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New iPhone To Have Tap to Wake, Attention Detection, and Virtual Home Button, Says Report (theverge.com)

HomePod's firmware has revealed several new features coming to the upcoming iPhone, such as a tap to wake function, facial expression and attention detection, and virtual home button. "Apple accidentally released the firmware over the weekend resulting in a frenzy of analysis about previously unknown features," reports The Verge. From the report: Developers including Steve Troughton-Smith and Guilherme Rambo have been tweeting their findings, notably the discovery of the new iPhone's bezel-less screen design. They've also concluded that the resolution for the iPhone 8 could be as much of a visual leap forward from current-generation iPhones as the iPhone 4's Retina display was from the original iPhone. Apple is using codenames for both its face recognition feature and the bezel-less phone, called "Pearl ID" and "D22" respectively. A potential "attention detection" feature is also mentioned in the code, with some speculating that may mean the phone will remain silent for notifications if it knows you're looking at the screen already. Facial references such as "mouthstretch," "mouthsmile," and "mouthdimple" were also found, which are most likely a nod to Apple's rumored facial recognition feature that can even detect faces in the dark using infrared. A tap to wake feature has also been discovered, and should be similar to the Windows Phone function that allows users to double-tap the screen to wake the phone.

59 comments

  1. So, basically... by ChodaBoyUSA · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Apple still playing catch-up by copying Android devices. Got it!

    1. Re:So, basically... by elrous0 · · Score: 1, Troll

      No, when Android did it, it was stupid and unnecessary. Now that Apple is doing it, it's innovative and cool.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    2. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What you mean is playing leap frog. When you hate Apple, it's easy to ignore when they advance and only pay attention to when they are in an R&D phase. How's that Android Pay/Samsung Pay going? Pretty funny that Apple was so late to the game with NFC, but had the right strategy and transaction technologies to make it actually proliferate.

    3. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. What a unique and clever observation! You must be so proud of yourself! I sure haven't heard this for the last decade with every Apple phone release!!! ..

      I think by now we've all noticed that Apple's devices are itterative and careful. (Except that time they released the 5s with a 64 bit arm cpu 2 years before anyone else did)

      They don't bring features first, but they often bring the first implementation that's the most useful. (Any company can cram a feature in. Making it useful takes some work)

      They've been doing this for literally 10 years and become the most profitable phone maker on the planet by a wide gaping margin.

    4. Re:So, basically... by markdavis · · Score: 1, Troll

      Exactly. Been there, done that. Android first on all three.

      Other recent features-

      Fake Bokeh- already implemented on other phones.
      Full face screen- already implemented on other phones.
      Iris scan- already implemented on other phones.
      Lockscreen notifications- stolen from Android.
      Ambient display- stolen from Android.
      Traffic info- stolen from Google Maps on Android.
      Spam call detection- stolen from Android.
      AI with photo management- stolen from Android.
      Uninstalling stock apps- was already in Android.
      Notes collaboration- already in Android Keep.
      Siri API to third-party- was already open in Android for Now.
      Split-screen- already in Android.
      Dual cameras- already on other phones.
      Water resistance- already on other phones.
      Universal clipboard- yep, already was in Android.
      Voicemail transcription- lots of other phones first.

      Tons of examples that are even older are readily available.

      Yeah, yeah, Apple will do it "better", blah, blah... Apple is innovative... blah, blah, blah.

    5. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This. Fucking fucktards are bitches about what phone they carry around to the point that they ignore the fundamentals on how technologies develop. It floors me that adults are acting like the 6th grade bitches and comparing what they got for Christmas as a token of their self esteem.

      Anyone can own a phone. Now show me what you do with it.

    6. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So Android stole a bunch of ideas from other technologies (none of these are original to Android) and you get your panties in a bunch about your best girl being molested by Apple? Fucking wow.

    7. Re:So, basically... by sexconker · · Score: 0

      Samsung Pay works in far more places than Android Pay.
      Android Pay works in a bunch of places, just like Apple Pay does.

      I don't use any of them. I was using Android Pay because there was a promo to get $xx cash back for using it 10 times by June 30th or July 31st, but then my grocery store swapped their payment terminals and they support neither Android Pay nor Apple Pay (they're supposed to, it just doesn't fucking work). I didn't heat the quota, and didn't get the $xx cash back bonus. Fuck it.

