Police look to unlock smartphone using 3D-printed fingerprints

A law enforcement agency has turned to a researcher at the University of Michigan for help in creating 3D replicas of a victim’s fingerprints in order to gain access his phone. The technique, demonstrated earlier this year by Anil Jain, could help law enforcement unlock a device equipped with a fingerprint scanner.

While many modern fingerprint sensors require not only a fingerprint, but the electrical conductivity of a living finger, this technique is designed to get around that. From The Guardian:

First, the two-dimensional fingerprint scans are converted into three dimensional fingerprints and these are then sent to a high resolution 3D printer, to make a physical replica in a soft plastic that retains the subtle ridges of the fingerprint while also distorting under pressure like skin.

Once printed, a micron-thick coating of metal – gold, copper or silver – is applied to the surface. This recreates the electrical conductivity found in human skin that is required to make modern capacitive fingerprint readers work. Plastic fingers aren’t conductive enough on their own.

The model of smartphone being targeted by law enforcement wasn’t disclosed, nor what exactly police are hoping to find on the device. You can see the technique in action in the video below.

MrMobile’s Moto Z review: A smartphone like no other

With an aluminum frame barely 5mm thick and slap-on “mods” that give it crazy capabilities, the Moto Z is unlike any smartphone you can buy today. It’s also the latest installment in one of the most inconsistent product families in mobile technology.

In 2013, Motorola introduced a small, modest mobile that tried to redefine what a smartphone should be, and it called it the “Moto X.” The next two years would see the company gradually abandon most of the principles it laid down with that first phone, making the X bigger and brawnier to better battle the Galaxy-class competition from Samsung.

For 2016, Motorola (now a Lenovo sub-brand called simply “Moto”) has taken its flagship smartphone so far afield of its origins that it isn’t even an “X” anymore. The result is a smartphone that I like very much – one I’ll probably buy when the unlocked edition arrives in the fall – but one I’m not sure I’d recommend to many people. Join me for the Moto Z Droid Edition review by MrMobile!

About this review

MrMobile’s Moto Z Review was based on six days’ trial of a Moto Z Droid Edition review device on loan from Motorola/Verizon Wireless. The Moto Z Droid Edition was not paired to a wearable for this review. Test areas included the North Fork of Long Island, New York; Amtrak’s CT/NH/MA Northeast Corridor; and Greater Boston, Massachusetts.

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Xperia X Ultra: After a disappointing start to 2016, I’m hoping for the best Sony phone in years

Sony’s Xperia X phones have been boring, overpriced and underwhelming. But there’s reason for cautious optimism.

Sony, and before it Sony Ericsson, has been part of the Android ecosystem almost since the very beginning. Along the way, despite tumultuous conditions elsewhere in the company and a hit-and-miss biannual release cycle, Sony has managed to turn out some genuinely great handsets. The Xperia Z3 stands out as the zenith of that series — the last Sony phone that was really worth a spot next to the Galaxy phones and iPhones of the time. (And a model that holds up so well two years on that it’s the only Sony phone currently involved in the Android 7.0 developer preview program.)

But over the past couple of years the Xperia series has stalled. The Z3+ was a mess of thermal and performance issues. The Z5 was decent, but looked tepid next to its immediate competitors.

Sony in 2016 so far: Boring, overpriced, disappointing rectangles.

Enter the Xperia X in 2016, with a new strategy and leaner phones focusing on user experience, with less overt spec-chasing. It seemed like a good idea at the time — the Xperia X was to be a Moto X-style “phone of the people” that would make up for its lack of bleeding-edge specs with intelligent software.

What materialized was another boring, Android-powered rectangle with obvious hardware issues. Plastic-framed in an age of metal and glass, with a slow camera that disappointed in low light, and at a $550 price point that made sense to nobody besides the hardest of hardcore Sony fans. You could get the same user experience elsewhere for a fraction of the cost.

Similarly, its big brother — the X Performance — offered little over the X to justify its eye-watering $700 price tag. The touchscreen was plagued by sensitivity issues. The same camera module from the X was used, so low-light photo quality disappointed next to the Samsungs and Apples of the world. Even with the latest Snapdragon 820 under the hood, the camera was painfully slow to load and to shoot. Once again, there was basically no reason to give Sony your money in a world where the Galaxy S7, HTC 10 and iPhone 6s exist around the same price point.

