Sometimes, it’s the little things that matter.

The new iPhone 5C is being derided in some quarters for trivial improvements such as splashy colors. Apple, the critics say, has lost its edge in innovation because it did not come out with anything earth-shattering yesterday.

But the new fingerprint recognition called TouchID could be a breakthrough to eliminate annoying passwords, which for some reason, seemed more troublesome on the iPhone. Maybe, it is because you had to enter it so often using a cramped keyboard that afflicts all smart ph0nes.

The Apple video makes TouchID look seamless. And it could make the iPhone useless to all but its owner although, I am sure the hackers will go to work once the 5S is released.

It’s built-in BYOD protection that CIOs should love. In theory, Touch ID should render the iPhone useless to all but its owner.  (CIO.com has a good analysis about what the new Touch ID technology means to the corporate world).

Apple said it will take orders starting Sept. 20.

Sure, biometrics like fingerprint recognition have been around for a long time, but never went mainstream in that one vendor did it and all others followed. In its early days in the late nineties, it did not work very well. But Apple and the iPhone have the global presence and clout to raise the bar. If TouchID works as advertised, I would argue that Apple just raised bar – again (my trusted Apple source tells the new iSight camera is a killer, too and its A7 64-bit processor is said be a first)).

I am not buying the Apple hype, but the company does have a pretty good track record for innovation like this.

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