I'm not sure if all those people lining up for the gold iPhone care about the fingerprint sensor. I'm sure most of them with neither know or care about the 64 bit cpu. Perhaps Samsung will offer a gold Galaxy S5 before they bother with adding a fingerprint sensor.
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Not joking - How long will it take for Galaxy to adopt fingerprint sensor?
- Thread starter Kendo
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Which is why it ISN'T the only way to get into the phone.
That article is click bait....EVERY security system in the world CAN be hacked by someone with the right amount of time and know how. As it is, if my 5S requires someone to both steal my phone, photograph my fingerprint at 2400 dpi (I routinely wipe my iPhone off anyways - always have), create a latex "double" to then bypass the fingerprint sensor I would have already locked it via Find My iPhone anyways.....at which point it would require the password I have set up.
I think people are assuming TOO much from this sensor. It's a way to bypass the numerous times daily one has to enter in a passcode to unlock the phone. Because I can "bypass" the code, I've now switched from a 4-digit code to the complex password. My phone is more secure because of this.
Same with the iTunes purchases. That one is a choice - you can either use the fingerprint scanner to verify purchases or not. And again, working in conjuunction with Find My iPhone and Activiation Lock, I dare ANYONE to find a more secure consumer mobile device.
There are also instances where the device automatically asks for a password - when you turn the phone on, for instance or after 48 hours of idle time.
Anyhow, I wouldn't see any problem with other OEMs implementing this type of thing provided they can integrate it as seamlessly as Apple has done. But with Apple now owning that tech, I wonder how it'll work.
I agree with a poster above - there should be a sticky thread telling people "Company X is copying company Y" threads are instant bans.....idiotic and mindless.
Not sure why none of the companies have turned their front-facing cameras into retina scanners yet really. I've seen some apps that sort of do it, but from what I've read, an Iris scanner scans something like 200 points for reference versus typical fingerprint scanners that only scan about 60-70.
Also works without gloves, although not sure what glasses/sunglasses and outdoor lighting would do to the camera.
On second thought, never mind...find it gimmicky on any platform.
The more prolific the phone, the more individuals will likely gravitate towards unique colors as a means of style selection. That's true of any product, smartphones included. And its the first time Apple has offered their flagship in anything but variants of black or white so its truly a unique color combo on every level.
Also works without gloves, although not sure what glasses/sunglasses and outdoor lighting would do to the camera.
On second thought, never mind...find it gimmicky on any platform.
The more prolific the phone, the more individuals will likely gravitate towards unique colors as a means of style selection. That's true of any product, smartphones included. And its the first time Apple has offered their flagship in anything but variants of black or white so its truly a unique color combo on every level.
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Actually, face unlock is mightily impressive. The improvements made to it since its first iteration have made it a pretty viable unlock option. I've recently started using it on my Nexus 7 and on my HTC One. It's faster than entering a pin, and slightly more secure now that it can't be fooled by pictures.
You can also scan your face multiple times to improve the facial recognition. So you can do one with and without your glasses, you can do one in optimal lighting and in non-optimal lighting, you can do one with and without a hat on, etc.
And you'd think this would muddle the facial recognition but it doesn't. I've tested it. Sure enough, if it isn't your face behind those glasses, it doesn't accept it.
It's also surprisingly fast, especially on the Nexus 7 where the front facing camera comes on right away the moment you wake your device (versus the HTC One that requires a swipe up first from it's main lock screen). It can unlock in less than a second if it's aimed directly at your face. In fact, it unlocks so fast that I sometimes wondered whether it was even really reading my face or not, but again, sure enough, if it's not your face, it won't unlock.
It'll also default immediately to your secondary unlock option (pin/pattern) if it fails the first time or detects that it's too dark to see you, which is nice as this only marginally interrupts you. A note on dimly lit situations: it's actually amazing how dim it can get before it will fail to recognize you. I tested it in a room with all the lights off except for the monitor -- very low light, my face is barely visible, and it unlocked.
Very impressive. If Google is continues improving this feature and as front facing cameras improve (go OEMs), this can only get better. It's a shame no one really talks about it anymore.
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Having said all that, I won't be surprised one bit if finger print sensors start finding their way back to Android devices.
It's already happening. The HTC One Max leaks came out well before the iPhone 5S announcement and it was sporting a finger print scanner on its back. Why HTC won't use their blank HTC logo on the front as the scanner is beyond me and a whole 'nother story!
Now I'm interested to try facial recog again - used it on my N7 and N4 for a bit, but didn't find it all that reliable (would fail a good portion of the time).
If it works now like you say it does, it might be worth a go again! Gonna try it out on my S4 now....
LOL at the fact it says its a low-security option....still more convenient than a passcode and more secure than NO security I guess.
EDIT: Well that was a complete fail....I set it up on my GS4. Then when I lock my phone and go to unlock it, I get the same swipe and no facial recog. So I figure, "Maybe I need to reboot for it to set in" so I do. Sure enough when the phone comes back it has the facial recog. Doesn't work the first time because it doesn't register my blink. So I go in, lock the phone and try again. Works the second time, albeit a tad slowly. Then it proceeds to go back to the "swipe to unlock" option.....no facial recog. Does it have to do with the s-view cover? Whatev - I prefer having my lockscreen apps on there anyways.
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The only thing I dislike when using face unlock on my One is that I have to swipe up from HTC's main lock screen first before the front camera comes on. I don't have to do this on the Nexus 7, and predict I won't have to for the Nexus 5 either, which I may get. However, I do like that I still have my four set apps in the HTC lock screen to go directly into once it's passed facial unlock.
Don't know what's going on with your S4. I have not run into any complications with my One using face unlock. Something on the TouchWiz end is my guess.
Ya - I'm sure its a TouchWiz thing. Don't have access to the lockscreen apps when the facial recog is on - but the camera comes on immediately without me doing anything.
I'm not concerned with extra security on my personal phone. If I was, I'd do the pattern thing. Doesn't override my preference for lockscreen apps in this case.