And buyers in the United States got a bum deal, paying $550 for the Xperia X, or $700 for the X Performance, with no fingerprint scanner — a hugely important feature included as standard in other territories.

That Sony, a brand with a strong pedigree of excellent standalone cameras, and the manufacturer of sensors used in the iPhone 6s Plus and Galaxy S7, is still making the same mistakes in its own mobile cameras, is mind-blowing. Going against the established wisdom of the industry, it’s still acting like optical image stabilization doesn’t matter, and that you can ship a traditional high-res sensor without OIS and rely solely on software.

It’s also mind-blowing that such a veteran manufacturer decided to exclude such a key feature as fingerprint security from its flagship phones in a market as important as the U.S., in defiance of a broad and obvious industry trend.

At this point, the Xperia X series’ only differentiator is the Sony brand itself.

The company has also been walking back its other major differentiator: battery life. In the days of the Xperia Z1, Z2 and Z3, Sony could legitimately boast of industry-leading longevity. Its big, boxy phones were able to hold big, boxy batteries that could go all day and then some. Battery capacity has been slowly eroded in the intervening years, and now the Z3+, Z5 and X will get you a single day if you’re lucky.

Bringing cutting-edge Sony tech to cellphones was the mission statement of the old Sony Ericsson. As recently as 2015, Xperia phones were being marketed as being “the best of Sony.” But the Xperia X series isn’t the best of anything, and increasingly the only real differentiator these phones have is the Sony brand itself — a brand which, let’s face it, no longer carries the cachet it once did.

Sony needs another big, impressive phone. Something worthy of a top-tier price tag and and something to justify the value it places in its brand. Something which isn’t as aggressively meh as its recent efforts. And as someone who’s used and loved Sony phones in the past, I really hope this leaked handset is the product to do that.

We don’t know much about the Sony F833X at this point besides its model number and a handful of leaked photos. (Like almost everything else, it’ll supposedly use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.) However the pics obtained by GSMArena are revealing in themselves.

This leaked Sony phone looks like a bit of a tank — but that’s fine if it packs the hardware to justify its heft.

It’s a big, blocky phone — a throwback to older Xperias, perhaps, with room for a hefty battery inside. The device’s thickness also bodes well for camera performance — there should, finally, be space for an optically stabilized module while still keeping the lens flush with the body. Other noteworthy camera improvements — dual-LED flash around the back and laser autofocus — suggests meaningful steps forward have been made here too.

And while it is thick, rectangular and tall, horizontal bezels have been kept to a minimum, and the design language seems to have moved on. Parts of the chassis may be plastic, but the frumpy polycarbonate trim of the Xperia X seems to have been largely eliminated. It looks like a bit of a tank, and that’s just fine if it packs the hardware muscle to justify its heft.

If the Xperia X is going to be the phone for the masses (still a tough ask at $550, admittedly) then this new model (an Xperia X Ultra, maybe?) could be the Sony phone for enthusiasts. That’s what I’m hoping for — an Xperia phone to reinvigorate this tired brand, with hardware, camera chops and battery life to get excited about.

It’s possible the Xperia X Ultra (or whatever it’s called) will break cover as early as IFA 2016 in early September. And if it lives up to our hopes, it could make a interesting addition to the fourth-quarter flurry of new smartphones. If not? Well, maybe it’s time to dust off the Xperia Z brand for a 2017 revival.

Microsoft’s OneDrive adds Pokémon Go image detector as part of latest update

Microsoft is rolling out new updates to its OneDrive image and file storage service. It includes a way for people to quickly identify and find any images taken from the Pokémon Go game.

In a blog post: Microsoft stated:

A lot of players take screenshots of their captured Pokémon to show off to their friends—both digitally and in person. We had to make it easier for you to find all your Pokémon screenshots, so we went to work and partnered with Microsoft Research to bring a Pokémon detector to OneDrive. When you have the OneDrive app on your phone and camera upload is turned on, the screenshots you take from the game are automatically saved to OneDrive and 150 Pokémon are identified for your searching and viewing pleasure. You can also search for your favorite Pokémon by name.

Microsoft is also adding a feature that automatically creates a photo album in a OneDrive account:

OneDrive detects whenever you take a few photos in a short period of time, in a particular location. The highest quality photos are then selected and put into an album. You are even notified when they’re ready to view and share on OneDrive.com, in our mobile apps or via the Windows 10 Photos app. In addition, to celebrate all of the fun stuff you do over the weekend, on Monday morning albums from your weekend photos are automatically created.

