Apple HomePod smart speaker could be getting a major new feature in the next-generation model and reports revealing that information has now started surfacing online.

If the latest reports are to be believed, then the Cupertino-based technology giant is working on a revamped HomePod smart speaker which will act as a smart display with a built-in camera.

It is also being claimed that the next-generation HomePod with support for Face ID could come powered by the company’s own tvOS. The report adds that Apple is planning to add a built-in camera to the speaker for handling FaceTime conversations.

Being a smart speaker with a display and a camera, the next-generation model could compete against the likes of Google Nest Hub Max and the Amazon Echo Show, both of which are smart speakers with a display, camera, and a voice assistant.

While there are reports about this new HomePod with Face ID powered by tvOS, there’s not much information available at this time. Even the launch timeline of such a product remains unknown. Thus, it is highly unlikely to get unveiled at WWDC this year but the company could tease such a product at WWDC or reveal some more information about it.

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Researchers at Cornell University have invented an earphone that can continuously track full facial expressions, even when the face is covered by a mask. The ear-mounted device, named C-Face, works by observing the contour of the cheeks and then translates the expressions into emojis or speech commands.

Using the C-Face device, users can express emotions to online collaborators without holding cameras in front of their faces. This seems like a useful tool for communication, especially at a time when the world is engaged in remote work or learning because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Cheng Zhang, Assistant Professor of Information Science and Senior Author of this research has said that “this device is simpler, less obtrusive and more capable than any existing ear-mounted wearable technologies for tracking facial expressions.”

As the device works by detecting muscle movement, C-Face can capture facial expressions even when users are wearing masks. It can also be used to direct a computer system, such as a music player, just by using only facial cues.

EDITOR’S PICK: A Samsung Display design patent reveals a third possible foldable form factor for smartphones

Using the device, avatars in virtual reality environments can express how their users are actually feeling, and instructors can also get valuable information about student engagement during online lessons.

As for its working, once the images are captured, they are reconstructed using computer vision and a deep learning model. Then, a convolutional neural network – an AI model for classifying, detecting, and retrieving images, reconstructs the contours into expressions.

It translates the images of cheeks to 42 facial feature points, or landmarks, which represents the shapes and positions of the mouth, eyes, and eyebrows since those features are the most affected by changes in expression.

The researchers tested the C-Face device on nine participants and the average error of the reconstructed landmarks was under 0.8 mm. They also found that emoji recognition was more than 88 percent accurate and silent speech was nearly 85 percent accurate.

UP NEXT: Huawei plans on creating more jobs and raising investments in foreign markets

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According to a new rule, any Chinese citizen registering for a new SIM card must submit facial recognition scans starting this Sunday. So for those that wish to register their new smartphones with their telecom operators in China, must now send facial scans from their devices to the said operator.

The guidelines were initial issued in September and require telecom companies to check the identities of individuals registering SIM cards through facial recognition and other technical methods. Notably, physical stores of the telecom operators had until 1st December to begin implementing the new standards in China.

The ministry of industry and information of China has described the new measures as a means to “protect the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace.” But, this also makes the Chinese smartphone and internet users much easier to track and identify. At present, Chinese citizens already need to provide identity cards or passports to register a new SIM card. Furthermore, numerous social media platforms also require users to sign up with their “real-name-identities” via their phone numbers.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung to set up a new Chip Plant in Vietnam?

The new rule has already started raising security and privacy concerns as it employs in a wide field ranging from middle schools, concert venues to even public transport. Additionally, general unrest has plagued the public in regard to this decision due to the uncertainty of its regulations and standards; with lawsuits against the measure already surfacing.

The ministry has said the rule will protect citizens from phone scams and prevent the reselling of SIM cards as part of cybersecurity and anti-terrorism campaigns in China. However, human rights advocates described the new rule as another step towards a “dystopian surveillance state” where citizens are constantly monitored for dissent or signs of unrest.

UP NEXT: BOE AMOLED production to rise by 200% reaching 70 million units in 2020

(Via)

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India is well on its way to implement the world’s largest facial recognition program. The last date of tender submission for the National Automated Facial Recognition System, AFRS for short, is barely 16 days away. The AFRS is the initiative of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The bidding process commenced on July 8 and will accept offers until November 8. The results will be declared on Nov. 8.

