Phones with built-in fingerprint scanners for locking down your data have been around for years, and normally we wouldn't care about a China-only handset from Lenovo, but it's not every day you see a phone that packs call recording capabilities out of the box. There are apps for recording for Symbian and Win-Mo phones, and it's something we've been wanting for the iPhone, even though numerous state and federal laws probably stand in the way. Guys, come on, we'd only use it for recording phone interviews for our notes. Trust us.

Press release:

Lenovo Launches Its First Commercial Mobile Phone with Fingerprint Using Atrua?s Fingerprint Solution

Lenovo Mobile Selects Atrua?s Made-For-Mobile Fingerprint Solution to Protect Its P960 Phone

CAMPBELL, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Atrua Technologies announced today that Lenovo Mobile (www.lenovomobile.com), one of China?s leading makers of mobile devices, selected Atrua?s made-for-mobile fingerprint solution for Lenovo?s recently launched P960 mobile phone ? Lenovo?s first commercial mobile phone to incorporate fingerprint biometrics.

Lenovo, a leader in the adoption of fingerprint sensors, selected Atrua?s solution for its superior fingerprint recognition accuracy and compatibility with the mobile phone. ?We evaluated a number of potential fingerprint solutions for this project, and found that Atrua delivered the superior combination of features and performance for mobile phones,? stated Paul Wu, General Manager of Lenovo Mobile?s Product Department.

Atrua?s made-for-mobile fingerprint touch control utilizes the company?s own unique adaptive capacitance and neural matching technology, developed from the outset for mobile applications. The technology accurately recognizes fingerprints while consuming only a fraction of the power to image a fingerprint as compared with competing solutions that derive from technology developed primarily for PC applications. Atrua?s fingerprint solution also consumes less memory and processor resource and takes up less area on the phone than competing offerings. ?Because of the Atrua sensor's small size, we were able to fit it conveniently on the edge of the P960,? said Mr. Wu.

With fingerprint recognition now common in laptop PCs, the capability has been increasingly finding its way into mobile phones. Atrua?s fingerprint touch controls deliver all the benefits of fingerprint sensors found in laptops, and more. Studies have shown that mobile phones are frequently lost or stolen and many users are concerned about compromising the private and valuable data on their phones. Since typing passwords is even more cumbersome on phones than it is on PCs, the convenience of never having to re-type passwords is all-the-more appealing to phone users. In addition, Lenovo?s P960 has an innovative ?VIP recording? feature that automatically records calls from designated numbers. The fingerprint biometric technology is used in the P960 to protect sensitive data such as VIP recordings, text messages, call history, and address book information.

"We are pleased to see a recognized leader in fingerprint for laptops adopt our technology for their mobile phone and we are delighted to have the opportunity to support such a leading global manufacturer in their ongoing effort to bring greater levels of security and convenience to users of mobile devices," commented Anthony Gioeli, CEO of Atrua.

About Lenovo Mobile

Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology Ltd. (?Lenovo Mobile?), established in 2002, is a well known player in the Chinese mobile phone industry, specializing in the research, development, production and marketing of mobile phones. Lenovo Mobile is dedicated to providing ?stylish, simple, innovative and high-quality? products and value-added services that provide personalized solutions to satisfy individual needs and enhance the joy of mobile communication. Relying on its independent research and development and powerful sales channels, Lenovo Mobile has become a fundamental influence in the Chinese handset industry. For more information, see www.lenovomobile.com.