In addition, Microsoft has added search in OneDrive’s “All photos” view, along with dedicated view for folders that contain many images. There’s also a new “On this day” view in OneDrive accounts:

We love discovering photos we’ve taken in the past, and this view updates every day with images you have taken over the years on that same day. It’s a great way to relive birthdays or anniversaries or to remember old family vacations.

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BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon: Release date, specs and everything we know so far

Blackberry is expected to launch three phones over the next year. One of them is the Argon and, by the sounds of it, this will be the company’s 2016 flagship phone. It’s a big, all touchscreen device with a powerful processor, support for the latest Quick Charge and Type-C connectivity.

Then there’s the Mercury; the next physical keyboard-equipped Android phone with a design reminiscent of the Passport and Classic.

Before both of those, however, there’s the Neon. This is expected to be another entirely touchscreen-based phone which fits neatly in to the high/mid end of the market next to phones from the likes of OnePlus, Alcatel and Oppo.  

BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon: Design

All recent speculation suggests the BlackBerry Neon will essentially be a rebadged Alcatel Idol 4. Rumours have suggested for some time that BlackBerry has signed up TCL Communication to build at least some of its next phones. The same manufacturer is responsible for all of the Alcatel-branded phones available to buy currently, as well as the Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 and Ultra 7. 

A recent Neon leak showing off the rear panel showed what looked very much like the Idol 4 from the back. In fact, the only major noticeable difference between the Idol 4 and the device in the leak was the brand logo. Where one has Alcatel’s stamp, the other has BlackBerry’s. Otherwise it is virtually the same device. 

The camera and LED placement in the top left corner is identical, as is the design of the metal frame around the edges, which includes the rear-facing speaker grilles on the top and bottom. With the Alcatel phone, this is a feature designed to enable clear stereo sound regardless of whether your phone is placed face-down or face-up. If it’s a genuine press render, we’re likely to see that in the BlackBerry too. 

It could be a soft-touch plastic back rather than glass, but we won’t know for sure until the Waterloo-based company announces it officially. 

BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon: Display

Unlike the BlackBerry Priv and what’s rumoured for the upcoming all-touch “Argon” flagship, which both have 5.5-inch Quad HD screens, the Neon is expected to have a 5.2-inch full HD 1080 x 1920 resolution display.

With this being the mid-range phone in the lineup, it’s unlikely that it’ll feature the curved edges like the Priv or Galaxy S7 Edge, but may still have the ever-popular 2.5D glass with subtle curves around the outside, near the frame. 

BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon: Camera

Blackberry is set to place a mammoth 21-megapixel camera on the back of the rumoured Argon, so it makes sense that the Neon’s snapper is a little less pixel-dense. Leaked benchmarks have pointed towards a 12-megapixel camera, suggesting that it won’t be the same sensor/lens makeup as the Idol 4 from Alcatel. The same benchmarks also suggest we’ll be able to record 4K resolution video with the camera. 

Selfies with the Neo should be just fine, with a 7-megapixel camera with 1080p video rumoured for the front panel of the all-touch mid-ranger. 

BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon: Hardware specs

As spec-lists go, the Neon’s so far looks decidedly mid-range. Claimed leaked benchmark results have suggested that – as well as the full HD screen – we’ll see a Snapdragon 615/617 processor paired with 3GB RAM. While this should mean performance is generally smooth and stutter free, the power won’t exactly set the world alight.

So far, phones with the mid-tier Snapdragon processor have been mostly fine, but are noticeably slower at loading games than more high-end devices. 

Along with the 3GB RAM, it’s expected that we’ll see 16GB built-in storage, which hints towards the very real possibility that we’ll get expandable storage via microSD card and hopefully Android Marshmallow’s adoptable storage feature too. 

Along with all of that, the 2,610mAh battery should get through a day’s use on a full charge and – with Quick Charge 2.0 support – will be speedily refillable. 

BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon: Release date and price 

We’re not sure exactly when the Hamburg/Neon is being released, but the device did recently show up in the FCC’s listings, suggesting that it will be announced at some point soon. A recently published roadmap from Venture Beat for the next 12 months suggests the Neon will be the first device of three coming between now and first quarter of 2017. In fact, it’s expected at some point in the next couple of months. 

As far as pricing goes, it’s looking likely to be in and around the $300-$400 USD price range, which should mean a sub-£300 price point in the UK. If we had to speculate, we’d probably predict it’ll cost around £250, placing it right in Moto G4 Plus and OnePlus 2 territory. 

