Looks like rumours of a new iPhone with
a fingerprint sensor might finally turn
out to be true, going by close analysis
of the latest beta of iOS 7.
According to a report by 9to5mac.com,
iOS 7 beta 4, which was seeded to
registered developers on Monday,
includes a folder named
"BiometricKitUI." The code present in
the Accessibility section of the OS
contains text strings related to a
VoiceOver tutorial with instructions on
using the fingerprint sensor on the
iPhone. The report is in turn based on
observations by Hamza Sood . The text
strings mention:
"Photo of a person holding an
iPhone with their left hand while
touching the Home button with
their thumb
Photo of a person holding an
iPhone with their right hand while
touching the Home button with
their thumb
A fingerprint that changes colour
during the setup process.
Recognition is %@ complete"
The string indicates that the
fingerprint sensor would most likely be
present on the iPhone's Home button
and it's likely that it would be
deployed in the unlocking mechanism of
the phone.
Previous reports had indicated that
Apple had selected Taiwanese chip
maker Chipbond for sourcing a number
of components for the iPhone 5S,
including the touch display driver and
hardware to support fingerprint sensor
and near field communications (NFC)
functionality. The report suggested
that Apple would integrate the
fingerprint sensor with NFC driven
mobile payments to strengthen
security, which remains a major
concern for the company.
Apple had acquired mobile security firm
AuthenTec, last year, in a deal valued
at about $356 million. AuthenTec makes
security software and chips including
chips for fingerprint recognition and
near-field communication (NFC) for
mobile phones that it licenses to
companies like Samsung. After the deal,
analysts and tech pundits have been
expecting Apple to use the technology
in its next generation iPhone. Another
report had pointed out to the
company's notice to its customers
saying that it won't offer its
technology to them starting 2013.
While the Apple iPhone 5 was also
rumoured to support NFC before its
launch, the company did not include it.
It does support mobile payments via
Passbook, Apple's software-based
wallet.
Earlier, KGI Securities analyst Ming-
Chi Kuo had also claimed in his new
research report that the Apple iPhone
5S would have a fingerprint reader
under the Home button for security.
Meanwhile, the iOS 7 beta 4 brings
several performance, usability and
cosmetic changes. In terms of UI
changes, the beta fixes the position of
the 'slide to unlock' arrow in the lock
screen, brings new buttons to the
dialler and call answer screens, a
Cancel option in universal search
(Spotlight) interface, ability to swipe
between different sections in
Notification Center, visual tweaks in
Safari and Mail apps, tweaked filters
UI and HDR button in the Camera app,
new Airplay icons, and improved
transparency and animations in
folders.
Usability wise, the new beta supports
unlimited apps in the multitasking view,
faster Compass calibration, new sound
alert for AirDrop, Siri Q&A feature,
new resolution switch in the iPad while
running iPhone apps, ability to shuffle
all songs in the Music app, and search
functionality in Reminders app,
amongst other changes.
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