Fingerprint scanning tech predicted to be major component of Apple's 'iPhone 5S' & 'iWatch'

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 33
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member


    "The best security system ever is eye prints that use the blood vessels at the rear of the eye. Such a system would be a lot more reliable and less of a hassle."


     


    Until you're wearing glasses or, worse yet, sunglasses. Then eye scanning is a pain in the butt.


     


    I'm already going to touch my phone to unlock it: staring into the special scanning camera having had to take my glasses off? Notsomuch.

  • Reply 22 of 33
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


     


    The only button on the front and there's no reason to put finger scanner there (under it)? Press button to turn on display, keep finger on button, the UI let's you know your finger is being scanned and boom your phone is unlocked simply and never accidentally. Pressing the button indicates to the iDevice "I wish to unlock you", so said devices looks for finger print presence if the feature is ON. I think this is more than a good reason to do so. And it would be very Apple method.


     


    My only doubt is if all this is technically possible in a iPhone this year or the next. I have my doubts, but want Apple to prove me wrong.



     


    Possibly.  No one really knows what they are going to do.  


     


    If they do it the way you suggest however, that would mean changing the function of the home button substantially.  


     


    For instance if you have to lay your finger on the button as described to be scanned, then that changes the action from "pressing the button" to "holding your finger on the button but not pressing it."  Even if they allow for pressing, it becomes necessary to change it from a press to a long press (recognition takes significant time).  Additionally, if you need to identify yourself for some other purpose while the phone is in use, then it's a "long press" again, and the long press has already been assigned to Siri, so Siri has to be enabled a different way.  Likewise, the double press, and the triple press are already in use for significant functions not related to authentication.  


     


    Fingerprint scanners work best when it's a separate sensor that you lay your finger on that isn't itself a button per se.  This is the way they have generally been implemented in the past.  Adding a little blobby scanning pad somewhere on the phone doesn't strike me as a good solution for Apple though.  


     


    IMO integration into the screen is still the best way to go and a more Apple-esque solution than any other, but who knows?  WE don't even know for sure that they are even thinking of adding fingerprint scanning to the iPhone at all.  Everything is speculation at this point. 

  • Reply 23 of 33
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    chabig wrote: »
    Why do you assume Apple would require everyone to use the same finger all of the time? Apple has smart people and if they release this technology you can be sure they will have thought of things like that.
    I assume the opposite of that if you read my comments from the top. and i assume the scanner is in the ome button because thats what the article states. Do any of you read the article or just the headline and skip straight to the comments? I'm only reacting to what was stated, not where I think the best place would be.
  • Reply 24 of 33
    superbasssuperbass Posts: 688member
    Wow, fingerprint scanner. Reminds me of the Lenovo notebook my company gave me in 2005.... The first year it worked great, then got less and less reliable (requiring multiple attempts before using a code word), until I ended up just disabling it permanently. Even if it works on the 3rd try or after washing your hands or polishing it to get the dust off, it still pretty much always took longer than using a pin code.

    I know that Apple will probably make a better mobile fingerprint scanner than any other company has, but adding a largely redundant system to the iPhone seems very un-apple to me.

    On the Lenovo, the scanner was about 2cmx.5cm and the fingerprint was given by swiping my index finger across it. Doing so on a telephone with the scanner under the home button would require holding the phone in one hand and swiping with the other - one handed swiping while holding the phone in the same hand is just awkward (granted, I have pretty big hands) . Also, i push the home button with the tip/edge of my thumb, not the pad, which isn't a good fingerprint area, either. That makes me think that it would make the most sense in one of the top corners - much more natural.
  • Reply 25 of 33
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    gazoobee wrote: »
    Yes, but for the same reasons you originally mentioned, the home button would be an awful location for the scanner if it could instead be placed under the screen.  Then, when you turn on the phone, instead of presenting you with "swipe to open" it could instead present a scanner for whatever finger (or fingers) you've set up as security.  

    The company they recently bought had just invented a new technology that allowed fingerprint scanners to be integrated into a normal LCD screen, so I continue to hope that this is the solution Apple will go for.  

