MILWAUKEE, March 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Master Lock Company LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO) , and bioMETRX, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: BMRX.OB) , a leading developer of biometric enabled consumer products, today jointly announced that they have entered into a comprehensive development and marketing partnership to create a co-branded line of innovative security products.
Master Lock will incorporate bioMETRX’s smartTOUCH Technology(TM) into a range of products, beginning with a biometric garage door opener. The technology reads a user’s finger and matches it with previously enrolled finger scans to provide entry. Master Lock, the No. 1 brand in padlocks and other security products, will sell, market, and distribute the new Master Lock smartTOUCH Garage Door Opener nationally through home improvement retailers.
Steve Hedlund, Vice President of Growth & Innovation at Master Lock, commented, “Biometric devices such as fingerprint readers offer consumers the convenience of not having to carry a key or remember a combination, as well as the peace of mind of not worrying about lost, stolen or copied keys. As the cost of this technology continues to become more accessible, we believe that consumers will increasingly look for biometrics to be integrated into a broad range of security products. We chose to partner exclusively with bioMETRX because of its proven track record of developing innovative consumer products such as the Master Lock smartTOUCH Garage Door Opener. In addition, its patent-pending ‘powered by smartTOUCH’ platform makes biometric products both more convenient to use and less expensive to own.”
Unlike other biometric devices, the “powered by smartTOUCH” design allows consumers to add and delete users with a portable handheld device or their own home computer. The Master Lock smartTOUCH garage door opener will allow up to 20 users to be programmed into the product.
Mark Basile, CEO of bioMETRX, Inc., commented, “Our technology design enables us to separate the programming device from the end product, resulting in an economical and a simple, aesthetically pleasing product design. The development and marketing partnership between Master Lock and bioMETRX is a natural fit that marries a world-class brand with the most advanced technology available to consumers. We are very excited to align ourselves with Master Lock and expect to both benefit from as well as help advance its reputation for quality, dependability and security.”
In addition to jointly marketing the Master Lock smartTOUCH garage door opener, the companies have commenced joint development on a range of other consumer security products that will be introduced later in 2007.
About Master Lock
Master Lock is the world’s largest manufacturer of padlocks and related security products, providing innovative security solutions for home, automotive, campus, power sports, bike, and storage security needs for consumers and contractors alike. Master Lock is part of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO) (NYSE:-) (NYSE:News) , a leading consumer brands company with annual sales exceeding $8 billion.
For more information on Master Lock and its award winning line of consumer security products, please visit http://www.masterlock.com/.
About bioMETRX, Inc.
bioMETRX, Inc. designs, develops and markets biometrics-based products to the consumer, medical devices and small business markets under the common brand name — smartTOUCH(TM); bioMETRX Technologies, Inc. designs and engineers biometrics-based products for the home security, consumer electronics, medical products and patient medical information markets; smartTOUCH Consumer Products, Inc. tests and markets the company’s biometrically secured garage door openers, thermostats, deadbolts and home alarm keypads and, smartTOUCH Medical, Inc., designs, tests and markets biometrically secured medical crash carts, rolling medicine carts, portable patient medical information devices and, security and retrieval systems for electronic medical records. bioMETRX, Inc.’s entire product line is branded under the trade name “smartTOUCH(TM).”
For more information on, visit the Company website at http://www.biometrx.net/
