Singapore’s driverless buses to serve three towns by 2022

While driverless buses are making cameos in Las Vegas and Michigan, they’re set to become a more common sight in Singapore in the near future. Following initial trials of an autonomous shuttle (fit for 80 passengers), the country plans to bring a mixture of the larger buses and smaller mini-vans to three new neighborhoods by 2022.

Singapore has been at the forefront of driverless tech for years, which fits nicely with its mission to become the world’s first smart city. This year alone it launched a robo-cop car, allowed Scania to trial autonomous trucks on its roads, and gave the green light to Peugeot’s driverless vehicle tests. Now, with the opening of a self-driving vehicle center, the nation is trying to lure even more manufacturers. And, according to the government, around six as-yet undisclosed firms are ready to try out their tech at its two-acre facility.

The center is also serving as the testing ground for the shuttles, before they make their way to Punggol, Tengah, and the Jurong Innovation District, where they’ll run during off-peak hours. Commuters will be able to hail the buses using their smartphones.

But, Singapore already has some competition on its hands, in the form of Baidu’s upcoming driverless bus trials in China, and Finland’s pilot programs in Helsinki.

Source: Singapore Government

EE’s next phone will be all glass and cost just over £100

It’s been so long since EE launched a new own-brand smartphone, scan its online store and you won’t find any handset bearing the carrier’s logo on offer. It appears EE is planning to release such a device in the coming weeks, however, just in time to capitalise on the Christmas rush. A little birdie tells us it’ll be an entry-level number available for free on cheap contracts, with a pay-as-you-go price of just over £100. (Apologies for the quality of the pictures — little birdies aren’t the best product photographers.) What we know so far is it’ll have a 5-inch screen (likely a 720p panel given the price point), an octa-core MediaTek 6755 chip, a 13-megapixel primary camera and an 8MP front-facer.

EE isn’t likely to push the device’s spec sheet to get people through the door, though. Instead, features like a 4G radio capable of getting some of the best speeds on EE’s LTE-Advanced network, and the inclusion of a fingerprint sensor and NFC chip for mobile payments, will form the basis of the elevator pitch. Design, too, as the smartphone is sandwiched between two panes of Gorilla Glass, mimicking the style and build quality of more expensive, premium handsets. That’s all we know so far, but we expect something more official from EE in the first week of December, when this is likely to launch.

Naturally, we reached out to EE for comment and received this statement:

“Whilst we do not comment on rumour or speculation, as the UK’s biggest and fastest network, we always look for new ways to offer our advanced 4G network services to as many consumers as possible. We’re also number one for the latest smartphones, which includes our EE-branded handsets that bring together all the benefits of our 4G network — with the features expected from the latest smartphones at an extremely affordable price point.”

iPhone X Low Light Photography Test Demonstrates Improved Telephoto Lens

The 2016 iPhone 7 Plus was the first Apple smartphone to feature a dual lens camera, and this year’s iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X followed suit, improving upon last year’s design with larger sensors and better signal image processing. The iPhone X also benefits from added optical image stabilization and larger aperture on the telephoto lens.

In what may come as a surprise to most casual snappers, the telephoto lens in Apple’s dual camera isn’t always activated when the 2x zoom is selected in the native Camera app. In some low light scenes, iOS opts to crop a wide angle image instead in an effort to obtain a better image with less noise and a lower likelihood of blurring.

With this in mind, Studio Neat designer Dan Provost recently conducted an experiment to see how much the telephoto lens in the iPhone X improves upon the one in the iPhone 7 Plus. To do this, he looked at how much light is required before an iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone X switches to the telephoto lens when the 2x zoom mode is selected. This would show Provost if the frequency of cropping an image is at all reduced in Apple’s latest smartphone.

I placed an object (in this case, an old Rolleiflex camera) on a white backdrop, and flanked it on both sides with two LED studio lights. I set up the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone X on tripods (using the Glif, natch) and positioned them to keep the framing as similar as possible. Then, starting from a completely dark room, I slowly raised the light levels and observed when the lens switched on each camera. The results are in the video below.

