When Apple acquired Harris Corp. spinoff Authentec in July 2012, pundits accurately predicted it meant fingerprint sensors would soon arrive on iPhones. That moment arrived yesterday, when Apple announced its iPhone 5s would include Touch ID on the home button.

The technology uses a “laser cut sapphire crystal, together with the capacitive touch sensor, to take a high-resolution image of your fingerprint and intelligently analyze it to provide accurate readings from any angle,” according to Apple. To address privacy concerns, the vendor stressed that fingerprints are not stored centrally by Apple; rather, they remain on the device itself. Users can access their phones and buy apps via the app store with their fingerprint. read more