text: If you’re fed up with repeatedly typing passwords, hovering your finger on a sensor or staring at your phone waiting for it to scan your face to unlock it, a new device could cure your woes. The Salt card is designed to end the tiresome task of manually unlocking a smartphone or tablet by automatically making it come to life whenever the user is nearby. The credit card-sized gadget also locks devices again as soon as a user moves out of range at a distance of 10 feet (three metres). Scroll down for video . Convenient: The Salt card (pictured) is designed to end the tiresome task of manually unlocking a smartphone or tablet, by automatically unlocking it whenever the user is nearby . Salt connects to an app on a user’s Android handset or iPhone via Bluetooth and also tells them if they have strayed too far from their wallet, where the firm suggests the Salt card is stored. The card was created by Joel Paglione and Niko Zistakis.. They claim it will save people around 53 hours over a year, based on the belief that the average phone user unlocks their phone 150 times a day. The duo, based in Chicago, Illinois, came up with the idea as an increased method of security and a time-saving device and recently raised more than $82,000 (£53,512) on Kickstarter to put it into production. The Salt card is made of durable plastic with a matte finish and is the same height and length as an ordinary credit card. However, it's three times as thick because it has to be big enough to store the battery, which lasts for 18 months. The credit card-sized gadget (illustrated) also locks devices again as soon as a user moves out of range. It connects to an app on a user’s Android handset or iPhone via Bluetooth and also tells them if they have strayed too far from their wallet, where it is suggested the Salt card is stored . The start-up claims that its Salt card is more secure than fingerprint scanners, such as the one in Apple's iPhone 6 handset (pictured) and it can be used with gloves in the winter . Chip maker Qualcomm has unveiled its Sense ID 3D fingerprint scanner - the first biometric sensor using ultrasonic technology. It uses ultrasonic sound waves to capture the ridges, sweat pores and more on the tip of a finger in greater detail than capacitive touch ID sensors seen on the likes of Apple and Samsung devices. This not only makes it more accurate than other sensors, but it will also work even if the user’s hands are wet or have dirt or lotions on it, for example. Phones running Sense ID are expected to launch later this year, but Qualcomm did not reveal to MailOnline which devices or manufacturers it is working with. Setting up the card is said to be simple, as users only have to enter the unique 12-digit code printed on the front of the card in the iOS or Android app to register it as their own. From then on, their phone automatically unlocks when they move within 10ft (three metres) of it. It does this thanks to a Bluetooth chip that emits a low-frequency signal that can be read by the phone, but doesn't consume the battery, according to the start-up. ‘You don't have to connect it your phone like you normally do with Bluetooth - it basically acts as a beacon and finds your phone, unlocking it,’ Mr Paglione said. The card sends notifications to a user’s phone if they leave their wallet containing the card behind, as well as telling them the last location they had it. In the future it will be possible to change the proximity needed for the card to unlock the phone. ‘So you could set it for 30 feet (9 metres) when you're in your house so you don't have to put in your pin at home, but when you're out you might want it so it only unlocks when the card is in your hand, so you could set it to one foot proximity,’ he explained. It is claimed that the card  will save people around 53 hours over a year, based on the time it takes to type a password into their phone 150 times a day . The card costs $20 (£13) and can be ordered from the company’s website. Mr Paglione, 30, said that as well as being tedious, constantly entering a password can be a security issue because criminals can spot a pattern and there are cameras everywhere. ‘Many people are looking for additional ways to secure their phone and people are always looking for ways to save time,’ he said. However, it may appear that if a user's handbag is stolen with their wallet including the card and their phone inside, Salt may prove less secure than a stanard password. MailOnline has asked the firm is this is the case. Mr Zistakis, an architect by profession, developed a prototype using a Bluetooth headset and then Mr Paglione added his manufacturing expertise to create the product. He conceded: ‘There are other people doing similar things, but the difference is we have put it into a device that can be hidden away and at $20 it's very affordable. ‘The card is waterproof, so you could go swimming with it.’ There are already key fobs that can unlock handsets and many people no longer input a PIN, instead using biometric technology, such as fingerprint scanners and  face scanners, to unlock their smartphones. The iPhone 6, for example, has Touch ID, which enables users to unlock their handset by placing their finger on a button for a couple of seconds, while Fujitsu recently unveiled an iris scanner at Mobile World Congress that uses infrared light to unlock a handset. But the pair of Salt card inventors say that phone unlocking is just the beginning for them and in the future, they hope to develop the idea as a platform for communicating with all sorts of electronic devices. 'One day we'd like the card to communicate with doors, unlocking as you approach them, lights turning on and off or you walk into a restaurant and you won't need to let them know you've arrived, it'll just book you in, Mr Paglione said. There are already key fobs that can unlock handsets and many people no longer input a PIN, instead using biometric technology such as fingerprint scanners and iris scanners (illustrated) to unlock their smartphones . Fujitsu has developed a ‘custom compact and high-output infrared LED’, and a custom infrared camera. These were combined with Fujitsu’s camera controller technology and biometric-authentication technology. It identifies a person by scanning the pattern of their iris. The pattern doesn’t change significantly after the age of two, and it is difficult to injure its surface and difficult to forge. Movements of the smooth muscle of the iris make the eye’s openings larger or smaller, which in turn adjusts the amount of light that enters the retina. For its prototype, Fujitsu has built a miniature scanner so it fits on the front of a smartphone. It recognises the pattern by shining an infrared LED light on the sensor into the eyes and taking a picture of the pattern with the infrared camera. This pattern is registered and linked to the user. Each time they look at their phone, the sensor scans their eye, matches it with the stored image and unlocks the device. ‘The system can reliably authenticate the detailed patterns of the iris and that can be used in most everyday situations,’ a spokesman for Fujitsu told MaiOnline . ‘This can be used at a normal smartphone viewing distance, rather than within the 10cm range most existing iris recognition systems require. ‘And in safety testing, the infrared LED light was verified to be safe for the eyes.’
target: Salt card is designed to replace passwords and fingerprint scanners .
  Automatically unlocks a phone when the card is within 10ft of the handset .
  Gadget also locks a chosen device when it is moved out of range .
  Creators claim the card will save users 53 hours a year in unlocking time .