    8. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      this is so ironic. maybe you don't remember the world before the iphone? i do.

      there were clamshell/flip phones (dumb phones), and an experimental Windows smartphone that sucked. It didn't have a touchscreen, or gorilla glass, or accelerometers, or GPS receivers, or an app store, or real-time mapping directions, or a light sensor, or a digital camera.

      then the iphone came out, and it had ALL of those, and it was futuristic! it blew people's minds.

      then quickly Google bought Android and released it, and we started seeing phones with ALL of those features. now i'm NOT saying apple INVENTED those features, but when they released the first iphone they certainly were the bleeding edge of technology.

      so let's give credit where credit is due.

    9. Re:So, basically... by markdavis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      >"So Android stole a bunch of ideas from other technologies (none of these are original to Android) and you get your panties in a bunch about your best girl being molested by Apple? Fucking wow."

      Most everyone using Android phones KNOWS that companies constantly copy and cross-license and evolve. It just seems to be the Apple fans that mostly think that only Apple "innovates" and it becomes necessary to remind them that they copy just as much as anyone else does. If you like Apple products, that's great. And I am glad they exist, they have some great (but overly expensive) stuff. But those who go around acting like Apple stuff is God's gift to man often make me want to puke. Gotta make sure all those cases have the "cutout" so the Apple logo shows through to make sure everyone knows you have an iphone...

    10. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So many angry pro-apple nutballs in here. Its just consumer electronics company; no need to be so defensive.

    11. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have a Snickers, psycho.

    12. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It doesn't matter if Apple or Android stole it. What matters is who stole it last, and that is almost always Apple.

    13. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ummmm the first phone didnt launch with an app store. It came later. And no GPS either. God jobs didnt even want 3rd party apps. You lose all credibility. Bad isheep.

    14. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You clearly don't know what you are talking about. The production WIndows smartphone I had in 2005 had a GPS, touchscreen and digital camera, and there were certainly navigation apps available for it that could give you real-time mapping directions. It didn't have gorilla glass, because the touchscreen was resistive, but there was an LG phone out several months before the iPhone that had that. It also didn't use accelerometers (which first emerged in a Korea market only Samsung phone around that same time), as the orientation was based on a microswitch that triggered when you slid the keyboard out. Microsoft didn't run an App Store, but numerous third parties did, but none of them walled you in so you had to use it.

      There were other companies pushing the limits of technology, Apple sat back and waited until the technology was ready, and timed their entry to the market just right to hit the wave that was already forming. Nothing they did was radically different in itself, but they did have a good overall package, and market timing.

    15. Re: So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Courageous, even.

    16. Re:So, basically... by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      The only people to make those arguments are the fucktards inhabiting slashdot, and other hellholes of that type. You are literally the most stupid and shit-headed person your parents ever met.

    17. Re:So, basically... by Dog-Cow · · Score: 0

      Apple fans don't talk like that at all. You've set up a straw man, and you've been raping it ever since. Fuck off and decapitate yourself, you retarded pile of shit.

    18. Re:So, basically... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Nintendo is the best because there's no Metroid on Xbox or Playstation.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    19. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL. You can tell on here when your post is 100% accurate when this douchebag has a tantrum over it.

    20. Re:So, basically... by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

      No, vim is better than Emacs, and anyone who disagrees must have a small penis.

      --
      "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    21. Re:So, basically... by clonehappy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I am an Apple fan. I am under no impression that most things they do are at all innovative. What they do, however, is implement things very well that are sometimes half-assed on other platforms.

      The reason I really enjoy my Apple devices isn't because they do anything that I can't do on other platforms, it's because things work consistently the way I'd expect, every time. If I want to hack things or run random binaries and experiment around with unproven technologies, I'll do it on my PC.

      When I need an appliance that operates as expected when I need it to, it's Apple all the way. I know that isn't what you want to hear, but it's the truth.

    22. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      THIS is how Apple fan-bois talk like. Especially when you offend their religion. Eventually they'll get tired of defending what can't be defended, at least publicly, and huddle in a mass and cry together (some Apple forum away from prying eyes)... we can call that mass a Jobsball. Well, off to UrbanDictionary to place an entry.

