I’ve always had an interest in breathalyzers and biometric devices in general, so I was quite pleased when I had a chance to test out the brand new AlcoHawk PT500 Breathalyzer. This professional grade breathalyzer from Q3 Innovations provides very reliable and accurate results and is easy to setup and use. The AlcoHawk PT500 uses a fuel-cell sensor which is specifically designed for alcohol testing. The advanced technology built into this breathalyzer make it perfect for law enforcement, schools, clinics, and other environments where professional testing results are required.

Key Features

• Professional grade digital alcohol detector
• Exclusive PT Core electro-chemical fuel-cell sensor provides reliable and accurate results
• Orange back-lit LCD display is easy to read in any lighting
• Solid, impact resistant design that is also lightweight and compact
• 3 – 8 seconds adjustable blowing time
• Test results returned within 3 seconds
• Accurately detects Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) between .000% and .400%

Read other in-depth reviews of personal and professsional digital breathalyzers at Breathalyzer Review.

Now if your mom tries to call from another number, she won’t slide by so easily with Microsoft’s new voice recognizing caller ID system.

The patent is headlined “Automatic identification of telephone callers based on voice characteristics,” and their system will use an “acoustic repository” - a database of sound patterns that a caller’s voice will be checked against for identification.

Now this is for those who need absolute secure portable storage. The Aegis features a fingerprint scanner (store up to ten fingerprints) and does real-time 128-bit AES encryption. It connects via USB 2.0 and is harbored by a a 16-point omni-directional shock mounting system. Also, it’s cross-platform, and comes in 80GB ($199), 120GB ($219) and 160GB ($289) at superwarehouse.com

Here’s another cheap USB fingerprint scanning flash drive at RED5. It’s 512MB, and only $38 USD, always like cheap biometric goodies - but wouldn’t mind having a 2GB one either.

Via ILoveReview

More biometric awesomeness from NEC subsidiary NecSoft, who has just unleashed BiodeLogon for Windows. Show your face to the webcam and access granted. However, Akihabara News brings up a good point, “how to prevent a hacker from showing a photo in HD to the camera instead of the user’s real face…” So I’ll stick with fingerpint scanning for now.

Somark Innovations has just announced the success of Biocompatible Chipless RFID1 Ink in cattle and lab rats. It consists of injecting and reading a Biocompatible Chipless RFID Ink “tattoo” within the skin of the animals.

Ramos M. Mays, Chief Scientist, says, “This proves the ability to create a synthetic biometric or fake fingerprint with Biocompatible Chipless RFID Ink and read it through hair.”

The ink creates a unique ID that is readable “without line of sight.” This technology will be used initially to help track and identify cattle. Secondary target markets include dogs, cats, lab animals, and individual prime cuts of meat. Huh? RFID ink in my meat? PDF [Somark press release]

The Columbus Ohio Police Dept. has just purchased 40 RapID wireless units for about $3,000 a piece using a federal Homeland Security grant.

The new technology saves police a trip to the station for identity verification.

“It typically would be used to check the identity of someone without proper ID who uses a name police suspect is not real.”

The system checks the fingerprints against existing prints in a Columbus police database, which includes about 250,000 entries.

Via Seattle PI

More new biometric goodies from Elecom who has unveiled 2 new USB flash memory drives with fingerprint identification. The CR-FP2 has 256MB flash memory and the CR-FP3M512 has 512MB.

According to Akiba-Gadgets, “The sensor has 1/10,000,000 precision and the reader does not store your fingerprint in memory. That means that when you leave your computer and lock the access, you will have to re-enter your fingerprint id when you unlock.”

These will be available tomorrow in Japan, the CR-FP2 will cost 8,400 Yen ($73 USD) and the CR-FP3m512 is 12,285 Yen ($107 USD). More Images

Recently, we heard about the primary school in Scotland that is using Fujitsu palm vein scanners for a cashless lunch payment system.

Now, Hitachi has joined forces with Sumitomo Reality & Development Co. to bring us a new finger vein scanning security system. The scanner can remember up to 10 different fingers, and the lithium batteries will last about 1 year at a rate of 10 uses per day.

Plastic Bamboo tells us the device will be available in Spring at a cost of ¥150,000 ($1,280 USD). This device is more affordable and looks like it could be integrated into an existing door of your home.

Via Engadget