Hasta La Gadget!

A new patent application published by the USPTO (via MacRumors) shows some more detail around Apple’s use of Touch ID and the fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s. Apple has been mostly quiet about the specifics of how the tech works, while generally asserting that the fingerprint information never goes to a server, and only remains on the phone itself in a “secure enclave” which isn’t accessible by the rest of the system or third-party devs.

The patent describes a system that not only siloes data on the Touch ID “enclave” section of the A7 processor, but that also encrypts the fingerprint maps registered on the device to make it that much more difficult for any thieves to even attempt to pull the data off in any kind of usable form. The enclave is a one-way street, too: the system can check new fingerprints against the stored ones, but there’s no way to check or call up the stored fingerprints at all for external examination once they’re registered.

Otherwise, the system works likely as you’d expect it to, checking against stored profiles for possible matches (and using stored lower resolution templates based on variables like different angles to make it more likely to correctly ID your finger). But another patent also published this week shows a breakdown of all the components within the Touch ID hardware, and explains how the actual sensor hardware can be hidden behind an opaque lens that’s been printed with an “ink assembly.” It’s likely this needs to be uniform to read correctly, however, as Apple notably left off its small rounded square icon on the 5s home button, after that has graced each since the iPhone’s initial introduction.

These patents provide a little more clarity on what exactly is going on when you rest your finger or thumb on that 5s home screen and have it magically unlock, and it’s reassuring to see just how much thought Apple has put into making sure the info truly is secure.

Back in 2012 we had heard the rumors that Apple was planning on making an iPhone out of the liquidmetal alloy, which was backed up by the inventor of liquidmetal who claims that such a feat could happen in a few years’ time. While it remains to be seen as to whether such an iPhone would be realized, new patents have emerged that shows Apple’s interest in the alloy. These patents suggest how liquidmetal could be used to create various product parts through the process of injection molding and 3D printing (via Patently Apple).

The 3D printing aspect is interesting as it has been suggested in the patent that such a method would be quicker and less expensive compared to more traditional methods, such as the machining of parts, and could be used to quickly create prototypes and to help visualize what the end product could be like. The patent has been described as having use in a number of Apple products, such as iOS devices, computer monitors, remote controls, laptops, and devices such as a “watch or clock”, which we can only imagine will fuel iWatch rumors and speculation.

Apple has attempted to incorporate liquidmetal in small amounts in its products, such as the SIM ejector tool that came with the iPhone 3GS, but whether or not we will see liquidmetal used on a larger scale is anyone’s guess.

Apple Patent Reveals Plans For Liquidmetal original content from Ubergizmo.

Most large tech companies are either making wearable devices, or at least showing an interest in them. Sony’s got a smartwatch, sure, but it’s bored of such “in-the-box” thinking. Either that, or someone at Sony’s been hitting the pipe, as the company’s trying to patent what it calls a “SmartWig” (yeah, seriously). The application describes a standard wig that could “be made from horse hair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair or any kind of synthetic material,” with a circuit board hidden among those luscious locks. That board can talk to a “second computing device” wirelessly — such as a phone or even a pair of smartglasses — and actuators embedded in the hairpiece could “provide tactile feedback to the user.” In other words, the wig could vibrate when you receive emails and the like. The wig-chip could also include GPS and an ultrasound transducer, with different regions buzzing to give navigation cues. If all that doesn’t sound ludicrous enough, how about an integrated camera? Or, get this, a laser pointer.

The filing goes on to claim a wig is the perfect hiding place for delicate electronics, as humans tend to “instinctively protect their heads more than other body parts.” While its potential utility for guiding the blind is mentioned, Sony’s apparently tested the SmartWig in a far less meaningful scenario: giving presentations. Switching slides by “touching side burns” is expected to be of some merit, as is an ability to sense facial gestures like the raising of eyebrows. It may be the wearable device Doctor Evil has been dreaming of, but for some reason, we doubt SmartWig could ever make it mainstream.

Filed under: Wearables, Sony

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Source: USPTO

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Could the tablet and Ultrabook scene change in a few short years’ time? Perhaps, assuming this particular new patent that was filed by Microsoft becomes a standard issue feature in upcoming devices of the two niches mentioned earlier on. Apparently, this patent from Microsoft enables a device to be able to “understand” just which part on the bezel are your hands located, before it augments the display based on such information. For instance, in the image above, a tablet that sports skin sensors which have been integrated within the bezel itself, would be able to then “know” just where your hands happen to be, before the processor within gets to work to show off a touch based keyboard or other elements as and when necessary.

It is a no-brainer to figure out just how Microsoft might see the potential of such technology, especially with their existing range of Surface tablets. I guess this means using your mobile computing devices would be a more intuitive experience now, as the device itself can more or less figure out just where your hands are located before serving up the relevant user interface option at that point in time. Will it take too much battery life to make it worthwhile? Only time will tell, but it is an interesting idea still.

Microsoft Patent Shows Off Skin Sensing Bezel original content from Ubergizmo.