As the embedded video demonstrates, Provost discovered that the iPhone X switched to the telephoto lens much more quickly in his artificial low light scenes, requiring approximately 2 fewer stops of light before switching to the telephoto lens, compared to the iPhone 7 Plus.

“This is obviously great news, and speaks to how improved the second lens is after just one year,” says Provost. “In my own use of the phone for the past couple weeks, it does indeed seem to be the case that I am very rarely presented with a 2X cropped image.”

You can learn more about Provost’s iPhone X low light photography experiment over on the Studio Neat website.

Related Roundups: iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iOS 11, iPhone XTag: photographyBuyer’s Guide: iPhone 8 (Buy Now), iPhone 8 (Buy Now), iPhone X (Buy Now)
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Black Friday 2017 deals: here are the UK’s best

Another year, another Black Friday discount day. While we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, we’re now fully onboard with the sale frenzy that accompanies it (even if we don’t like to admit it to ourselves). If you’re in the market for a new piece of tech but don’t fancy wading out onto the High Street, we’ve got you covered.

As always, if you spot anything that we might have missed, drop us a note in the comments below and we’ll add it to our list as soon as possible. Some will be daily deals, so move quickly. They are targeted at Brits mind you, so we’re avoiding anything that forces you to pay in dollars (you can find that here), Euros or any other (probably stronger) currency.

Gaming and Streaming

Google Home: £79 (normally £129)

Amazon was first in the smart speaker market, but Google has made significant strides with its Assistant-powered competitor. The Home looks great, supports multiple users (finally) and is gaining new abilities every day.

Google Home Mini: £34 (normally £49)

It’s the Google Home, but smaller. If you already own a Bluetooth speaker, this is a smart, affordable way to add the Assistant to your living room.

Sonos Play1: £149 (normally £199)

Sonos sound is legendary. You normally pay for that quality, however. Not today — a £50 discount makes the Play 1 a little more justifiable.

Sonos Play3: £249 (normally £299)

Already own a Play:1, or fancy adding a second speaker to your Sonos setup? The Play:3 is a decent upgrade and works with any Echo or Alex-enabled device.

Sonos PlayBase: £500 (normally £699)

Most TVs have woeful built-in speakers. You’ve paid for a decent panel —- now invest in the sound that’s pouring through your earholes every night.

Amazon Echo: £70 (normally £90)

As you’d expect Amazon is leading the charge when it comes to Black Friday discounts. You can now get the latest Echo for £20 than you would normally.

Amazon Echo Dot: £35 (normally £50)

Like Google, Amazon has a smaller (less fully-featured) Echo that is great for setting up your smart home or listening to some music in the bedroom.

Amazon Fire Stick – £25 (normally £40)

If you’re looking for a quick and low-cost way to get Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and BBC iPlayer on your TV, look no further than the Fire Stick.

Google Chromecast: £19 (normally £30)

An oldie, but always a goodie. If you’re looking for a way to stream Netflix, YouTube and other content from your phone on a big screen, you can’t go wrong with Google’s Chromecast.

PSVR: £240 (normally £250)

PlayStation VR is one of the best headsets money can buy. It’s not as powerful as the Vive or Rift, but it has a solid selection of games and doesn’t require a beefy gaming PC.

Nintendo Switch: £269 (normally £289)

The Nintendo Switch has had a stellar 2017. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2 alone make it a worthwhile system to own.

PlayStation 4 with Call of Duty WWII, Gran Turismo Sport and Hidden Agenda and PlayStation Network subscription: £200 (normally £270)

The PlayStation 4 has officially entered ‘impulse buy’ territory. Call of Duty: WWII and Gran Turismo Sport are excellent pack-in games, while Hidden Agenda is curious party title from the makers of Until Dawn.

