Bloomberg: Apple altered Face ID spec to meet iPhone X targets

Ever since the iPhone X was announced, there’s been a rumor that the handset will be a rarer commodity than gold dust and the Venus de Milo’s arms, combined. That’s because the components used to build the device’s facial-recognition sensor are so complex that it’s been nearly impossible to mass-produce. Now, a report from Bloomberg believes that Apple has found a solution by “relaxing” the specifications for FaceID.

Face ID, if you’re unfamiliar, takes a series of sensors that are very similar to the ones found in the Kinect, and shrinks them down to the size of the iPhone X’s notorious notch. Such a feat of engineering was, according to the report, something of a surprise for Apple’s suppliers, who didn’t have the usual time to prepare to build them. But the dot projector, which uses lasers to illuminate a user’s face, is so precise that there’s no margin for error when building it.

Apple sets a famously high bar for its components, and pays top dollar to ensure it has the most reliable parts for its devices. During production of the projector modules, Bloomberg reports that only 20 percent of them were actually usable. The results prompted manufacturers to dramatically slow down their production lines in an attempt to improve the yield on the components. The report says that, crucially, Apple has “relaxed some of the specifications for Face ID.”

Of course, that’s not particularly clear, because either Apple has lowered the quality control tolerance for its components, or the accuracy of Face ID itself. Since all of these discussions are taking place behind closed doors, it’s hard to judge if the iPhone X will emerge to reduced expectations of technical brilliance or not. Although the report adds that even if FaceID’s standards were lowered, it would still be vastly more secure than Touch ID.

There’s also the long-standing issue that surrounds Apple’s ambitious plan to equip the iPhone X with an OLED display. Suppliers have often explained that there simply aren’t enough of the components to equip Apple, and believe the issue won’t be resolved until late in 2018. If you really really want to get an iPhone X before your friends, it’s likely that you’ll be spending a small fortune on one when they inevitably hit the grey market.

Source: Bloomberg

Amazon’s home security Cloud Cam is Alexa-enabled

Amazon has just unveiled its “Key” service for Prime members, and along with that it announced a new AWS cloud-powered surveillance camera. The infrared-capable Cloud Cam lets you confirm deliveries via the Key service and get custom notifications depending on the activities or people it spots. You can also control up to ten Cloud Cams and see specific views with your Echo device by saying “Alexa, show me the [camera name].”

Spec wise, it’s a pretty decent model for the price, giving you 1080p, night vision and eight infrared LEDs, two-way audio over Alexa (“tell your dog to stop barking,” Amazon suggests) and and free storage for clips. When the camera detects activity, it starts recording and sends an alert to the mobile app. For the price of the camera, you get recording and cloud storage of the last 24 hours of clips, for up to three cameras. The device will get smarter over time and adapt to your daily habits.

If you want more than that, you’ll need to get one of the subscription plans. The $6.99 per month ($69/year) Basic plan gives seven days of motion detection clips for three cameras, Extended ($9.99/$99) offers 14 days of clips for cameras, and the $19.99/$199 Pro plan gives you 30 days of clips for up to 10 cameras.

The subscription also gives you “Person Detection,” flagging human activity instead of, say, pets; as well as Zones, which let you mark off areas of your home to ignore. As with most Amazon subscription products, you can try it for free for up to a month.

One of the main purposes of the Cloud Cam, as you’d expect, is to verify Amazon deliveries. For that to work, you’ll need to get the $140 Key Edition Cloud Cam, which gives you an Amazon Key-compatible smart lock, and supports the Amazon Key app. The latter can show deliveries, or verify the identity of friends or guests who unlock the door.

The Cloud Cam costs $120, while the Key Edition is $140 in areas where the Key service is available. Pre-orders are now open, and it’ll start shipping to US customers on November 8th.

Source: Amazon, (2)

Apple Reportedly Reduced Face ID Accuracy to Speed Up iPhone X Production

Several reports in recent months have covered Apple’s struggle to ensure significant components for the upcoming iPhone X can be produced in large enough quantities to meet demand, with the main culprit being the 3D sensing modules that power the phone’s TrueDepth camera and Face ID technology. In a surprise development, a new Bloomberg report today claims that Apple overcame its production challenges by quietly telling suppliers they could reduce the accuracy of the face recognition technology to make the iPhone X easier to manufacture.