Want to know more?

We’ll be keeping an eye on all the rumours surrounding the BlackBerry Hamburg/Neon (whatever you want to call it) and updating as we learn more. You can follow all the news and reviews on the BlackBerry hub!

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: What’s the rumoured difference?

Samsung will be announcing its next Galaxy Note device on 2 August at an event in New York. By default, the new smartphone should be called the Note 6, but Samsung has said it will be jumping a digit in order to align the Note with its current 2016 flagships.

Its debut might still be a few days away, but the Galaxy Note 7 has been the subject of plenty of rumours over the last few months. With that in mind, we have put its rumoured specs up against Apple’s iPhone 6S Plus to see how the two phablets compare. 

We will of course update this feature as the official specs are announced for the Note 7, but for now, here is how it differs from Apple’s device, based on the speculation.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Design

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is reported to be coming with a design similar to that of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge but with the added advantage of the built-in S Pen. Based on the leaked images, you can expect a beautiful device sporting a metal build, tempered glass rear and a dual-edged display.

It has been claimed that the Note 7 will measure 153.5mm x 73.9mm x 7.9mm and that it will be IP68 water and dust resistant. A fingerprint sensor is expected on the front, along with an iris scanner and it looks like you’ll find the S Pen tucked in the bottom right.

The Apple iPhone 6S Plus isn’t just reported to offer a lovely design, it does, featuring a fabulous all metal construction. Measuring 158.1 x 77.9 x 7.3mm and weighing 192g, Apple’s phablet looks like it will be slimmer than the Note 7, but larger in terms of overall footprint.

It too has a fingerprint sensor on the front in the form of Touch ID but there is no iris scanner or any kind of official waterproof rating and it doesn’t come with its own stylus either.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Display

The Samsung Galaxy Note series has featured a 5.7-inch display in the past. It’s been suggested the Galaxy Note 7 may increase this to 5.8-inches but other reports have said it will stick to the typical 5.7-inches. Either way, it looks like it will be have a curved edges like the S7 edge, as we mentioned previously.

The display technology is reported to remain as Super AMOLED and the resolution of the Note 7 is rumoured to stay at Quad HD, like recent Note devices. If the size stays at 5.7-inches and the other display rumours are accurate, the Note 7’s pixel density should be 515ppi, while a 5.8-inch display would see a drop to 506ppi.

The Apple iPhone 6S Plus has a 5.5-inch display, making it smaller than what is expected for the Note 7, despite possibly being a larger device. It also has a lower resolution than what is expected for the Note 7, with Apple choosing Full HD for a pixel density of 401ppi, meaning the Note 7 should offer sharper images. That said, the iPhone 6S Plus has a pressure sensitive display, allowing for different features based on the force with which you press.

Apple opts for an LCD IPS display for the iPhone 6S Plus. LCD tends to deliver more realistic colours than AMOLED but they can lack the punch and vibrancy found in OLED displays. Samsung’s Note devices have been praised for their displays in the past, but so have Apple’s devices, so it’s worth remembering numbers aren’t everything.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Cameras

It is thought the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will come with the same cameras as the S7 edge and S7 smartphones, both of which deliver excellent results. If this is the case, the Note 7 should feature a 12-megapixel rear snapper, coupled with a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter. 

Both sensors have an aperture of f/1.7 in order to help them excel in low light conditions so if the rumours are accurate, it’s looking good for the Note 7. It is also rumoured the Note 7 might feature a new technology called Smart Glow, which is a ring of light surrounding the rear camera that lights up to indicate missed calls and messages.

The Apple iPhone 6S Plus also has a 12-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera. The aperture is f/2.2 for both cameras and OIS is on board the rear, while a Retina Flash is featured on the front.

Like Samsung’s latest cameras, Apple’s iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 6S camera capabilities have been highly praised so while the two devices being compared here will have different ways of doing things and will be better at different things, they should both deliver great end results.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is expected to arrive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800-series chip, either the SD823 or the SD821, or an Exynos processor, depending on the region. Rumour has it there will be 6GB of RAM on board, along with 64GB of storage and microSD expansion.

The Note 7 is also claimed to be coming with USB Type-C for faster charging and data transfer, a feature that both the S7 and S7 edge left off their spec sheets. The battery capacity for the Note 7 has been rumoured at 4000mAh, 4200mAh and 3600mAh, so it is currently unclear which it might include.