White PlayStation 4 Pro with Star Wars: Battlefront 2, Fallout 4, Gran Turismo Sport, Knowledge is Power: £300 (normally £458)

An extra £100 will net you the PlayStation 4 Pro and a stack of great games including Fallout 4 and Gran Turismo Sport. Battlefront II has been consumed by controversy, but it’s still worth blasting through for the beautiful visuals and sound.

Phones, Tablets and Laptops

Amazon Fire Tablet: £30 (normally £50)

A great introductory Android tablet that can handle mostly everything you can throw at it.

Amazon Kindle PaperWhite: £80 (normally £110)

Amazon’s best e-reader comes with a backlight and also happens to be on sale. You’ll save £30 if you jump on this deal.

Acer C300 Chromebook: £130 (normally £249.97)

Chromebooks might not offer the same features as a Mac or a Windows notebook, but they’re perfect for browsing the internet.

Gadgets and Wearables

Nest Thermostat: £149 (normally £220)

If you’re ready to own a smart home, Nest is a good place to start. The company’s learning thermostat looks the part and integrates with Google Home, Amazon Alexa and a bunch of other smart appliances.

Samsung SmartThings Hub: £100 (normally £200)

Samsung’s starter kit is a quick way to get your smart home dreams up and running. The various sensors can automate when appliances turn on, check for movement when you’re out of the house, and turn the lights on whenever someone enters a room.

Garmin Forerunner 235: £165 (normally £300)

The Forerunner 235 is a great choice for rookie runners and marathon veterans alike. There’s GPS tracking and heart-rate monitoring, as well as some basic smartwatch features such as step-counting and notifications.

Samsung Gear S3 Frontier: £249.95 (normally £349.95)
Samsung Gear S3 Classic: £249.95 (normally £349.95)

Samsung’s Gear S3 runs on Tizen, rather than Google’s Android Wear platform. The app selection is limited, but the overall experience is a dream thanks to the watch’s rotating bezel.

Black Friday 2017: The Best Deals on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, Macs, and More

Thanksgiving is well underway in the United States, and Black Friday deals online and at brick and mortar stores are starting to go live across the country. Major retail stores like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart will be opening their doors this evening, while many online-only deals are already live.

Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best deals we’ve come across on Apple products like iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Macs, and accessories, and many, many more deals can be found in our dedicated Black Friday roundup.

iPhone

Walmart is offering a $300 Walmart Gift Card with the purchase of an iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, or iPhone 7 Plus on an AT&T Next or Verizon Device Payment plan. This deal is limited to stores, with activation appointments available starting at 6:00 p.m. Actual activations will begin at 8:00 p.m.

Sam’s Club is offering a $100 Sam’s Club gift card with the purchase of “any Apple iPhone,” which may include the iPhone X, but it isn’t clear if the retailer will have any in stock. This deal does apply to the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus.

Target is offering a $250 Target gift card with the purchase of an iPhone 8 or an iPhone 8 Plus on an installment plan from Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T.

If you prefer a straight cash discount, Best Buy is offering up to $200 off the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus on an installment plan from Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T.

iPad Pro

There are several deals to be had on the latest 2017 10.5 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, with multiple retailers offering discounts.

Best Buy is discounting the 10.5-inch iPad Pro by up to $150, while Target will be offering a $120 discount, dropping the price on the entry-level 64GB 10.5-inch iPad Pro model to $530, down from the regular price of $650.

B&H Photo is also offering several iPad Pro models at $50 to $100 off.

– 10.5-inch iPad Pro: 64GB, Wi-Fi – $599.00, down from $649.00
– 10.5-inch iPad Pro: 256GB, Wi-Fi – $699.00, down from $799.00
– 12.9-inch iPad Pro : 64GB, Wi-Fi – $739.00, down from $799.00
– 12.9-inch iPad Pro: 256GB, Wi-Fi – $849.00, down from $949.00

5th-Generation iPad (2017)

Both Target and Best Buy are offering the 2017 32GB iPad for $249.99, which is a discount of $80 off of the regular price of $329.99. Walmart is offering the same deal.