According to the NCRB’s 172-page memo, “This is an effort to modernize and unify the nation’s police forces by creating a single database. This initiative will help with identifying criminals, gathering information, verification, and cooperation between various law enforcement agencies”. The program will benefit the Home Ministry and the NCRB to track and nab known criminals.

Apart from tracking down criminals, the program will also help with identifying missing people, children and unclaimed dead bodies around the country. AFRS will be tasked with detecting crime patterns and identifying the modus operandi of criminals across India. The software will then share the information with the local law enforcement officers, helping their efforts in crime prevention.

The most reliable facial recognition programs currently used worldwide include Amazon’s Rekognition, Lambda Lab’s Face Recognition and Face Detection, Google’s Cloud Vision, Microsoft’s Face API, and IBM’s Watson Visual Recognition. China has its own lineup of applications like Megvii, CloudWalk, SenseTime, and Yitu. During the trial run in India last April, the Delhi Police identified almost 3,000 missing children in four days using a facial recognition system.

Like with any new technology, there are concerns related to its misuse. According to a statement issued recently to IANS, Pavan Duggal, one of India’s top cyber law experts said, “The Information Act, 2000 does not have a specific law governing the use of facial recognition. The first casualty of the lack of governance will be people’s right to privacy”.

“India does not yet have a framework or regulatory body to govern the storage of facial recognition data. Some of the stalwarts in the area like Amazon and Microsoft also agree that the use of facial recognition needs to be governed. Microsoft’s President Brad Smith has urged the government to form legislation regarding the use of facial recognition technology. According to Smith in his new book titled ‘Tools and Weapons’, “The IT veterans need to step up their game and address the challenges regarding regulatory norms”.

“Considering the technology’s potential for abuse, governments around the world need to start creating laws in 2019”, Smith said in an interview last year. “Unless we act now, we risk having to deal with the liabilities of facial recognition technologies five years into the future”. Smith had further warned in a blog. In his statement, last December, Smith added, “The mass scale use of facial recognition technology by the governments will inevitably invade people’s civil rights”. Amazon came out in support of Rekognition, its facial recognition software, which has been successfully used to identify criminals in the past.

According to the official statement released by the NCRB, “The AFRS will dramatically reduce crime rates in India by automatically identifying people of interest from digital photographs, sketches, video frames, and CCTV footage and comparing their facial features against the existing database. Facial recognition software is an essential tool for identifying criminals, missing children and people. It assists the investigating officers by providing the correct information and technology before it is too late”.

UP NEXT: China home to most startups with over $ 1 billion evaluation, U.S second and India third

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China’s Baidu as unveiled a cat shelter that it built to care for stray cats and the shelter incorporates two innovative technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and facial recognition. The internet giant says the project was instigated by one of its employees Wan Xi who discovered a small cat sheltering under his car last winter. The employee took the cat to a vet and then resolved to deploy his technological know-how to help improve the situation for other stray cats.

The shelter is equipped with several facilities such as regular dispatches of food and water, a warm space to sleep and even toys to keep the cat company. The standout feature is the technological add-ons which ensure only cats can get in. One of such is the facial recognition to grant the cat access to the shelter. The shelter has a glass door which slides open when a cat is t the front. The facial recognition also checks if the cat has any disease and assess whether or not they’ve been neutered. Where it is identified to be a sick cat, a message is sent to a nearby volunteer organization that looks after stray animals to come and administer the required help. There was no mention of the number of cats the shelter can hold at a time.

Read Also: Baidu’s Raven H & R Smart Speaker & Robot Make Google Home & Amazon Echo Look Boring

This is likely a pilot project and the innovation could be of immense usefulness in China were cats are popular pets. It is also common to see stray cats with such a large population of cat lovers.

(source)

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Facial recognition is cropping up everywhere. From shopping malls to the workplace, it’s likely you get your face scanned by something daily. But rather than intruding your privacy, facial recognition is supposed to protect digital life from pries. Forbes has newly used a 3D printed head modelled after the author’s head to test different series of smartphone face-recognition systems. The 3D head model was printed at Backface in Birmingham, U.K., in a dome-like studio that contains 50 cameras. Altogether, they combine to take a single shot which makes up a full 3D image. It took a few days to produce a final model which cost over £300. 