    23. Re:So, basically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL. You can tell on here when your post is 100% accurate when this douchebag has a tantrum over it.

      LOL, totally! Works with thefaketimcook too

    24. Re: So, basically... by Brockmire · · Score: 1

      You need to get out more. In my experience, the more technical illiterate a person is, the more they think the iPhone walks on water. Some of them don't even know there's something other than iPhones.

  2. "accidentally released" by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 2

    I seem to recall Apple benefiting greatly from the hype generated by accidental releases of specs or code in the past, and this makes me wonder if Apple isn't releasing such details, as Popeye would put it, "Akskidently on poipose."

    1. Re:"accidentally released" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Can you point to any actual proof of this happening? Hyping products up before they hit the market, especially when they hit the market and are sold out instantly, is usually counter productive.

    2. Re:"accidentally released" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is classic apple. They are all about buzz and propaganda. Got to keep the people talking about apple some how; if not how will the apple elite look down on everyone else?

    3. Re:"accidentally released" by schleimkeim · · Score: 1

      'leak' or 'accidentally released' are just new words for 'official press release'

  3. "Tap to wake" would definitely be useful by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    But "raise to wake" works pretty well already.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:"Tap to wake" would definitely be useful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not if you're as lazy as I am.

  4. Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Wonder if Apple is showing "courage" by tossing the fingerprint scanner in return for facial recognition. I've had Android devices that did facial recognition, even with the option of blinking eyes before the phone would unlock. It worked, but wasn't really convenient.

  5. Oh cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see Apple is finally coming up with features my Motorola Droid Turbo has had for a few years now.

    1. Re: Oh cool by Brockmire · · Score: 1

      Doesn't seem like you know what insecure means...

  6. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    With android all you need is a photograph of the persons face to unlock.

    Not so secure, eh?

    How much you want to bet Apple gets it right, again?

  7. Volume versus the bleeding edge by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the things that people forget when they complain that the iPhone isn't always on the bleeding edge is the supply chain issues. It's not that Apple cannot make a bleeding edge phone that works great. The "problem" they have is that they sell 200 million phones a year. So any feature they add to the iPhone they have to be able to source potentially 200 million copies of that hardware. For bleeding edge stuff that's often just not possible. That's not to say Apple couldn't be more aggressive than they have been but just remember the supply chain issues when you sell that many of any product.

    1. Re:Volume versus the bleeding edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what you are saying is that Apple is hosed when it comes to innovation?

    2. Re: Volume versus the bleeding edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They don't want to overwhelm the sheepies. There's always next one and moo will get it.

    3. Re:Volume versus the bleeding edge by vux984 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      One of the things that people forget when they complain that the iPhone isn't always on the bleeding edge is the supply chain issues.

      They don't sell 200 million of the iphone 7 plus 256GB though; nor even 200 million iphone 7 plus.

      The iphone 7 plus is just 40% of all iphone 7 sales. iphone *7* sales, not iphone sales which also include 6S, 6S Plus, and SE. The SE by itself is around 25% of all iphone sales. So the iphone 7 plus is just 40% of iphone 7 which is likely less than half all iphone sales; so we're down to 30-40 million units a year. That's a lot, but Samsung flagship phones all achieved those kinds of numbers.

      If they want to get some bleeding edge tech on their phones, they can just restrict it to their top line SKUs, or introduce an even higher end sku where supply chain issues would be an issue. (But simply bundling anything supply chain constrained with their largest storage skus would more than do it. They make up just a fraction of the total unit sell through; and would bring the numbers down comfortably into the low millions.

    4. Re:Volume versus the bleeding edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But why would they bother? Do people actually care about it?

      Considering the shabby quality and longevity of a lot of high-end Android kit, I'm glad they don't. Perfectly happy with my iPhone 7+.

    5. Re:Volume versus the bleeding edge by TFlan91 · · Score: 1

      I whole heartedly agree with this statement that they could ship more bleeding edge because the true unit/model is much lower, however, after hardware you must think about software.

      Can you show me a better mobile device vendor than Apple when it comes to keeping their older generation devices up-to-date and still functional?

      With all the new hardware comes new software to support it, if every generation has half a dozen new nik-naks or a dozen semi-new nik-naks but operating just every so differently, well, then supporting older devices makes life that much harder.

