You may recall that the Touch ID sensor was successfully hacked last year, using a technique where fingerprints were lifted from the phone's casing and then sophisticated lab techniques used to create artificial copies of the print to activate the sensor.
The bad news is that sensor in the iPhone 6 is vulnerable to the same methods – the good news is that security researcher Marc Rogers found the iPhone 6 version to be both more secure and more reliable …
The improved security was revealed when Rogers tried using the same less-than-perfect fingerprint copies on the iPhone 5S and 6.
Slightly "dodgy" fake fingerprints that fooled the iPhone 5S did not fool the iPhone 6. To fool the iPhone 6 you need to make sure your fingerprint clone is clear, correctly proportioned, correctly positioned, and thick enough to prevent your real fingerprint coming through to confuse it.
Rogers said that the Touch ID sensor in the iPhone 6 was more reliable, less likely to reject a genuine fingerprint.
The biggest change to the sensor is that it seems to be much more sensitive, which is made possible by a higher resolution scanning part [...] it's likely this is also aided by the fact that the iPhone 6 appears to scan a much wider area of your fingerprint to improve reliability.
While Rogers suggests that its worrying that the same technique still works as Apple prepares to allow Touch ID to be used for Apple Pay, the fact remains that the attack method requires extended access to the phone, a reasonable amount of equipment and a fair degree of determination. It doesn't appear a likely route for your average fraudster.
Apple has for the first time opened up use of the Touch ID sensor to third-party developers, and we've provided a roundup of some of the apps making use of this.
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The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cameras have taken joint first place in the influential DxOMark Mobile ranking of smartphone cameras – three points ahead of the two Android smartphones which previously headed the list, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z3.
DxO Labs tests the image quality of literally thousands of cameras from entry-level smartphones to professional DSLRs, and is considered by many in the photography field to be the definitive database. The company said that Apple has "set the gold standard for smartphone image quality" …
DxO praised both the technology behind the faster focusing of the iPhone 6 camera, and the optical image stabilisation of the 6 Plus – and said that both cameras performed equally well in lab tests and real-life use.
They have very good, generally reliable auto-exposure in a wide range of lighting conditions and they have both fast and accurate autofocus. Output from the 8-Mpix stills improves the high level of detail in both outdoor and indoor lighting. In low light, noise reduction is handled well with images revealing fine-grained luminance noise and little of the distracting color (chroma) noise.
The company also said that the high-quality displays made them ideal for on-the-fly editing.
Both displays have stunning clarity, high contrast, excellent color and wide viewing angles, which is promising for viewing (and editing) stills and video on the go. Video capture doesn't include 4K but both feature 1080p at 60 fps with slow-motion options at 120 fps and 240 fps.
Autofocus was described as "fast, accurate and repeatable" and the "best ever tested by DxOMark Mobile."
Apple is featuring the cameras in one of its new TV ads, and we were equally impressed in our own tests. You can check out more time-lapse and slo-mo videos here.
The full DxOMark Mobile rankings can be seen below.
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You may remember Apple CEO Tim Cook teasing major new product categories for Apple to be released in 2014. Technically, that will happen with Apple Pay next month, Apple's first foray into the mobile payments category, but it is far more likely that Cook had been focusing his teases on the Apple Watch. Earlier this month, Apple debuted the fashion and fitness-oriented smart watch to the same crowd that saw the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. While the Watch was demonstrated, it is obviously not a finished product: it's not shipping until "early 2015," according to Apple.
How early in 2015? Nobody knows for sure, but a new profile from The Information says "that Apple would be lucky to ship it by Valentine's Day." At 9to5, we've been hearing similar whispers. Valentine's Day is in February, and this could be a great target for Apple to try to hit for the Watch's launch. That Hallmark Holiday isn't as strong as a shopping season as the December holidays, but it is still a time that many people seek out expensive or fashionable gifts. So why not the Apple Watch Edition, too? Apple has done product launches around that timeframe before, releasing new iOS device storage capacities and pink-colored models on multiple occasions.
