Cellphone passwords are so passé. With the launch of the iPhone 5s, the new way to unlock your cellphone is with a fingerprint. It is one of the latest — and most visible — ways biometrics is going from the realm of sci-fi fantasy to mainstream reality.

Biometrics holds the potential to do everything from enhance national security to improve marketing displays in stores. It’s a hot field that isn’t going to be replaced anytime soon, meaning there should be plenty of jobs in the biometric field for years to come.

Biometric Basics
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, biometrics are biological or behavioral characteristics that can be measured. It also includes voice recognition, optical scans, and even the keystroke dynamics of how someone types on the computer. Despite the recent hype around biometrics with the iPhone launch, it is nothing new.

The granddaddy of biometrics is fingerprinting and the FBI has been amassing a collection of fingerprints since 1924. Even the more high tech biometric applications aren’t all that new.

Consider that more than 20 years ago, Robert Redford was fumbling to convince a security system “My voice is my passport” as he worked to bypass a biometric system in 1992′s minor cult classic “Sneakers.”

What is new is the price. While biometric systems were previously so expensive that their applications were limited, technology has advanced to the point where the cost can be comparable to other non-biometric systems. […]