      The reason there are so many Apply fanboys out there (my wife is one, I am not), is because when it comes down to it, their devices last longer and are supported longer, giving them that sense of loyalty, that their money wasn't actually wasted as they watch their friends cycle through 2 or 3 phones before they get their next one.

      Disclaimer: I used to have an iPhone, then got a One Plus One, when that broke ~two yrs ago, I never bought a new phone. 2 yrs without a (physical) phone

  8. Attention detection? Ads? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long until this is offered through an API, to detect whether you're paying attention to ads?

    1. Re:Attention detection? Ads? by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      How long until this is offered through an API, to detect whether you're paying attention to ads?

      Day 0, duh. That's the primary purpose of this feature.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    2. Re:Attention detection? Ads? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Now we'll really be able to punch the monkey!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  9. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    I care less about how this impacts unlocking the phone... what's more important is how they'll handle Apple Pay if there's no fingerprint scanner.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  10. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Freischutz · · Score: 5, Informative

    With android all you need is a photograph of the persons face to unlock.

    Not so secure, eh?

    How much you want to bet Apple gets it right, again?

    I don't think it will be as simple to crack this as it was to crack that Android feature. Apple is reportedly adding a 3D scanner which is a key component when doing hard-to-crack facial recognition and which would defeat something as simple as snapping a photo of your mark with your iPad (you being an evil Apple user of course) and then using it to unlock his Android phone. So let's just wait and see how Apple does with this. They seem to have done OK with their fingerprint scanner, at least I have not seen any reports of mobile phone thieves lifting people's fingerprints off their stolen iPhones on an industrial scale and then spending a few hours making latex fingerprint casts and using them to unlock iPhones. In the mean time, if it really pans out that Apple is adding a 3D scanner to the iPhone I can't wait to see what other things that scanner can do. If it can scan a face it should be able to scan objects which opens up interesting possibilities for 3D printing. At the very least, if this feature turns out to be reasonably hard to crack it would make for a quick and easy to use one half of a very effective two factor login procedure.

  11. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I pocket pick your phone. Point it at you from a distance. Phone unlocks. I disable iFaceUnlock. My phone now.
    At this point they are just adding lame gimmicks to sell more crap.

  12. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > I do some stuff. I point it at you. It doesn't work. I pretend it does. I won, right?

  13. Re: Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A 3D scanner on a phone being of any use for 3D printing... mmkay.
    I bet you are one of those that believe its possible to actually have a real conversation with Siri.

  14. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As the GP said, there was an option to require a blink before unlocking, which isn't so easily defeated by a photo (though a video will still work if they blink during the video, presumably).

  15. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    With android all you need is a photograph of the persons face to unlock.

    With Android you need no such thing. With a select set of phones from a select set of manufactures you do.

    How much you want to bet Apple gets it right, again?

    Yep. It is very easy to copy successful implementations of a feature. Apple will get far more right now that they have stopped innovating and let the rest of the market do the heavy lifting for them.

    Except the headphone jack, they are on the forefront of that brilliant move.

  16. Again on the bleeding edge. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So they're implementing a feature (tap to wake) that I've had on my LG G3 for the past 3 years. That's amazing.

    1. Re:Again on the bleeding edge. by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I've had that feature since I was about two years old. Strangely enough, nearing 45, that feature seems to be hit-or-miss for the last few years. Still waiting for a firmware upgrade.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re: Again on the bleeding edge. by Brockmire · · Score: 1

      Yes, but nobody gives a fuck about you.

  17. New iPhone, bah by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    How about a decent LCD display for the MacBook Air? No need for retina, just something better than TN for crying out loud. I already hear replies: get a MacBook! Well, the MacBook sucks. It's too expensive, way too slow, there's only two USB-C ports that fit a real-world usage in 2027 and their new butterfly keyboard sucks, v2 even more so.

    Oh, and stop being so cheap with the freakin' RAM. Give us an option for 16GB in the MacBook Air.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  18. Re:I have a tap to wake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now here is an Apple owner that didn't have issues "coming out" to his parents!

  19. Re:Courage! No fingerprint scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Could a 3D scanner take images of two sides of a key and then use those images to make a copy?

    Prepare for a new wave of criminal schemes.