If you’re looking for a deal on a Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad, Sam’s Club has the sole deal on the cellular model, offering $130 off.

Apple Watch

There are essentially no deals on the new Apple Watch Series 3 models, with the exception of Kohl’s. Kohl’s is offering $90 in Kohl’s cash with the purchase of select Apple Watch Series 3 models.

Target is discounting Apple Watch Series 1 models by $70, dropping entry-level pricing down to $179.99. That’s the best Series 1 deal, and Macy’s is matching it by discounting Series 1 models by $70 as well, while Best Buy is offering a $50 discount if the previous deals are unavailable for some reason.

MacBook Pro

When taking into account B&H Photo’s free shipping and no taxes on orders outside of New York, the company is offering the best deals on most MacBook Pro models. Adorama, which doesn’t charge taxes outside of New York and New Jersey, is also offering the same discounts. MacMall and Best Buy’s prices are similar on most Macs, but they can’t beat no taxes for the most part.

Best Buy does actually have the best discounts on 15-inch MacBook Pro models and some higher-end 13-inch models, offering $50 off over Adorama and B&H, but in states where sales tax is a factor, B&H or Adorama deals are still likely to be better overall. In some cases, Amazon also has comparable deals.

Best Buy is discounting all 15-inch MacBook Pro models by $250, while 13-inch models are between $150 and $200 off.

13-inch MacBook Pro models

– 2.3 GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD in Silver (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,149, down from $1,299
– 2.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,149, down from $1,299
– 2.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Silver (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,349, down from $1,499
– 2.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,349, down from $1,499
– 3.1GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Silver (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,649, down from $1,799
– 3.1GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) – $1,629, down from $1,799
– 3.1GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Silver (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,849, down from $1,999
– 3.1GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Space Gray – (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,849, down from $1,999
– 3.1GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) – $2,049, down from $2,199
– 3.5GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) – $2,249, down from $2,499

15-inch MacBook Pro models

– 2.8GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Silver (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $2,199, down from $2,399
– 2.8GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Space Gray (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $2,199, down from $2,399
– 2.9GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Silver (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $2,599, down from $2,799
– 2.9GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Space Gray (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $2,599, down from $2,799
– 3.1GHz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) – $3,199, down from $3,399

MacMall is offering discounts on a wide range of MacBook Pro models with non-standard configurations, allowing customers to purchase machines with upgraded components like RAM and graphics cards.

– 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017): 3.3GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,909, down from $2,099
– 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017): 3.1GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD – $2,029, down from $2,199
– 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017): 3.5GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD – $2,299, down from $2,499
– 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017): 3.1GHz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD – $2,379, down from $2,599
– 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017): 3.3GHz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD – $2,449, down from $2,699
– 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017): 3.1GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD – $2,699, down from $2,999

B&H Photo and Adorama also have deals on several older MacBook Pro models.

– 13-inch MacBook Pro (Late 2016): 2.0GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,199, down from $1,499
– 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Late 2016): 2.6GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,799, down from $2,399
– 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Late 2016): 2.9GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,899, down from $2,899
– 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Late 2016): 2.7GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD – $2,099, down from $2,799

MacBook

Adorama and B&H are offering the best deals on the current 2017 12-inch MacBook Pro models, with discounts of $150.

– 1.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Gold (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,149, down from $1,299
– 1.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Rose Gold (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,149, down from $1,299
– 1.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Silver (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,149, down from $1,299
– 1.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,149, down from $1,299
– 1.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Gold (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,449, down from $1,599
– 1.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Rose Gold (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,449, down from $1,599
– 1.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Silver (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,449, down from $1,599
– 1.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Space Gray (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,449, down from $1,599

MacMall has a decent discount on an older high-end 2016 MacBook model if you don’t need the latest version, offering it for $1,379, down from its regular price of $1600.

– 12-inch MacBook (Early 2016): 1.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB flash storage – $1,379.00, down from $1,599.00

MacBook Air

Best Buy has the best deals on the MacBook Air at $200 off each model. These are the 2017 MacBook Air models that received refreshed processors back in June.