If you’re an Android customer, though, look away from your screen now. We tested four of the hottest handsets running Google’s Android operating systems and Apple’s iPhone to see how convenient it’d be to penetrate into them. It was achieved with just a 3D-printed head. All of the Androids unlocked with the fake model. But however, Apple’s phone was impenetrable. The Android phones tested included the Samsung S9, Samsung Note 8, LG G7 ThinQ, and OnePlus 6.

Read Also: Apple working on in-house modem for iPhones, but don’t expect it to launch soon

The facial recognition on many Android phones is less secure when compared to Apple’s Face ID system. Just a simple photograph has been used to trick some of those face recognition systems. Apple’s Face ID, however, uses an infrared camera, an attention awareness technology, a depth sensor and a dot projector to map out 30,000 points on your face creating an artificial 3D scan and making it more secure. With the attention awareness feature alone, this is enough to explain the inability for a static 3D printed head to unlock the iPhone X. That said, the iPhone X’s Face ID has been fooled in the past with more complex printed 3D heads. Thus, it is best not to rely on Face ID entirely for digital security.

(via)

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China is known for its strict privacy and surveillance rules but the world’s most populated country has taken it to another level. Security operatives have begun using smart glasses equipped with facial recognition technology to identify citizens.

With a database of citizens, the police will be able to identify culprits, missing persons, or crime witnesses by scanning the faces in a crowd. At the moment, China has CCTV cameras that can identify citizens and even track their movements around places, so authorities will basically use the smart glasses in areas where there are no cameras available or to speed up identification.

The glasses are made by LLVision Technology Co., a Beijing-based company, but are currently in use at Zhengzhou, a large city in east-central China. They are used by officers in train stations to scan those traveling for the Chinese New Year Holiday. Report has it that seven suspects have been nabbed as well as 26 persons travelling with forged identifications.

The glasses which are priced at ¥3999 (~$636) per unit, uses a combination of AI and an offline database of 10,000 suspects. It is able to identify suspects in just 100 milliseconds. It can also connect online to update the database at intervals.

READ MORE: Alexa AR Smartglasses Unveiling at CES 2018 This Week

While the Chinese government has a good reason for the use of this new identification system, there are those who criticize the move. One of such is Amnesty International. A researcher at the NGO, William Nee says this will only help grow the country’s invasive surveillance. There are concerns that the Chinese government or any other person that gets their hands on the technology can monitor the movement of any citizen.

(Sources: 1, 2)

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OnePlus 5T was released just a few weeks back and it came with an amazing full screen display. But along with the screen, one of the highlights of the new device was its facial unlock feature. The company managed to add facial recognition to the new flagship without using any fancy hardware — just the regular smartphone front camera. The tech surprisingly works pretty well and while its not as accurate as other tech like that on the iPhone X, its still a great way to unlock your smartphone on a daily basis.

But it turns out, the facial recognition tech being used on the OnePlus 5T could be infringing atleast one patent from SensibleVision, a company specialising in facial recognition and biometric authentication. While talking to mysmartprice, George Brostoff, SensibleVision co-founder and CEO revealed that OnePlus could be infringing on the company’s illumination patent.

But it remains to be seen whether SensibleVision aims to take matters to court. In his conversation with mysmartprice, George revealed that the company has not licensed their patents to OnePlus. But even if the Chinese company is found to be using a similar tech as SensibleVision, it will be hard for the case to hold up considering how the phone relies on just the front camera and its display for facial unlock.

Another thing, Mysmartprice notes that taking the legal route might not be in the best interest for SensibleVision. Many of their patents are licensed in the US and even if OnePlus was found to be infringing on their patents, it would not make sense financially as the settlement payment would be quite less considering OnePlus’ limited reach in the US market.

(Source, Via)

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Meizu’s head of global marketing, Ard Boudeling took to Twitter to give us a hint about what the company is working on.

According to the tweet, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is working together with Taiwan’s MediaTek on the “best facial recognition technology on smartphones.” It is no surprise that both companies have formed a partnership as one can almost say Meizu is MediaTek’s best buddy in the smartphone industry. The Pro 7 Plus is proof of this friendship as it is the only phone in the market powered by the Helio X30.

