"Biometric war" could have several different meanings, even within the narrow context of the iPhone 5s' fingerprint scanners. It could be a reference to the debate over privacy (what Apple or someone else might do with your thumbprint) or security (how easily someone could fool the scanner).
When MicroStrategy CEO and Chairman Michael Saylor says it, he's referring to the rush by other device makers to catch up to Apple latest iPhone model.
I spoke with Saylor on Monday about the iPhone 5s and how it fits in with MicroStrategy's latest mobile ID offering, called Usher. Samsung, Nokia and others, he predicted, would rush to come out with their own in-device biometric scanners. "We've just kicked off the biometric war," he told me. "Apple fired the first shot."
Just a few days later, that prediction is showing signs of coming true. Michael Barrett, president of the FIDO Alliance, a group of tech companies looking propagate a superior alternative to passwords, predicted in an interview with USA Today that Android devices equipped with fingerprint readers would be available six months from now. Even though Barrett did not go into specifics, it's not hard to see the counter-volley Saylor predicted taking shape.
FIDO, whose 48 members include Lenovo, Google and LG, is short for Fast IDentity Online.