move further from industry buzz word to tangible results.