– 1.8GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD – $799.99, down from $999.99
– 1.8GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $999.99, down from $1,099.99

iMac

Best Buy, Adorama, B&H Photo, and MacMall all have deals on various iMac models, some of which are discounted by $200 or more.

21.5-inch

– 2.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD (Best Buy) – $899.99, down from $1,099.99
– 3.0GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,179, down from $1,299
– 3.4GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion (Best Buy) – $1,599.99, down from $1,799.99

27-inch

– 3.4GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,649, down from $1,799
– 3.5GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,849, down from $1,999
– 3.8GHz, 8GB RAM, 2TB Fusion (Amazon) (B&H Photo) – $2,099, down from $2,299
– 4.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD (Adorama) – $2,849, down from $3,099

Amazon and eBay Deals

Both Amazon and eBay are offering a huge number of rotating deals that will change on a regular basis throughout Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Deals go so quickly and are so numerous that it’s impossible to list them, but make sure to check out both sites to see what’s on sale. eBay and Amazon are both offering discounts on iPhones, iPads, and tons of Apple accessories.

Best Accessory Deals

– $100 iTunes Gift Cards – $85 from Amazon with Promo Code ITUNES15
– BeatsX wireless headphones – $99, down from $149
– DJI Spark drone – $399, down from $499
– Beats Studio 2 Wireless Headphones – $160, down from $380
– Powerbeats wireless headphones – $160, down from $200, Plus $20 Target gift card
– Apple-branded iPhone cases – 15 percent off regular price
– Apple Watch bands – Up to $30 off
– Philips Hue bulbs – 20% off
– Philips Hue Lightstrip – $40 off
– Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard – $10 off
– August HomeKit Smart Lock – $80 off
– $100 iTunes Gift Card Multipack – $84.47, down from $100
– Sonos speakers – Up to $100 off
– BlackPods AirPods – $40 off any BlackPods order, including mail-in
– UE Boom 2 speaker – $80, down from $200

Make sure to check out our Black Friday roundup for specific times on when retail stores will open and for more information on the deals listed above. Our roundup also features hundreds of additional deals on Apple products and Apple-related accessories, so it’s worth taking a look if you want to get a good deal on a new Mac, iPhone, or iPad.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Related Roundup: Apple Black Friday
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BMW imagines elevated tubes for speedy, comfortable ebike commutes

For residents of most major cities, it’s no fun riding a bicycle through the busy streets. As if all the fumes from the passing cars, buses, and trucks isn’t enough to be dealing with, you have to have your wits about you the entire time to avoid ending up underneath one of the aforementioned vehicles.

While some of the world’s cities have made a real effort to cater for cyclists — Copenhagen in Denmark always springs to mind, or Portland and Minneapolis in the U.S. — many don’t have the space, funding, or even interest in making life easier for those who prefer two wheels to four.

If BMW had its way, things would be different — very different — for city cyclists.

The German automaker’s growing interest in ebikes has led it to explore solutions for those who prefer to scoot about town sitting on a saddle, or perhaps standing on a scooter or skateboard.

It proposes a network of elevated bike paths inside tubes specifically for people on ebikes and other mobility machines relying on electric power. BMW calls its concept Vision E3 Way, which stands for elevated, electric, and efficient.

You may have already come across elevated bike paths on your travels, but BMW’s design would be enclosed to protect cyclists from rain, and also climate-controlled to ensure a comfortable environment through freezing winters and sticky summers. In addition, a solar-paneled roof would generate power for the network’s night lighting and climate control system.

Designed by BMW’s technology unit in Shanghai, China, the network of enclosed bike paths could provide “a fast, direct link between key traffic hubs” in the world’s megacities.

BMW suggests that car owners without bikes could be encouraged to leave their vehicles at home with the implementation of rental stations at multiple locations throughout the network.