Facial recognition is the new rave in the smartphone industry. It is an alternative biometric feature to fingerprint scanning and manufacturers are working on making it equally secure and fast. Apple already debuted its own facial recognition technology called Face ID on the new iPhone X and we expect more manufacturers will join the train next year.

We're working together with @MediaTek to create the best facial recognition technology on smartphones. We hope to show you in 2018. pic.twitter.com/lYnFXMtblL

— Ard Boudeling (@ArdCB) October 30, 2017

The tweet also says that the technology will be shown to the public in 2018. While there is no mention of the exact quarter, we presume the technology will show up first on a flagship device. Maybe the Meizu Pro 8.

READ MORE: Renders & Schematics of Likely Meizu X2 Spotted At The Chinese Patent Office

Meizu has made great strides this year. Its Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus feature dual displays in a unique design we have never seen in the industry. It also released its first Snapdragon-powered smartphone, the M6 Note this year. We are keen to see what it has in store for us for 2018.

(Source)

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Just like 18:9 displays, facial recognition is one of the features manufacturers are adding to phones this year. While the tech has gained popularity in the past few months, it’s worth mentioning that facial recognition has been found on smartphones for years.

The iPhone X may have made it popular but it has been available on Android debuting with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, though not as advanced and secure as that of the iPhone X.

Facial Recognition on Android

Setting up face unlock on Android back then was fairly simple. After accessing the menu under settings, you will be required to set up your face by positioning it within a dotted circle and the front facing camera would capture your facial details. To increase accuracy, you will be required to try it under different lighting conditions and under different conditions (glasses on/off, hat on etc).

There was a caveat though, Google knew it wasn’t secure enough, so you were asked to set up an alternative security lock. And now, most manufacturers don’t even bother to include the feature anymore, ever since fingerprint scanners have become mainstream.

On my OnePlus 3T, all you have is swipe, pattern, PIN, and password, in addition to fingerprint recognition. The Zoji Z6, which acts as my secondary phone, adds voice unlock along with the above mentioned security features.

Iris Recognition

But that wasn’t the end of face unlock. While it took a break, manufacturers branched into something else – Iris Recognition.
The first phone to come with an iris scanner was the Fujitsu ARROWS NX-F04G. It was released in 2015 and made use of an IR LED for illuminating the pattern of the iris, which according to research doesn’t change after the age of two years; and an IR camera for  capturing the pattern.

The image is then stored in the database and used to compare against that of the person who wants to unlock the phone. At the end of 2015, Microsoft released the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, joining Fujitsu, as smartphones with Iris scanners.

Nearly a year later, Samsung joined the short list with the ill-fated Galaxy Note7. This year, Samsung launched the Galaxy S8 and S8+ and both of them have iris scanners. Samsung touted them as being airtight and you could even use it for payment, just the way you used the fingerprint scanner.

However, the guys at Chaos Computer Club (CCC), a European hacker association didn’t like the way Samsung bragged about its security and decided to disprove their claim. They were able to fool the scanner.

How they did it was actually pretty simple.

All they had to do was take a picture of the owner’s eye using a 200mm lens from 15 feet away. Then they had it printed out on paper and covered it with wet contact lens to imitate the curvature of real eyes. After pointing the phone towards it, it unlocked the device.

CCC in its official article says it will be even easier to unlock with the tons of high resolution selfies on the internet, so you might not need to even take a picture of the owner of the phone. Their suggestion is to use a PIN as it is more secure than biometric scanners.

Windows Hello Facial Recognition

Back to Facial Recognition. Microsoft announced Windows Hello the same year as the company announced the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, which is a windows 10 biometric technology system that includes the iris scanner on the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, the fingerprint reader on windows 10 laptops, and facial recognition on the Surface Book laptop and the Surface Pro 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ3W2YABZzo

Both the surface book and laptop feature a near IR sensor that does the capturing and is more effective under varying light conditions.

So how does Windows Hello face recognition work?

Using an algorithm, the face is detected in the camera stream. Facial landmark points such as the nose, eyes, and mouth are located. The algorithm also ensures that the user is facing the device at an angle of ±15 degrees.

The algorithm then uses the landmarks as anchor points and takes several samples of the face to build a representation. The result is a histogram representing the light and dark differences around specific areas. So, the image of the user is actually never stored.

