A team at the University of Manchester has been researching and developing facial recognition biometrics to bring added security to smartphones. In collaboration with the Mobile Biometrics project, the team is using Nokia’s N900 to lock and track facial features in real time, using the lower resolution front facing camera. The emphasis here is on real time recognition, with a quick lock on and robust tracking. The test video showcases the N900 being shaken, twisted, rotated (etc…) with little effect on the tracking. Move it from side to side, flip the camera, dance a bit… and when the software looses track of the face it is able to recalculate and track the face fairly quickly. Facial recognition software is nothing new; the innovative part is using low resolution video being processed by highly efficient algorithms due to the lack of traditional processing power. Though it is becoming fairly evident that the lines between desktop and smartphones are blurring every day. The next time you unlock your cell, you may want to make sure to have a bright smile!