Apple’s caught wind of the going smartphone trend – cheaper price tag, more features. Taking on Samsung and Motorola in a looming fight for consumers in a rather crowded smartphone market, Apple’s realized that accessibility is crucial to the survival of the iPhone.   Not only are the new iPhones friendlier to our wallets (the 5c costs $99 for 16GB, while the 5s costs $199 for 16GB), but appealing in terms of color and design.

But that’s not the only thing Apple’s changed in order to gain mass consumer appeal – the iPhone maker is hoping to leapfrog rivals with improved security on the iPhone.  The new fingerprint sensor on the 5s Home button is likely the most titillating of the rumored features to come to fruition today.

Fingerprint sensor replaces Home button

The new iPhone 5s is now available in silver, gold and space gray, and is missing the familiar square in the Home button.  We now know the reason for the modified Home button – it’s been converted into a fingerprint sensor to identify multiple users, boosting the security for the device.  The new fingerprint sensor works 360 degrees, so you don’t have to orient your fingertip accordingly.  A new sapphire-cut lens now covers the revamped Home button to protect the fingerprint sensor.

The sensor can also be used to authenticate secure purchases on iTunes, and will hopefully expedite the unlocking process.  Your fingerprint information is stored on the A7 chip (see more details below), making this data secure, Apple says.

Is fingerprinting enough?

While the growing concern over smartphone security has challenged smartphone makers to improve in recent months, Apple’s attempts may not be enough to make a real difference.

“While the fingerprint sensor may seem revolutionary, the technology has existed long before today’s iPhone 5s launch. Just like a username/password combination, this is an authentication strategy,” says Scott Matsumoto, Principal Consultant for Cigital, Inc.

“It’s the first line of defense against platform threats. The real concern remains within the applications, whose designers still have to identify other controls to be added in the program. For example, iOS7 come with a standard platform encryption, but for certain applications like online banking, a second (and often third) encryption strategy must be built in, independent of the mobile platform. From an industry perspective, application designers must start a proactive privacy approach to mobile security, rather than relying solely on platform security.”

Some companies are already incorporating extra security features into their iOS apps, like Twitter.  The microblog recently added two-step authentication to enhance security beyond what you’ll find built into a smartphone’s platform.  The changes came after a bevy of high profile hacks on Twitter, along with security breaches experienced by millions of users.  See instructions on how to add two-factor authentication to your Twitter profile here.

App makers are even taking matters into their own hands beyond iOS, adding to the baked-in platform offerings for Android as well.  After Google’s Android announced the Android Device Manager to help with lost or stolen phones, we drew up a list of apps and settings for you to consider.  See the full post here. 

Perk for the enterprise

While Apple’s fingerprinting technology may not be the most innovative way to boost security on the iPhone, it could aid the enterprise with added benefits for authentication.

“More than anything else, this feature would give Apple the edge when it comes to the enterprise, and that’s exactly what this is all about,” writes our own Mike Wheatley in a piece this morning. “The company is engaged in a brutal battle with Android and to a lesser extent, Microsoft, to attract enterprise users, and fingerprint technology could give it a clear advantage over its rivals. And because Apple is staking so much on its biometric security, that alone should give us confidence that it’ll be totally secure.”

AOptix has already caught on.  The biometrics security company released Stratus MX earlier this year, a hardware and app package that transforms the iPhone 4 or 4S into a full-fledged biometrics scanning tool.  AOptix is targeting the enterprise and government sectors with its security tools.