Microsoft says the representation of the user in front of the PC is then compared to the one enrolled. And before it accepts it as a match, it has to cross a certain machine-learned threshold. This threshold increases if there are multiple users enrolled on the device.

Microsoft measures the accuracy of its facial recognition in three ways:
1. False positive – also called false acception rate (FAR), this is the likelihood of a random person who gains physical access to your PC being recognized as you. This number should be as low as possible and for Windows Hello, it is less than 0.001 or 1/100,000 FAR.

2. True positive – this is the likelihood of you being correctly matched to your enrolled profile. This number should be high and Windows Hello scores 95% for a single enrolled user.

3. False negative – is the likelihood of you being denied access even though your profile is enrolled and Microsoft says it is 5% for a single enrolled user.

Windows Hello works pretty well judging from the tons of videos on the internet. It cant be fooled by a photograph, it won’t unlock if your face is partially covered and it unlocks fast in the dark thanks to the near IR sensor.

Apple Face ID

Apple joined the facial recognition train this year with its iPhone X. The iPhone X doesn’t have Touch ID due to its bezel-less design and Apple didn’t want to put it on the back of the phone like a number of Android manufacturers do. Instead, it came up with Face ID, a facial recognition system it claims is more secure than TouchID.

Face ID captures your face with the aid of light projector and a bunch of sensors — Apple collectively refers to it as the TrueDepth Camera System.

The process the TrueDepth system uses to capture a 3D map of your face is explained below:

1.The proximity sensor and ambient light sensor help to determine the amount of illumination needed for face recognition.
2.The flood illuminator produces IR light to illuminate your face. The IR light is not visible to the human eye and and works effectively in poorly illuminated or even bright areas (outdoors).
3. The dot projector produces tens of thousands dots of IR light to create a 3D map of your face.
4. The infrared camera captures images of the dot pattern and the IR light reflected back by your face.

The recognition process is similar to that of other biometric ones – compare the stored template against the presented pattern (verification image) and see if it is a match. The stored template and verification image won’t be the same since the capture conditions will always be different, so it uses a threshold to grant access.

The threshold score is said to be between 0 and 1. If the score is closer to 1 then it is the same face (or biometric) and if it is closer to 0, then it is not the same person.

Apple explains the step for verification:
1. IR images are sent from the camera to the phone’s neural engine to build a 3D map of the face.
2. The map is compared against the stored template.
3. The processor calculates if the verification and stored templates match based on a comparison score of the similarity between your images.
4. Phone unlocks if the comparison score is higher than a certain threshold value.

So what happens if your facial appearance changes, say you grow a beard, shave your moustache, or apply makeup?
Apple says that FaceID continually updates the stored model by occasionally saving images from successful login maps. So it kind of a continuous enrollment.

READ MORE: GizmoChina Explains: How Does An eSIM Work?

How secure is Face ID?

According to Apple, the probability of a random person unlocking your iPhone X is 1 in 1,000,000 which is way higher than Touch ID’s 1 in 50,000. It however differs for twins and siblings that share the same physical features or even siblings under 13 whose distinct features are not fully developed. Apple suggests using a pass-code for authentication in this case.

Bottom line is that Face ID or any form of facial recognition isn’t foolproof, but unlike the basic model of facial recognition, Windows Hello and Face ID provide a much more secure way of keeping your device protected.

As the technology develops, facial recognition could potentially be our biometric verification standard on smartphones and other gadgets. Apple took the leap skipping TouchID in favour of Face ID, and other manufacturers could follow suit.

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When a Facebook user is unable to sign in into his account, he can rely on the two-factor authentication that asks for a mobile phone number so that a confirmation code can be sent to it through SMS. It seems that apart from this method of regaining control of the account, Facebook will be soon provide another option of facial recognition to confirm the identity of the user for unlocking an account. Facebook has confirmed that it is currently testing the new account authentication feature.

According to Facebook, the facial recognition feature for verifying an account will be only available on those devices that users have already used to log in. Currently, it is testing it by making the feature available to a small number of users. If the feature proves to be reliable and cannot be fooled by hackers, it may be made available to wider audience. A screenshot of the new facial scanning feature has been shared by Matt Navarra from The Next Web.