Apple’s production struggles have centered on the complex 3D sensor, which consists of a dot projector, flood illuminator, and infrared camera. The flood illuminator beams infrared light, which the camera uses to establish the presence of a face. The projector then flashes 30,000 dots onto the face which the phone uses to decide whether to unlock the home screen. Specifically, Apple has had trouble making enough of the fragile modules that combine to make up the dot projector, as Bloomberg reports:

Precision is key. If the microscopic components are off by even several microns, a fraction of a hair’s breadth, the technology might not work properly, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

The fragility of the components reportedly created problems for Apple suppliers LG Innotek and Sharp. At one point, only about 20 percent of the dot projectors the two companies produced were usable, according to a person familiar with the manufacturing process. The suppliers therefore slowed production in an effort to prevent breakages but lowered the required level of precision to compensate – a decision apparently mandated by Apple.

To boost the number of usable dot projectors and accelerate production, Apple relaxed some of the specifications for Face ID, according to a different person with knowledge of the process. As a result, it took less time to test completed modules, one of the major sticking points, the person said. 

It’s not clear how much the new specs will reduce the technology’s efficacy, and Apple has declined to comment. However, as the report notes, a downgraded Face ID will probably still be far more accurate than Touch ID, where the odds of someone other than the owner of a phone being able to unlock it are one in 50,000. Even so, Apple is famously demanding on suppliers and manufacturers to help it make technological leaps and retain a competitive edge, which makes this story about the company choosing to downgrade the accuracy of Face ID all the more surprising, regardless of whether real-world functionality remains unaffected.

The delicacy involved in this production challenge has reportedly been further hampered by Apple losing one of its laser suppliers early on. The dot projector uses something called a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser, or VCSEL. The laser beams light through a lens known as a wafer-level optic, which focuses it into the 30,000 points of infra-red light projected onto the user’s face. According to the report, California-based Finisar failed to meet Apple’s laser specifications in time for the start of production, and now the company is racing to meet the standards by the end of October. That has left Apple reliant on fewer laser suppliers than it originally expected.

As it stands however, Apple appears to have overcome the biggest production hurdles. Sharp is reportedly working to bring the production yield for dot projectors above 50 percent, while LG Innotek has already surpassed that level, which both companies are said to consider acceptable. As a result the 3D sensor shortage is expected to end in early 2018, according to the report.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple will have two to three million handsets available on launch day and 25 million to 30 million units for the holiday quarter, down from his previous forecast of 40 million. Pre-orders for the iPhone X begin this Friday, October 27 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time. Apple has said there will also be some stock of the smartphone for walk-in customers arriving early to its retail locations on November 3, the official iPhone X launch day.

Related Roundup: iPhone XTag: Face IDBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Caution)
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$199 Wink Lookout Home Security Pack Bundles All-Wink Products for the First Time

Connected smart home company Wink on Tuesday announced its first home security bundle featuring all its own-brand products, rather than including compatible products made by other companies.

The Wink Lookout set includes two open/close sensors for use on doors and windows, a motion sensor with pet sensitivity for placement anywhere in the home, a siren and chime alarm with built-in flashlight, and the unifying Wink hub.

No subscription is required to use the products, which communicate through the hub and can be monitored using an updated Wink iOS app that features sensor-trip alerts, siren control, and an emergency services/trusted contact call option.

The new Wink home security bundle costs $199, which is significantly cheaper than the similar Nest Guard at $499. The Wink Lookout set will be available from October 31 at Home Depot and on Amazon. Sensors can be picked up individually for $29, as can the home motion sensor and siren, which cost $39 each. The set includes free shipping in the U.S. backed by a 30-day return policy.

(Via Engadget.)

Tags: security, Wink
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‘Observer’ Horror Cyberpunk Game Starring Rutger Hauer Now Available on Mac

Observer, a new cyberpunk horror game starring Rutger Hauer, was officially released on Mac on Tuesday. Developed by Bloober Team, creators of acclaimed psychedelic horror title Layers of Fear, and published by Aspyr Media, the game sees players take on the role of Dan Lazarski, an elite neural detective known as an Observer.