    If, as most people think, it's going to be under the home button, then I see all the same problems you do and more.  A tiny fingerprint scanner under the home button would be essentially an identical solution to all the other fingerprint scanners out there, not useful for all users and therefore (IMO of course) just another "gimmick" at that stage. 
    A multiple-step unlock? People are already annoyed with the swipe, why further complicate and slow down the process of using the device? Yes, I'd like to hear more about scanners integrated into the display, that's a much more "Apple" like solution.
  • Reply 26 of 33
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    seanie248 wrote: »
    Kinda simple solution if you think about it.
    A Section in the Settings that says "Use Fingerprint Security" with an ON and OFF setting. Setting it to OFF will solve your problems.
    And I would assume Home Screen activation would be still be by pressing with home or power. FPR would only be need to unlock the device or perform some functions in Apps

    I hope Apple call the next one the iPhone 5X, just to mess with the press and predictions. 
    I hate when people say "if you think about it"...it implies I haven't thought about just creating a toggle. But that doesn't solve the problem of creating a better barrier of security that's easier and more invisible than a pass code, does it?And right now that's exactly how apple solves the pass code issue too. So if your solution is just to toggle the security, then it renders adding such expensive tech pointless. Because its not easier to use, it's unreliable and people will just turn it off.
  • Reply 27 of 33
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member


    Fingerprint scanning and other biometrics are NOT WANTED APPLE, NO RFID SPYCHIPS EITHER!  See http://www.spychips.com ; I never used finger scanners on a work laptop and would never use them on personal devices -- just like they never caught on at Jewel grocery stores for payments -- DUD.  I cannot believe Apple would implement this!  


     


    Instead, give us something we can USE, like Nextel/Spring Direct Connect iDEN like walkie talkie functionality with a dedicated (but programmable) button on the side -- like the i90c phones!  

  • Reply 28 of 33
    curtis hannahcurtis hannah Posts: 1,832member
    So you will reach over with your hand to reach a watch, well unwanted.

    Since we're here why not state the fact how much will this Iwatch weigh.
  • Reply 29 of 33
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Since we're here why not state the fact how much will this Iwatch weigh.

    Since no one knows if there will even be an 'iWatch', how in the world do you expect them to state how much it will weigh?
  • Reply 30 of 33
    mechanicmechanic Posts: 805member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post


    I have a couple problems with this purported solution to FP scanning.


    1. not everyone uses the same finger every time to press the home button...or the same hand every time for that matter.  So the scanner would have to identify all 10 of your fingers on initial setup.


    2. the home button is not the same size as most people's fingers, sometimes you press it with the tip of your finger, sometimes the center.  No one presses it in the same spot every time.


    3. sometimes if my phone or iPad is lying on my desk and i want to check the time or see the home screen, I do one of two things: press the home button or press the power button on the top.


    4. this doesn't seem like an invisible tech.  to me it would have to be instant that it scans and we all know scanning tech is slow.  If you want to unlock your phone quickly and within a reasonable amount of time, this is not a good solution.


     


    How do you overcome this?  I have no idea, but it doesn't sound like a reliable solution to security.  Heck, the slide to unlock works about 90% of the time for me.  Maybe my fingers are too callused to register on the touch screen?


     


    Point is, something that should be an almost invisible tech should not have such complications, especially from a company like Apple.



    The sensor pictured above is very fast and does exist now, Apple bought the company that makes it Authentec.  They make fingerprint scanners for government facilities like the CIA, NSA, Homeland Security, and many others.  There tech is in just about every laptop made by every manufacturer that uses fingerprint tech.  Authentec sensors are very fast and work great.  I would have no doubt that Apple did there homework before buying the company.  I use fingerprint scanners at work and basically you use the same finger and the scan takes less than 1 sec.  I guess if you cant wait that long it will have the option to turn it off.  


    Plus it does not have to be under the home button it could be behind the screen or the border of the device the sensor there interested in is very small. Oh one other thing too.  you dont swipe your finger on this new scanner from Authentic you place your finger on it and hold it there.


    go to there website if you have questions on how they work.  These are not cheap crappy fingerprint scanners there very sophisticated products used by a lot of companies for security.


    A quote from Authentec themselves about the sensor Apple is interested in:


     


    ” The product is a new 192 pixel by 8 pixel fingerprint sensor that includes “hybrid fingerprint matching, AES, RSA and SHA encryption blocks, and One Time Password (OTP) generation.”

  • Reply 31 of 33
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    The company they recently bought had just invented a new technology that allowed fingerprint scanners to be integrated into a normal LCD screen, so I continue to hope that this is the solution Apple will go for.  



     


    Got a link that says AuthenTec invented such a combination?


     


    Thanks!


     


    PS. Are you sure you're not thinking of that Apple patent application a year or two ago, about putting image sensors between display pixels?

  • Reply 32 of 33
    timbittimbit Posts: 331member
    Having the scanner under the button makes it vulnerable to damage over time. The button gets a lot of use and can be pushed very hard. I don't think they will place it there

    And you can just enrol multiple fingerprints for different fingers. Not hard to have lots of them stored. And you could have others like a wife or child enrolled with certain permissions like app usage or call abilities
  • Reply 33 of 33
    Fingerprint scanning is just.... too far, man! Besides reporting, it would just be great if someone decided to call the shots here and put some forethought to all this.
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