NEW! Facebook working on a facial recognition feature to help secure your account

h/t Devesh Logendran pic.twitter.com/demol4dKj1

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) September 29, 2017

Read More: Kaspersky’s TaigaPhone that Prevents Google, Facebook from Spying on User Data to Release Soon in Russia

Here is how the facial recognition feature will work on Facebook. Users will be required to hold their phone to their face and then the Facebook app will scan the face and compare it with the tagged images and videos of the user that are present on the site. Once a match is found, the account will be unlocked.

For wider acceptance, Facebook will have to ensure that the facial scanning feature is highly reliable and it cannot be hacked by using a picture of a user. The company is not new to facial scanning technology as it has been using it for years when it makes suggestions for tagging. When a photo is uploaded on Facebook, it is automatically scanned to detect faces it recognizes from the profiles of friends and then it provides suggestions on tagging. In the previous year, Facebook had acquired a company called FacioMetrics, a facial recognition software company. Facebook had claimed that it had bought FacioMetrics to rival with SnapChat for adding effects to photos and videos.

Do you think Facebook’s facial recognition feature will be reliable and unhackable? Share us your thoughts by adding your comments below.

(source 1, 2)

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Apple’s latest iPhone X stood out for many reasons, one of them being that the device utilizes a full-screen bezel-less design. Another spectacular feature on iPhone X is the 3D facial recognition technology it features. Before the launch of the Apple flagship phone, the rumor mills were agog concerning the feature it would pack. It was also rumored that Xiaomi would feature the technology in its next flagship model. Looks like the 3D facial recognition technology will find its way into more smartphones than we thought next year.

News emanating from the Taiwan industry chain hint that Qualcomm is accelerating it SLiM 3D camera technology and would begin mass production in January next year as the technology is expected to debut right on schedule in Q1 2018. The report also reveals that the technology will be used on Samsung and Xiaomi who are tipped as already working rapidly on the phones that would utilize the technology. Xiaomi will be launching a successor to its Mi 6 flagship which would likely be known as Mi 7. The device is expected to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 System-on-chips and would also come with the required hardware to power the 3D Facial technology.

Qualcomm officially announced the Structured Light Module (SLiM) 3D solution which it developed in partnership with Himax on August 30. The SLiM technology is a turn-key 3D camera module that delivers real-time depth sensing and 3D point cloud generation with high resolution and high accuracy performance for indoor and outdoor environments. The module is engineered for very low power consumption in a compact, low profile form factor, making the solution ideal for embedded and mobile device integration. Apart from mobile phones, the 3D technology is expected to be used in cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, monitors and other fields.

Related: Xiaomi Developing 3D Facial Recognition For Its New Flagship: Report

Apart from the 3D Face ID, the Xiaomi Mi 7 will also come with a full-screen design and would see an upgrade to its dual cameras, among other features. Samsung had also been in the news lately, as the tech giant is fingered to be planning an early release for the Galaxy S9 next year. The next-gen flagship is expected to debut in January 2018 with Snapdragon 845, a repositioned fingerprint sensor, Android Oreo and more.

(source)

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Reports from China indicate that a KFC outlet in the city of Hangzhou now offers diners the option to pay for their meal with just a smile. Customers will be able to use a “Smile to Pay” facial recognition system at the tech-heavy, health-focused concept store, part of a drive by Yum China to lure a younger generation of consumers.

Yum China, which broke off from its US parent Yum Brands last year, remains the largest fast food chain in China with over 7685 outlets. The new outlet in Hangzhou, called KPRO, is targeting a younger generation of Chinese who are expected to drive the lion’s share of China’s consumption growth over the next decade. The franchise is trying to rev up growth in the world’s second largest economy, where food safety scares and changing consumer tastes have dented sales since 2012.

Read More: KFC Announces Huawei-Made Phone To Mark 30 Years in China

The new facial recognition technology at KFC Hangzhou outlet is the result of a collaboration with Ant Financial, which developed the facial recognition software. Alibaba affiliate Ant said this is the first commercial application of the technology worldwide. Diners can pay by scanning their faces at an ordering kiosk and entering a phone number which is meant to guard against people cheating the system. The system is based on Ant Financial’s digital payment platform Alipay, which has more than half a billion users worldwide and already allows people to sign into its Chinese app using their face. According to Ant, the KFC restaurant is the first physical store in the world to use facial recognition software to make payments. In addition, the technology is touted as being secure in that the software analyzes more than 600 facial features to make a match, and uses a 3D camera and a “liveness” algorithm to make sure people aren’t trying to fool it with photos or videos of someone else.