“As urbanization progresses, more and more people are crowding into cities, so conventional mobility concepts and local public transportation are reaching the limits of their capability,” BMW said in a release this week. “Congestion and high levels of air pollution are the result, which in turn leads to constraints on the quality of life.”

It added that Vision E3 Way could help to raise the outdoor comfort levels of a city’s residents as it would “significantly reduce congestion, emissions, travel time, and the risk of accidents.”

Vision E3 Way would require some serious investment and forward-thinking officials to build such a network, but with pollution on the rise in major cities and the streets becoming ever more clogged with traffic, a modern, clean, and comfortable system for owners of ebikes and similar modes of transportation would surely be a hit.

Can facial recognition really replace fingerprints? We asked the experts

With the rise of facial recognition technology, our fingerprints may be supplanted as the convenient biometric of choice to save us from typing in passwords. There’s nothing new about the idea of using your face to unlock your phone or other devices, but when Apple made Face ID the star of its iPhone X reveal, facial recognition took a big step towards the mainstream consciousness.

The reception to the iPhone X has been overwhelmingly positive. Despite some quirks with Face ID, we found it to be fast and convenient in our iPhone X review, noticeably improving with time as it builds a more complete model of your face. Apple is so confident in Face ID that it’s likely to replace Touch ID in all iPhones — even iPads — going forward, according to KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo.

“Apple’s always been the sign of acceptance for the tech industry,” Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory, told Digital Trends. “We saw it with Siri and speech recognition and now we’re seeing it with face authentication. Having Apple and Samsung do it makes it pretty standard for mobile phones, but we’re seeing it start to penetrate other areas too. There seems to be a broad move towards face authentication right now.”

Samsung has been experimenting with facial recognition for years now. The first time we tried Face Unlock was on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0 back in 2011, but it was easily spoofed by a photograph. Various versions of facial recognition have followed in the last few years, but questions about security have persisted.

There’s always a trade-off between false reject and false accept.

The iris recognition system of the Galaxy S8 was supposed to offer a new high level of security, but it was successfully spoofed by the Chaos Computer Club using a digital camera in night-shot mode to capture the iris, which was then printed on a laser printer. The final touch was a contact lens placed on top of the print to emulate the curvature of the eye’s surface.

Your average thief isn’t going to go to that kind of trouble, but with Face ID, Apple has ratcheted the level of security another notch, describing the chance of a random person unlocking your iPhone as “one in a million.” Attempts to spoof it, most notably from Wired and the Wall Street Journal, have found it to be no easy task — but it has been done. So far, there have been two cases where the technology has been fooled, one involving a 3D mask, and the other a 10-year-old son unlocking his mom’s iPhone X.

Still, Face ID improves over time — that’s why Apple doesn’t recommend ever removing your Face ID data, because the tech then has to start learning your face from scratch. But the problem with making the security level too high is that the legitimate owner is going to get rejected some of the time.

“There’s always a trade-off between false reject and false accept,” Mozer said. “To get your false accepts as low as one in a million, you’ve got to make it harder for the right person to get in.”

Sensory is the company behind TrulySecure, a voice and vision authentication solution for mobile phones and other devices. LG licensed its technology for the facial recognition tech in the LG V30, Q6, and G6 phones, and its voice recognition service was employed in the Moto X. Apple’s Face ID relies on special hardware that projects a grid of 30,000 infrared dots onto your face, and then employs an infrared camera to assess the distortion. Sensory’s tech works with almost any microphone or camera.

“Sensory’s philosophy is to layer biometrics on top of each other,” Mozer said. “We don’t think it’s one versus another. We have a bias for the most convenient ones, the ones that are least intrusive, the ones that don’t require special hardware — so we really like face and voice.”

The technology works well. It quickly and correctly identifies Mozer’s face and voice, and isn’t fooled by a photograph. Sensory has made a study of this, gathering 1TB of face data every week through its free Android app, AppLock, in the Google Play Store. This aided in the development of an accurate algorithm and powerful anti-spoofing. It’s not as secure as Face ID, but how secure does it need to be?