Valentine's Day aside, the bigger picture here is that many signs indicate Apple missed its own 2014 launch target. As The Information says:
Earlier this year, Apple executives indicated to some employees and others involved in the product that it was expected launch for the holidays. After all, since 2011, Apple has configured itself for once-a-year launches of new versions of its flagship hardware, the iPhone, in time for the Western world's peak shopping season. But at some point in recent months that changed, according to these people, who surmised that Apple wanted more time on the software and the apps. The Information previously reported some development hiccups, including consideration of a new screen. The inside chatter parallels a shift among analysts as well; in the months before the announcement, many shifted their forecasts from this year to next.
Seemingly confirming this is commentary from from Cook and Apple Senior VP of Operations Jeff Williams (who supervised the Apple Watch software and hardware engineering groups) in an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Asked why the Apple Watch missed a 2014 target, the executives responded:
Williams is unapologetic about the Apple Watch missing the 2014 holiday season. "We want to make the best product in the world," he says. "One of our competitors is on their fourth or fifth attempt, but nobody is wearing them." Cook also preaches patience. "We could have done the watch much earlier, honestly, but not at the fit and finish and quality and integration of these products," he says. "And so we are willing to wait."
So it seems fairly clear that 2014 was the original, missed target, but Apple is unapologetic about the entire situation. After all, this makes sense. Apple has been teasing a new category for years during the post-Steve Jobs-era, and they need to get it mostly right on version 1.0. Cook has even hinted that his own Apple Watch has yet-to-be-introduced functionality, and we don't even know the pricing or exact details about the device (beyond the Sport model), so perhaps Apple will announce everything else related to the Watch on their website or at an event early next year.
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Here's how utterly dominant Apple's position is in mobile semiconductor design: not only are the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the two top scorers in web browser benchmarking, but in third place sits the year-old iPhone 5S.
Also worth noting: the iPhone 6 is seemingly on par with the 6 Plus performance-wise.
(And what's up with AnandTech not getting review units in advance? You'd think they'd know a guy who could put in a good word for them with Apple.)
雖說和上一版相比 iOS 8 看起來並沒有太多的改變，但相信我們，在那幾乎一樣的扁平化 UI 之下，第三方輸入法、Continuity、健康應用等新功能還是能帶來許多不同體驗的。現在只要進入你... After more than three months in beta, iOS 8 brings actionable notifications, improved group chat support, new picture and voice messaging features in Messages, Continuity and Handoff, third-party Today widgets in Notification Center, sharing extensions and much more. Apple has released iOS 8 for almost all of its devices that run iOS 7. The full list of supported devices is as follows:
iOS 8 is now available as an over-the-air update or through iTunes. Go to Settings -> Software Update on your iOS device to update right now. Naturally, iOS 8 will come preinstalled on Apple's latest iPhones, the 6 and the 6 Plus, when they are delivered later this week.
Click to view slideshow.
iOS 8 adds new group messaging controls to the Messages app, a new focus on voice messages (using the microphone to record soundbites to send to friends) as well as quick shortcuts to picture attachments. You can also respond to incoming messages without losing your place in the system, by swiping down on the notification to reveal a quick-reply text box. Quick access to recent and favorite contacts is now accessible in the multitasking view, at the top of the screen.
The update also adds a 'QuickType' word prediction bar along the top of the keyboard, to speed up text entry. With Continuity, you can now carry on your SMS conversations across iPhone and iPad. However, note that this feature has been delayed until October, to coincide with the launch of Yosemite.
In Mail, swiping on table cells does more than simply delete messages. You can mark as read, flag, archive or delete with the various quick action shortcuts that are presented. This is customizable in Mail settings, too, if you want a different configuration. Mail also makes the New Message view less modal in iOS 8. You can now drag it down to the bottom of the screen, midst composition, to reference another email in your inbox. Simply tap on the docked 'window' to restore it. It's a UI interaction that I really like and hope becomes more pervasive across the system.
The Health app is a brand new addition for iOS 8, as well. It acts as a central location for all your health and fitness data. You can view charts of anything that is being tracked and favorite specific statistics to view on your Dashboard. The Health app is an integral part of the Apple Watch, which will be available early in 2015.