(source)

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Apple is expected to release its flagship iPhone 8 later this year but the device has repeatedly been dogged by rumours that the launch could be delayed as a result of some technical hitch. While that is yet to be clarified, a fresh rumor has emerged that the iPhone 8 would come with a dual camera setup up front which is capable of shooting 3D images. The dual cameras are also detailed to feature a special selfie portrait mode. This rumor emerged from Twitter tipster @VenyaGeskin1.

The front dual camera setup is in addition to the rear dual cameras the device is equally said to feature which would be similar to that of the dual camera-packing iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone 7 Plus also came with a portrait mode on its rear camera but this tie around it is said to be at the front with the same algorithm and landscaping. This no doubt would make the selfie camera output more beautiful and could see some selfie fans getting on the Apple train. The front camera is also said to have a 3D facial recognition technology developed by LG/Innotek which would make i the first smartphone in the world to have such.

Read More: iPhone 8 Renders Reveal Vertically Designed Dual Rear Cameras, No Touch ID Sensor

If the piling features which would be on the iPhone 8 should elicit your interest in the flagship, just know you’ll have  huge price tag to contend with on this one. Well, that’s if the latest rumor about the price is anything to go by. According to UBS analyst Steven Milunovich, the iPhone 8 could be priced at $870 for the base model while the top-end 256GB version would go up for as much as $1,070. We are not sure about that but since it is Apple, they can set the price so high and still there’ll be scarcity of the device.

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South Korean tabloid Korea Economic Daily has carried a report that the Samsung Galaxy S8 would come with an additional bio-metric feature which would work alongside the iris scanners which the Galaxy series were known to feature. According to the report, the new feature would be a facial recognition feature which is said to unlock he phone in less than 0.01 seconds.

This latest news is coming amidst talks of Apple’s own iPhone 8 packing a similar face scanner. The feature is said to be undergoing testing with the tech giant alleged to have commenced testing of the prototypes. If it turns out to be true, it brings the number of Samsung’s biometric features expected on the Galaxy S8 to three. There is the traditional rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, as well as the iris scanner and then the latest, which is the facial recognition. The report cited a Samsung official as stating that the additional biometric feature was prompted due to the limitations of the iris scanner which is slow.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S8 Clones Seen in China Ahead of Original Release

The Galaxy S8 is expected to be unveiled later this month while the sales would commence in April. A report had earlier emanated from Korea that Samsung is planning to make  up to 60 million units of the device available when sales commences. We expect it to come in very pricey but then, you don’t need to sell a kidney to get one, clones of the Galaxy S8 are already coming out from China. They sure would have very affordable price tags an similar looks with the original but e can’t vouch for their features, though.

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Human interface solution developer Synaptics has announced a new multi-factor biometric platform that can be used on smartphones, notebook PCs and tablets. The engine was developed in collaboration with KeyLemon, another facial recognition company.

The new platform is coming ahead of the CES 2017 and is said to use both fingerprint and facial recognition, thus allowing mobile devices to be unlocked in several ways, based on the user’s preference. Apart from the feature of unlocking the device, the platform also provides some level of security for financial transactions as well as unlocking of other sensitive information in the device because users will be required to go through two modes of authentication.

Read Also: Asus Could Beat Samsung & Xiaomi To Release The First Snapdragon 835 Flagship

One good thing about the system is that it features anti-spoof technology and uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to differentiate between the real owner of the device and any other imitation. So, it doesn’t only take note of the facial features but reflex actions like eye blinking and pattern of  head movement in order to prevent spoofing or imitation.

Synaptics has hinted that it seeks to expand the platform to include additional biometric and security factors. The company also went on to introduce a fingerprint sensor technology which allows for scanning of the fingerprint through glass, thus opening up the potential for button-free display designs with embedded fingerprint recognition sensors. This isn’t new though as we’ve already got the Xiaomi Mi 5S with underglass  ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.

Related: Synaptics Announces Its Own Under-Glass Fingerprint Scanner

Since Synaptics sells its patents and inventions to smartphone and tablet makers, the new technology could find its way inside smartphones in the near future. As to when exactly, that we cannot say.

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