“With face, we’re getting pretty close to 1 in 50,000,” he said, in terms of the chances of a random person unlocking your phone with Sensory’s tech. “We can do 1 in 100,000 if we make the false reject rate a little bit higher,” Mozer said. “Voice is a little bit worse, but voice has much more dependency on environmental conditions including the distance from the microphone and the background noise.”

“Everything points to the fact that consumers prefer convenience over security.”

The voice recognition element of TrulySecure provides a backup method if the facial recognition isn’t working, for example, when it’s dark. Making the false reject rate higher would make it more secure, but that’s going to be frustrating for users. We’ve found Apple’s Face ID to work remarkably well so far, but there’s still the occasional false reject — at least it works in the dark.

“Everything points to the fact that consumers prefer convenience over security,” Mozer said.

This balance between security and convenience is a recurring theme when you talk to anyone about biometrics. The consensus seems to be that convenience is more important to most people. Take a look at OnePlus’ latest smartphone, the OnePlus 5T. The Chinese company explicitly said their technology cannot be used with Android Pay, or even to get into secure banking apps. It’s expressly for convenience, and we found it to be an incredibly fast and reliable way to unlock the OnePlus 5T.

“Aite Group has primary research that shows that given a choice between convenience and security, the majority of consumers choose convenience,” Julie Conroy, research director for the Aite Group, told Digital Trends via email.

But is facial recognition more convenient? There are certainly situations where fingerprint sensors are faster, and they don’t require us to look at our phones.

“I think we’ll see facial added as one more form, but I don’t think it will become primary anytime soon,” Conroy said. “One reason consumers have so readily adopted the fingerprint sensor is because it’s so easy for most. Using facial recognition is more involved, and so while it’s more secure, I don’t think consumers will immediately flock to it.”

We may be used to fingerprint sensors, but they do also have quite a high false reject rate. If you’ve ever tried to unlock your phone with wet or dirty fingers, then you’ll know that. They’re also not really a high mark for security. Apple said the chance of a random person gaining access via Touch ID with their own fingerprint is 1 in 50,000. Interestingly, the odds of guessing a typical 4-digit passcode are 1 in 10,000.

But there’s a difference between random odds and concerted efforts to spoof systems. As long as you don’t write it down, your password or PIN can only be guessed at, but biometrics are different.

“Biometrics aren’t secrets if you think about it,” Tom Grissen, CEO of Daon, told Digital Trends. “My voice isn’t a secret, a photograph of me isn’t a secret, and my fingerprint is left on surfaces all over. Technically any security system could be defeated.”

“In the next five years we’ll see more in human authentication that we have in the last 50.”

Yet it’s rare to hear of frauds using dummy fingerprints. How often is biometric security being fooled to gain access to devices outside of security research circles? Even the FBI had quite a bit of trouble to get into the San Bernardino shooter’s Touch ID-enabled iPhone. It’s impossible to know for sure, but for the most part our current level of security seems to be sufficient.

“People have come to trust biometrics because it delivers this convenient, secure experience and it works really well,” Grissen said.

Daon, a biometric authentication company, recently partnered with Visa on its ID Intelligence platform. It’s what Mark Nelsen, senior vice president of Risk Products and Business Intelligence at Visa describes as “an authentication marketplace that brings together some curated, vetted technology that we would like our clients to get access to.”

That includes a document verification service that allows you to take a selfie and scan your passport or driver’s license to set up a new account or take out a loan online via your smartphone. Visa is keen to encourage greater adoption of fingerprint, face, voice and other types of biometrics Daon can offer through mobile devices with the sensors, cameras, and microphones built into them.

“For any environment there isn’t a single perfect authenticator,” Nelsen told Digital Trends. “Voice can be awesome unless you’re in a loud environment, face can be great unless it’s really dark, fingerprint is great unless your finger is wet. That’s why we want to incorporate as many as we can and then ultimately we think consumers will decide which they prefer to use.”

