New blinged-up 'iPhone 5S' touted by Jobs FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE The next-generation iPhone, one of the last devices conceived by Apple godhead Steve Jobs before his death, will hit the shelves on 10 September, according to fresh rumours. The new spin of the iOS smartphone, expected to be called the 5S, could sport a gaudy "champagne gold" coloured case, as well as the usual white or black …
"Future Imperfect"?
Hahaha, reminds me of an episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The way it is written up makes it seem the Phone has "parallels" (no relation to a VM, unless it is somehow tied in to parallel universes, which brings up the ST: TNG "Parallels" episode...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Imperfect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)
Funny how a blinged-up phone could be a "future charade", too.
Think of other blinged up phones, there may be some parallels. After all, Ryker and Worf had a nexus of "birthday" surprises. Maybe the iPhone will experience a "birthday" and alternate uniwerse, too?
Managed to drag Trek into this, but haven't considered any "communicator", PADD, VISOR, or fancy watch angles...
>There will be no fingerprint sensor. Its just rumors, smoke and mirrors
Apple bought AuthenTec for this purpose and iOS7 has a BiometricKitUI. It's not rocket science, you can pick up self-contained USB finger scanners for around $20 in bulk.
Nonetheless I'd rather phone builders waited until cheap sensors can tell the difference between a living thumb and a severed one.
"Nonetheless I'd rather phone builders waited until cheap sensors can tell the difference between a living thumb and a severed one."
And more importantly a gummi bear. Fingerprint technology will never be more secure than writing your password on a post it note attached to the device, your car, your home, your knife and fork at lunch etc. unless used in conjunction with some other factor.
Doesn't necessarily mean this one won't. If it does, and Android phones follow by adding this as well, Apple haters could console themselves with the fact that not only was Apple not the first to put a fingerprint sensor on a phone (the Motorola Atrix had a swipe sensor on the side of the phone a couple years ago) but also wouldn't have invented the technology used in the 5S, but rather acquired it through the purchase of Authentec.
The main problem with the fingerprint sensors found in a lot of laptops (and at least the Motorola Atrix a couple years ago as far as phones go) is that they were the 'swipe' type, which are far less accurate, but are also much less expensive, which is why they get slapped onto cheap laptops and phones. The bigger problem for a phone is that they require a separate motion. If Apple could add a fingerprint sensor to the home button which you're pressing already, it could unlock your phone automatically with no need for a password (or for added security in addition to the password) People like me who have a password only after a period of inactivity, rather than for every unlock, because it is too much of a pain that way, could have the security enabled all the time.
Saving that extra second it takes to type in your unlock password isn't really worth much unless it improves security. While some of the schemes the Mythbusters used to lift prints and bypass fingerprint readers would likely work on this too (unless Authentec made some real breakthroughs) they're enough of a pain most people won't do them to snoop in a friend's/SO's phone. So a phone with a fingerprint sensor would be more secure from casual snooping than one using a PIN/password since the latter is pretty easy to figure out if you watch someone unlock their phone very often.
Those who really care about security would use BOTH the fingerprint and a password, which would raise the bar for anyone trying to access your phone. Though the fact you will leave your phone covered in fingerprints would not help if rather than a street criminal you and your phone were specifically targeted by thieves who badly wanted access to something contained in it!
"Saving that extra second it takes to type in your unlock password isn't really worth much unless it improves security."
When I have a passcode on my phone, it takes me long enough to enter it and I do it often enough that I just turn it off unless I'm going to be in a situation where my phone is likely to be stolen. (Crowded sporting event, etc.) I would happily even pay $50-$100 extra for an iPhone with a fingerprint sensor if it allowed me to have some modicum of security without the inconvenience of entering a code.
Really I just need the security to be strong enough to prevent a thief from turning off the "Find my iPhone" service before I'm able to send the remote wipe command. I don't care if the fingerprint sensor is military grade.
How to be an evil overlord, rule 66:
My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.
To be honest, if they're at the state that a fingerprint sensor is a headline feature, that says it all. (Android phones added face-unlock, but this was just one of a long list of features, and I don't believe was ever a flagship or marketed feature of the Android smartphones.)
But then, after basic features like apps, multitasking or speech recognition being flagship features of earlier iphones, it wouldn't surprise me that this is the main new addition of the 5S/6/5GS/whatever.
Well the advances made in the 10 years to 2010 didn't result in anything more usable or reliable than the ones in 2000.
You think there has been more significant progress in the 3 years since ? And Apple the only/first ones to realise and put it in their phones ? Given that technology in iPhones tends to lag wider applications somewhat ?
I'll have two of whatever you're drinking.
I've heard a rumour that there will be a rotary DIAL on this one. You put your finger in one of the holes corresponding to a number and rotate it to select that number. Some will be marked up with letters too, eg for the letter S, you would put your finger in that hole and rotate the dial much like with a number. After that you will feel a complete S hole.....
The next-generation iC Phone, one of the last devices conceived by Apple godhead Steve Jobs before his death, will hit the shelves on the 42nd Septober, according to fresh rumours.
The new spin of the iCOS smartphone, expected to be called the 35S, could sport a gaudy "white" colored case, as well as the usual see-through ‘i’ implant, Brazilian Robotics site Porcaria claimed.
