I was never really into fingerprint authentication on my devices. The first thing I ever purchased with a fingerprint scanner was my Dell XPS M1330 laptop. I can safely say fingerprint authentication on my laptop sucks. It usually takes three or more swipes to get the reader to accept my fingerprints and I can log in by typing my password faster than by swiping.

Some folks really like the idea of fingerprint authentication though and Fujitsu has announced the first waterproof cell phone to offer fingerprint authentication. Why waterproof you wonder? Well, I know a lady who has dropped not one or two iPhones into the toilet, but three. Yeah that’s a crappy iPhone.

Anyway, the phone offers water resistance for up to 30 minutes in a meter of water, a 5.2-megapixel webcam, GPS, e-Wallet payment capability and a 1Seg mobile TV tuner. The device is called the F-01A and the fingerprint reader acts as a directional pad to supplement the 3.5-inch touchscreen.

Authentec