Whilst the Health app is exclusive to iPhone, the iPad has some device specific enhancements too. Most notably in Safari, there is a brand new tab view for iPad. It collects tabs into groups based on hostname, making management of multiple websites a lot easier to deal with. You can simply drag and drop tabs to rearrange them. iCloud Tabs are now visible below this grid view, reminiscent of the iPhone interface. You can pinch-zoom in both directions to enter and exit the tab overview mode. It feels really fluid and smooth, even on older hardware.
Spotlight search has also been overhauled with some new features across both iPhone and iPad. You can now search for nearby points of interest, movie times, news and much more right from the search box on your Home Screen. Spotlight will also flag up Wikipedia articles about your query inline.
Much of iOS 8 relies on developers updating their apps to support the new technologies, which is happening as we speak. Soon, apps like Facebook will show buttons in their notifications to quickly act upon their content, contextually. The Health app will also become much more powerful when third-party developers integrate with HealthKit to supply the app with more information. You can also add third-party widgets to Notification Center, as long as the app includes one.
Stay tuned to 9to5Mac as we will be publishing roundups of these categories of apps soon, like custom keyboards and sharing extensions, so you can try out all the new features as soon as possible.
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Apple's biggest ever iPhone is set to receive its biggest ever order. Photo: Apple
According to sources in the Taiwan-based iPhone supply chain, Apple is preparing the parts and components to manufacture up to 80 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices before the end of 2014.
Barring unexpected component shortages or low yield rates (thought to have been responsible for Apple abandoning its use of sapphire for the iPhone 6-series devices), sources estimated that shipments of the iPhone 6 family will reach 10 million units by the end of September, with the remaining units shipping over the subsequent three months.
While a certifiably huge number if true, this isn't out of line with what analysts are expecting. Taiwan's Topology Research Institute has previously predicted that the iPhone 6 will sell around 80 million units by the end of this year.
Before Tuesday's keynote, it had already been reported that Apple had placed an "unprecedented" order for its new handsets — adding up to 2x the order size placed for the iPhone 5. Apple shipped approximately 60 million iPhone 5 units in 2013.
Digitimes' report additionally provides a breakdown of which suppliers are doing what in the iPhone 6 supply chain: noting that TSMC is providing the A8 processor, Catcher Technology and Foxconn Technology are making the cases, Largan Precision and Genius Electronic Optical are building the camera modules, Foxconn Electronics and Pegatron are handling assembly, Simplo Technology is making the battery, and Delta Electronics is in charge of power supply.
PCB makers Compeq manufacturing, Unimicron Technology, Zhen Ding Technology Holdings, Flexium Interconnect, and IC packaging/testing companies Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) and Ardentec are also in the supply chain.
Buoyed by Apple orders, many of Apple's suppliers have already announced record-breaking revenues in recent months.
Lefties fear not, Apple has now confirmed that its new Apple Watch wearable will indeed be reversible for users that prefer the watch on their right wrist.
When Apple unveiled the device and focused a lot of time on the "Digital Crown" dial used for many navigation features on the watch, left-handed individuals were left wondering whether or not the device could be flipped around (with the UI reorienting itself) to wear on the right wrist and still have access to the digital crown and single button using their left hand. That's because simply moving the watch to the right wrist without any changes would result in reaching over (and blocking) the display with your left hand to reach the digital crown.
The solution, according to several journalists that heard from Apple is that the display can be flipped around. It will, however, also apparently require the straps to be swapped:
Left-handers: You can just turn Apple Watch upside down (and swap straps around) and it'll just work.
—
John Gruber (@gruber) September 10, 2014That would reverse the position of the digital crown and singular button (as pictured at top), but we're guessing if that was a usability issue Apple would have made the digital crown centred. It's also worth noting that it's unclear if the Apple Watch straps will come preinstalled, and Apple told media that "Apple Watch offers you the option to set the device up for either a left-handed or right-handed user when you first switch it on."
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Many reports have revealed that Apple is working on an even slimmer MacBook Air model that would also pack a Retina display just like some of its MacBook Pro siblings, and now A Tech Website (that's the publication's name) says it has exclusively learned the Retina MacBook Air is only shipping in mid-2015, not earlier as it was previously expected.