The Apple iPhone 6S Plus features the Cupertino company’s latest chip – the A9 – with an embedded M9 motion coprocessor. It has 2GB of RAM and it is available in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB storage options, none of which offer microSD expansion.

Battery capacity for the iPhone 6S Plus is said to be 2750mAh, which is quite a bit smaller than the reported capacity for the Note 7, even if the lowest suggestion is what appears in the device.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Software

The Galaxy Note 7 will arrive on Android Marshmallow with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface over the top. The iPhone 6S Plus runs on Apple’s iOS 9 software.

Some will prefer the Android OS, while others like iOS. This really comes down to personal preference. The software overlay on the Note 7 will mean there will be some app duplication that wouldn’t be there on raw Android, but you’ll also no doubt get specific features relating to the S Pen, which will be handy for productivity.

Apple’s iOS is a pretty simple and clean interface that’s nice and easy to use, but it offers less customisation than you’ll find on Android devices, and of course, there is no S Pen functionality or features.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and the Apple iPhone 6S Plus both have plenty going for them, especially in terms of design if the rumours for the Note 7 are true.

The Note 7 will probably have more powerful hardware and the S Pen will be the deal breaker for some, but it’s worth remembering the iPhone 6S Plus is almost a year old and it has already proved itself when it comes to camera and its ability to perform.

As half of this feature is based on speculation, we will be updating it when the official Note 7 specs are released, as well as when we have reviewed it to see how it compares to the iPhone 6S Plus in the real world.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Galaxy Note 5 vs Galaxy Note 4: What’s the rumoured difference?
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs Galaxy S7 edge vs Galaxy S7: What’s the rumoured difference?
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in pictures: Photos, renders and leaks galore 
• Apple iPhone 6S Plus review

Amateur diving data could help climate change studies

Recreational divers could play a significant part in studying the effects of climate change on oceans thanks to the decompression computers worn by many SCUBA enthusiasts.

Nature says that the wrist-mounted trackers often provide useful data like dive time, depth and the temperature of the water. That last one is key in measuring climate change effects, as rising water temperatures can increase the occurrence of hurricanes and disrupt fish stocks.

It hadn’t been known previously whether the data would be accurate enough to contribute to the big picture, but the researchers say that it’s good enough to tap the 6 – 10 million “citizen-scientists” that share data on social media about their dives. Add in that it’s a free source of data that could massively expand the 3,000 or so robot buoys already measuring temperature and it’s a no-brainer for researchers.

“The scuba diving community represents a huge and novel source of aquatic temperature profile data over large spatial and temporal scales. Compilation of these profiles could augment existing monitoring by enhancing the number of inshore temperature profiles, and provide a resource for scientists to better understand the marine environment and organisms’ responses to changes in the environment,” the paper says.

So, now you can go diving and get a warm feeling for contributing to the study of climate change. Win-win.

Via: The Guardian

Source: Nature

First drone pilot jailed for flying contraband into UK prisons

In a first for the UK, a drone pilot has been jailed for flying illegal substances into prisons. Daniel Kelly was sentenced to 14 months in jail after using a quadcopter to deliver “spice,” a psychoactive substance, and tobacco to inmates on multiple occasions. Kent Police say he successfully flew the drone on four separate dates: HMP Elmley, in Kent, on April 20th, HMP Mount in Hertfordshire on April 23rd and 24th, and HMP Swleside, in Kent, on April 25th. Detectives are also aware of two flights, on April 17th and 21st, over HMP Wandsworth in London, that were unsuccessful.

Kelly was caught on April 25th with a drone spray-painted black. Tape had also been placed over the lights, presumably to avoid detection during the illegal flights. “Kelly’s offending was serious,” Detective Constable Mark Silk, who served as investigating officer, said. “Psychoactive substances and tobacco have an inflated value in prison and this can lead to offences being committed within. This places inmates and prison staff at risk.”

Kelly’s sentencing is the first of its kind in the UK. But using drones as covert smugglers is nothing new. Figures obtained by the Press Association through a Freedom of Information request show a substantial rise in prison-related UAV flights. Two incidents were reported in 2014, followed by 33 in 2015. They were used to transport drugs, phones and USB drives, among other items. As drones become cheaper and easier to buy, it’s likely this trend will continue. The sentence passed down this week, then, is an important one for the police, as it could serve as a useful deterrent.

Via: Gizmodo

Source: Kent Police