One of the main challenges for biometrics is the fact that different people have different expectations. Daon has found that around 30 percent of customers want convenience with minimal authentication and are happy for it to happen passively, so they don’t even get an indication that a selfie has been taken. But only around 10 percent of those surveyed really want to see concrete steps, so they know it worked. The other 60 percent are somewhere in the middle. But there is one thing everyone is united on.

“We’re seeing it across all age groups, not limited to one generation, everyone hates passwords,” Grissen said. “I think passwords will hang around for a long time, but we’ll see a big shift towards biometrics in 2018 and that’ll occur in payments, banking, healthcare, insurance, telecommunications — it’ll be really widespread.”

All our interviewees agree the path to greater security is through the layering of biometrics. As the cameras, microphones, and other sensors in our smartphones improve, it becomes easier for them to accurately identify us.

“In the next five years, we’ll see more in human authentication that we have in the last 50,” Grissen said.

Behavioral biometrics can analyze our interactions, learn the way we type and swipe, and track the movement of our phones to see if they may have been picked up by someone else. Combined with things like location information, anything suspicious can be quickly flagged and prompt a facial scan or voice verification. Android phones, for example, benefit from this layering through Google’s Smart Lock, which can unlock your phone based on your voice, face, connected Bluetooth devices, trusted places, and on-body detection.

“In the past, authentication was always in our way,” Grissen said. “But I believe it will soon become technically almost invisible.”

Save up to 25% on Seagate hard drives for one day only

Amazon’s Black Friday Gold Box deals of the day include a one-day sale on a variety of different Seagate drives. From 1TB SATA options to 10TB NAS drives, there is something here for just about everyone. Whether you want a drive to hook up to your gaming console, or need to replace an aging drive in a computer, today’s the day to save a little on it!

• 2TB Seagate Backup Plus – $59.99
• 4TB Seagate Backup Plus – $95.99
• 8TB Seagate Desktop Expansion External Drive – $142.49
• 1TB BarraCuda SATA – $39.99
• 4TB Seagate BarraCuda SATA – $89.99
• 8TB SeagateBarraCuda Pro SATA – $269.99
• 3TB Seagate IronWolf NAS SATA – $86.49
• 10TB Seagate IronWolf NAS SATA – $299.99

These are just some of the deals that are available. Be sure to check out all the deals so you don’t miss out o the perfect one for yourself.

This one-day sale on TP-Link gear has everything your smart home needs

If you don’t have a smart home yet, you’re out of excuses!

This TP-Link sale is part of Amazon’s Gold Box deals, which means the prices are temporary. This sale covers a wide variety of products from routers to smart home tech.

Here’s a few of our favorites:

• Smart Plug Mini for $24.99 (from $35)
• A19 multicolor dimmable LED smart bulb for $34.99 (from $45)
• BR30 multicolor LED smart bulb for 34.99 (from $50)
• Deco M5 Home mesh networking system for $179.99 (from $220)
• Archer C7 AC1750 Wi-Fi Router for 54.99 (from $73)

Check out the full sale for more options.

See at Amazon

NASA’s Cassini probe bids farewell to Saturn with epic image

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft was always destined to be a doomed hero. After two decades in space, diligently exploring Saturn and its many strange and beautiful moons, operators deliberately crashed the spacecraft into the planet to make sure the moons remain pristine and unaffected by debris. But not before the spacecraft took one final, breathtaking look at Saturn, which NASA has shared in tribute to the dedicated spacecraft. The image, “Farewell to Saturn”, is a combination of 42 natural-color pictures showing a sweeping view of the planet and its rings. The image even captures six of the planet’s moons, including Mimas, the so-called “Death Star” moon.

“Cassini’s scientific bounty has been truly spectacular — a vast array of new results leading to new insights and surprises, from the tiniest of ring particles to the opening of new landscapes on Titan and Enceladus, to the deep interior of Saturn itself,” said Robert West, Cassini’s deputy imaging team leader at NASA. Good job, Cassini, what a way to go out.

Source: Cnet