Even though Jobs shuffled off this mortal coil almost two decades ago, Apple has continued to release new iStuff devised by the billionaire baron during his gilded reign…
"I was thinking more along the Hari Seldon line. He reappears every now and again in front of the Apple board in the form of a pre-recorded messages to help guide the righteous through the dark barbarism brought about by the rise of Android."
i like that.
But what I'm really imagining is a Futurama head-in-a-jar
I was thinking the Immortal Emperor from Battletech/Earthsiege/Starsiege, but then I played waaaaay too much Starsiege as a kid.
Wait, what am I saying? It's impossible to play too much Starsiege. Hell, I hooked a Steel Battalion controller into my PC for that game.
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technically, isn't it El Reg that is still using Steve Jobs?
Apple haven't released any press announcements about the phone, so not sure why you're accusing them of using his name. The idea that Jobs is actively promoting the product is pure speculation on behalf of The Register to get more click-through and advertising revenue.
""But with shareholders concerned that the fruity firm has stopped innovating"
Hardly surprising! Fingerprint sensors are decades old!"
Well I am a shareholder and I am not at all concerned.
Tell me obviously!, has any manufacturer actually attempted and succeeded in fitting a finger print sensor toa mobile phone? I mean, in all these decades? Perhaps they were/are too unreliable until now? Perhaps only Apple has been willing to engineer or pay to have the engineering done? Perhaps you are a moron ...
And anyway, whatever happened to all the NFC hype. It seems that it has died and no one is now claiming Apple will include it and who is to blame them, NFC--> WAP all over again.
With figures showing the faithful are not as enamoured with Jobs' fruit-farm produce as they may have been 5 years ago, they need a bit of marketing push to get them back through the doors of those very expensive Apple stores that much cost a bomb to rent. What better way than to say he was such a genius he left some old style Da-Vinci sketches in only-just-discovered notebooks they found behind his fridge!
Definition of tout (v)
tout
[ towt ]
2. attract customers: to try to attract customers or support, especially in an aggressive or persistent way
3. try to sell something: to advertise or offer something for sale
I put it to you that Steve Jobs is actually doing neither of those things. The headline is utter balderdash!
“But the sheer numbers sold suggest they're getting something right.
Or do you know better?”
Numbers do not mean the product is good, I would point out this section from the Wikipedia entry for bestselling singles
“Elvis Presley and Katy Perry have six entries each, and Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Flo Rida and Britney Spears, each appear five times”
Add that to the fact Celine Dion sold 15 million copies of ‘My Heart will go on’ and I think your argument is invalid.
Well that's the people overrating it!
Or even so, by numbers, it's still overrated and overhyped - more coverage should be given to still Nokia, and especially Samsung.
A multinational company gets "something right"? Is that your goalpost-moving argument? Well amazing, give them a medal!
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You people will never learn. Apple promises nothing. All this hype is media driven. The media drives the hype that puts Apple on a pedestal that is so high in the hopes that critics will knock them down.Consumers/critics can't help but be disappointed. Apple doesn't promise anything. I admit that there products are expensive, but they are good quality and Apple knows that there are people willing to pay, It's called capitalism. Tell me you wouldn't do the same if you were in the same situatuion. I don't speculate on rumors or what might be, I wait until I see it in front of me and try it for myself before making judgement.
Not so much a case of making it harder to steal stuff as making it easier for the legitimate user to get in.
Rather than having to type your PIN number/password in (and perhaps getting it wrong or forgetting it) then the act of touching the home button with your finger of choice would recognise you and let you in. Minimal intrusion into the task you had in mind and maximum time doing what you wanted.
This all comes down to how well they've implented the technology (I had an old iPaq with a fingerprint scanner that was a liability because it was so slow and fussy about the way it read your prints), but it could be quite handy.
>>Seems a bit pointless. Remembering a password/pin is something people are used to doing.
Again, it's a convenience feature. How long does it take you to enter your password/PIN and how often do you do it every single day?
I probably unlock my phone dozens of times per day. I'd be willing to pay extra to cut down the time it takes me to do so.
There are a couple of things a fingerprint scanner has over other forms of security.
The first one is that it's much much less likely that someone will remove your finger to get into your phone than look over your shoulder while you type your PIN.
The second one is it's easier.
I had a Motorola Atrix, and I found the fingerprint scanner the best part of it. That one was buile into the power button. Unlocking with a fingerprint was no more difficult than having no lock, once you got the hang of it. PIN or password, or pattern unlock, all take more effort and more time to get into your phone.
I'd love to have that feature again. I wont be buying an iPhone to get it, though.
According to the tech titan's government liaison Michael Foulkes, Jobs oversaw the design of two models of iPhone to go on sale after his death.
Well that's typical Apple innovation right there. Still using designs from a dead CEO means they're revolutionary and super advanced and ahead of the curve, right?
"Right, because technology never advances and nobody could possibly improve on a fingerprint sensor from 2000."
Not really. I saw a machine (probably from around 2000) with a fingerprint sensor. It worked perfectly well. It's just that it's 100% a gimmick, people are like "Oh that's cool" then go back to traditional methods. (On the desktop, either straight to desktop or username & password.)
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