Lazarski works for a secretive police unit that hacks into and invades the minds of suspects, in a future where anything a person thinks, feels, or remembers can be used against them in a court of law.

When you receive a mysterious message from your estranged son, a high-level engineer for the almighty Chiron Corporation, you journey to the seedy Class C slums of Krakow to investigate. But as you hack into the unstable minds of criminals and victims to look for clues, you are forced to relive their darkest fears. How far will you go to discover the truth?

Drugs, paranoia, VR, and neural implants abound in this heavily P. K. Dick-inspired horror dystopian title, which has received highly positive reviews from the gaming community on Steam, where Observer is available exclusively for the pre-Halloween price of $25.49 (normal price $30).

The system requirements for Observer are as follows: 10.12.6 (Sierra) and 10.13 (High Sierra); Intel Core i5 (4 cores) running at 3.3GHz, 8GB of RAM, 20GB of hard disk space, and an ATI R9 M290 or NVIDIA Geforce GT 680 video card with 2GB of VRAM. Note: Intel video cards are NOT SUPPORTED.
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LinkedIn’s new ‘smart replies’ help you manage your messages faster

Why it matters to you

If you’re pressed for time, LinkedIn’s new ‘smart replies’ offers a quick way to manage your messages.

If you’re a professional using LinkedIn who’s just too busy to tap out full and meaningful replies when you’re hurtling through your messages between meetings, then the app’s new smart replies feature is likely to come in handy.

Announced on Tuesday, smart replies uses machine learning to offer phrases that’ll fit your LinkedIn messaging conversation (hopefully) as you converse with a co-worker, client, or companion. Or someone else.

You may already be familiar with such a feature, as Google has been working it into some of its own apps since last year. It even has the same name.

So how does it work? Well, say your co-worker — the one sitting within earshot of you in the office — decides to message you instead of looking up from their smartphone and asking, “Do you have free time this week for coffee?”, then your app’s smart replies feature will offer you up to three one-tap responses, such as, “yes I do,” “sure,” and “what time?” So in this case, should you want to decline their invitation, you’ll have to type out your reason, or call across to them to explain why you can’t go.

“The conversations you have on LinkedIn can open up a variety of opportunities, ranging from making  an introduction to your next boss to getting valuable advice from a peer in your industry,” LinkedIn senior product manager Arpit Dhariwal wrote in a post announcing the feature. “But we know that finding the time to reply or simply be responsive to incoming messages can sometimes be a challenge with everything else you have going on.”

Dhariwal said LinkedIn developers are currently working to make the feature more personal “so that the suggestions are even more fitting for the conversation you’re having.” That could include something like adding the name of the person you’re messaging with, so you might see a response like “Thanks, Joe!” instead of a straightforward “Thanks.”

Smart replies are rolling out to users around the world in English for the LinkedIn mobile app and on desktop; other languages are on the way.

While critics of smart replies slam them for being impersonal and cold, for busy business types the feature is going to come in handy for quick responses that save time.

And if you find LinkedIn’s smart replies to be a little bit fake, then you can banish the feature from your app by turning them off in settings.

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Amazon overhauls its Kindle app with new features and a fresh design

Why it matters to you

If you’re using the Kindle app to read your ebooks, you can download the all-new version now.

Amazon’a Kindle app has been relaunched with new features and a streamlined design that’s easier on the eyes.

The free app lets you read ebooks on pretty much any device, whether it’s an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, or PC.

When you open the latest version, you’ll soon notice larger book covers than before, as well as a new light background theme to accompany the existing dark one. New fonts also give you more options when you go to read your book.

A feature that bookworms are bound to welcome is the “one-tap access” navigation bar that automatically shows a small icon of the book0 you’re currently reading, no matter where you are in the app. This allows you to quickly return to the book — and the page you’re on — at any moment when the app’s open.

“The bottom bar also provides quick access to Kindle’s most popular features allowing you to switch between the pages of your book, your library, your personal bookstore, and more,” Amazon said.

Helpfully, the search bar now appears in the display the whole time, allowing you to quickly track down a book in your personal library or in the ebook store if you’re looking for a new title.