The fact that Apple was working on a smartwatch may have been one of the worst-kept secrets in the world, but the company did at least manage to keep us guessing about the form it would take – right down to whether the form factor would be square or circular.
Was a square format the right choice? To help us form a view, UX/UI designer Alcion has put together a series of renders showing what the Apple Watch would look like with a round face …
Take a look at the gallery below and let us know which you prefer.
I would observe the renders appear to cheat slightly, making the round concept look slimmer than the real thing, so you'll need to discount that and imagine it equally deep in forming your view. The main image at the top of the page perhaps also stacks the deck by using a round image.
As ever, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Via The Verge
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Big-name analysts seemed satisfied with what they saw and heard during Apple's launch of the iPhone 6, Apple Watch and Apple Pay, reports Forbes. Summarising investor notes from a dozen major companies, Chuck Jones found the general feeling was that Apple had delivered what was expected.
The overall average of AAPL stock price targets was $109, against the current price of just over $100. Analysts pointed to a range of factors in forming their views, among them …
The big unknown, says Jones, is iWatch pricing: "there are multiple price points and we only know the $349 entry model."
Photo credit: Business Insider
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Apple is set to bring Apple Pay, its mobile wallet service, to China using a partnership with China UnionPay. @KhaosT on Twitter found references to the credit card type in iOS 8 code and now MarketWatch is corroborating with sources that a deal is in the works.
Apple announced Apple Pay as a US only service, coming to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in October with a software update. A deal with UnionPay would obviously mean Apple wants to bring the feature to Chinese iOS customers soon.
@bzamayo Apple seems also in discussion with China UnionPay for Pay pic.twitter.com/uLgWRqBwMP
— Khaos Tian (@KhaosT) September 10, 2014
The code snippet clearly shows support for China Union Pay credit card has been in the works for a while. Marketwatch's report confirms a deal is underway. Apple Pay is also destined to work on the Apple Watch, in some form, when that product launches in early 2015. It appears the device will use skin contact as evidence of identity.
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After years of annual rumors that each successive iPhone would feature NFC, there was understandable skepticism when the rumor rolled around again this year for the iPhone 6. It was looking like Apple might have put all its short-range communication eggs in one basket with Bluetooth LE.
Instead, of course, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus got NFC as the mechanism for Apple's contactless payment service, Apple Pay. Pando suggests that the company's timing may not be entire coincidental.
While U.S. banks have so far ignored the more secure chip-and-pin cards used in Europe, sticking doggedly to magnetic strips and signatures, all that will be changing next year. As of October 2015, banks are switching to chip-based cards – and that means merchants will need to upgrade their payment terminals.
You can still get chip-reading terminals without NFC, but it's likely that the vast majority of stores will opt to go contactless at the same time. Which means that instead of the 220,000 places you can use contactless payment today, there will be much closer to nine million outlets by this time next year – and you'll be able to pay with your iPhone 6 at any of them.
U.S. card issuers are already pushing Apple Pay, MasterCard running a full-page ad in today's New York Times (via Business Insider).
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「Apple Watch」のOSを、iPhone上で動かしたらどうなるか、というコンセプト動画が公開されています。
先日アップルがお披露目した「Apple Watch」には、時計の小さな画面でも見やすくかつ操作しやすいように工夫されたユーザーインターフェイスが搭載されていました。
ホーム画面には、整列した四角形アイコンの代わりに、丸いアイコンが微生物のクラスターのように並び、ドラッグする指の動きに合わせて独特な動きをみせるというものです。
これをiPhone上で再現するとどうなるのか、というのがAndras Horvath氏が公開したコンセプト動画。
Final Cut Xを使い、iPhone 6に合成させたようです。
突飛なアイデアのようですが、動画を観ていると案外使えそうな気がしてきます。
iPhoneのホーム画面は、アイコンを1ページあたり最大で24個しか表示できませんが、このUIならば50個以上を表示できるとのこと。
また、最後のページにあるアイコンに辿り着くために何度もフリックを繰り返す必要もなく、画面をドラッグするだけで済みます。
これが今すぐiPhoneに移植されることは無さそうですが、動画の作者が言うように、もしかすると「iOS 10」あたりで実現しているかもしれませんね。