The iOS version of the Kindle app is now offering more social elements (coming to the Android version “in a future release”)  by incorporating the vibrant Goodreads community so book fans can interact with fellow readers to share reviews and opinions, and find out about recommended reads. Amazon acquired Goodreads in 2013, and the site now has 65 million members globally.

You can access the Goodreads community via a new Community tab, and if interactions lead to an interesting new book then you can add it to your Want To Read list for quick reference later on.

The app will also use your reading tastes to suggest people to follow, which could be popular Goodreads reviewers who like similar kinds of books, and the authors who write them. You, too, can add your own reviews to books you’ve read, and also post notes for your friends to see and comment on.

“We’ve built the new Kindle app from the ground up for book lovers, giving readers easy access to everything they might want to do with their books, all in one place,” said Kindle VP Chuck Moore. “It’s now easier than ever to turn your phone or tablet into a book and immerse yourself in an author’s world at any time.”

Amazon launched its refreshed Kindle app in the same week that it’s celebrating 10 years of its ebook reader with discount offers on some of its current line-up.

But if you don’t have an ebook reader and don’t really fancy the idea of carrying around yet another gadget, Amazon’s Kindle app has you covered.

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Whatever you do, don’t look at your phone when crossing the street in Honolulu

Why it matters to you

As a general rule, it”s probably not a good idea to look at your smartphone screen when crossing a busy street.

Taking a trip to Honolulu? Then definitely do not look at your smartphone when crossing the street.

In a bid to stamp out this somewhat hazardous behavior, the Hawaiian city will fine you up to $35 if you’re caught gazing at your phone when crossing the street. Get caught a second time and it’ll cost you up to $75. And a third time — regardless of whether you’re in hospital by then having been hit by a car — pushes the fine up to $99.

The city approved the law earlier this year, and it goes into effect on October 25.

The strict ban, thought to be the first of its kind in the world, is an attempt by the Honolulu authorities to discourage people from using their phones while walking along, a risky habit born out of our growing addiction to smartphones and other handheld tech over the last decade or so.

The new law states that “no pedestrian shall cross a street or highway while viewing a mobile electronic device.” So, best leave your tablet and Kindle in your bag, too. Oh, and don’t be looking at the screen on your digital camera, either.

There are a couple of sensible exceptions to Honolulu’s new law. You’re fine if you’re making a 911 call, and emergency responders, too, are allowed to use a mobile device in traffic in the course of their duties.

So let’s be clear — you can be talking on your device while crossing the street, but just don’t spend any time gazing at the screen or you could lose some of your vacation spending money. And be mown down by a bus.

While off-road distracted walking is likely to get you into scrapes and bumps now and again (though occasionally much worse), doing it while crossing the street turns the risk dial all the way up to 11, a reality that has prompted Honolulu to act.

Ground-based solutions

Stopping short of imposing fines and instead reconciling themselves to the fact that no matter what, people will use their handsets while walking along, officials in two cities have been fitting ground-level traffic lights at crossings in the hope that pedestrians engrossed in their phones will spot them as they go to cross.

The technology was first used in the city of Augsburg, Germany, in 2016 before finding its way to Sydney, Australia. Other efforts to impose order on pedestrians lost in their smartphones include so-called “texting lanes” that have been trialed in a number of cities, including Antwerp in Belgium and Chongqing in China.

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Sony’s A7R III packs big improvements into a familiar package

Sony’s astonishingly fast A9 is still pretty fresh in people’s minds, but that didn’t stop the company from fleshing out its mirrorless camera line even more. The company officially revealed its new A7R III at an event in China very early this morning, and it packs a handful of notable improvements and under-the-hood changes into a very familiar looking body. And the best part? The A7R III will only set you back $3,199/£3,200 when it launches in late November — that’s quite a bit cheaper than the A9, and not a cent more expensive than the model it replaces when it first launched.

From a distance, it’s basically impossible to tell the difference between the A7R III and the two-year-old camera that preceded it. That doesn’t mean the small changes to the A7R’s body aren’t notable: there’s finally a joystick for flicking through menus, and a touch-sensitive screen for picking focus points. Despite claiming that it couldn’t squeeze two SD card slots into the A7 body, Sony did just that here. And curiously, Sony also went with two USB ports: the microUSB port is still around for accessories, but the camera draws power over a USB-C port. As always though, it’s what’s inside that really counts.

The star of the show is — as with the previous A7R — full-frame 42.4-megapixel EXMOR R sensor powered by a BIONZ processor. For those keeping track, that means the A7R III shoots at twice the resolution of Sony’s A9, but the A9 still has the edge in sheer speed because of its stacked, full-frame sensor design. The A7R III is definitely no slouch, though. Its autofocus is up to twice as fast as the A7R II’s, and the new model is capable of fast AF/AE tracking for continuous shooting at up to 10fps, up from the 5fps you could squeeze out of the last A7R.

Oh, and don’t worry if you prefer staring at screens instead of through viewfinders — we’re looking at 8fps with Live View, just like we got out of the A6500. Photographers who rely on discretion will also appreciate the ability to shoot at relatively high, 10fps speeds with the silent shutter enabled.

So yeah, the A7R III is pretty damned fast. You can mostly expect the same image quality here as with the A7R II, but those concerned about getting the best possible images can also dip into a pixel-shifting shooting mode where the camera captures four slightly offset images that can later be composited in post. The end result? Sumptuously detailed, richly colored shots, albeit ones that are still 42 megapixels in resolution.

Sony

On the video front, the A7R III captures 4K footage using the full width of the sensor, and once again packs the Super 35 oversampling mode. Like the A9, you can also shoot at 120fps at full HD, but the A7R III finally adds S-Log 3 and support for the hybrid log gamma HDR standard. (Here’s hoping you’ve got a television that supports it, too.)

Sony added a much-needed lens to its full-frame FE lens lineup, the FE 24-105 F4 G OSS. That offers a standard zoom with a reasonably fast f/4.0 aperture across the entire range, for much less (around $1,300/£1,200) than the $2,500 FE 28-135mm F/4 G lens. The company also announced the development of the G Master 400mm f/2.8 super-telephoto full-frame lens, a mandatory product if it ever hopes to compete with Canon and Nikon in sports and wildlife photography.

On paper, there’s a lot to like about the updated A7R, and it’s important to note that the A7R II isn’t going anywhere just yet either. Stay tuned, though: we should be able to take Sony’s new mirrorless marvel for a spin soon, and we’ll share all the photos we can once we do.

Steve Dent contributed to this report.

Source: Sony Europe, Alpha Universe

Acoustic gunshot sensors help speed treatment of shooting victims

Acoustic gunshot sensors have been pinpointing shooting scenes and victims for years. The tech can be found in around 90 US cities in total. Meanwhile, the American military has been using it to track down the source of gunshots on the battlefield since 2011. But, the effectiveness of the sensors in saving the lives of ordinary citizens has never been quantified. That’s all changing, courtesy of a new study by surgeons at the University of California, San Francisco-East Bay. The key finding from the analysis of shooting victims (identified through the sensors) is that the tech is potentially beneficial for those who have suffered serious injuries.

Acoustic gunshot sensors come in different shapes and sizes. Some, like the Shotspotter, feature microphones that are installed up to 40 feet off the ground. The AmberBox detection system, on the other hand, looks like a smoke detector. But, in both cases, the devices alert security and first responders to indoor or outdoor shooting incidents. Whereas, fewer than 20 percent of shots fired are reported to the police, according to the researchers. CNBC recently reported that interest in the tech has spiked since the mass shooting in Las Vegas earlier this month, which saw a gunman kill 58 people and injure hundreds of others. However, the sensors have also faced criticism as a mode of surveillance, and over their effectiveness, and cost-efficiency.

The study analyzed the cases of 731 gunshot victims, of which 192 were identified with acoustic sensor tech. Compared to those found through conventional policing methods, sensor-linked patients were likely to have more severe wounds. They were also found to spend more days on mechanical ventilation, more time in the hospital, and were more likely to require an operation. Despite the severity of their injuries, these victims also experienced a similar mortality rate to the others.

The findings illustrate that “the use of gunshot sensor technology by police may help paramedics treat and transport these patients to the hospital more rapidly,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Magdalene Brooke. For now, the research is being treated as preliminary until it makes it into a peer-reviewed journal.

Source: American College of Surgeons