That's exactly why I said it's easier to find a useful number to call on an unlocked phone. If you consider the real life example that happened to me the standard information one might put on a lockscreen wouldn't have helped. We were on our way to catch a plane and had the phone been locked but showing our home details we still would have lost the phone as obviously we weren't at home.
Like I said much earlier, it's a silly gimmick and I would have said it no matter if Android, Windows or Apple had been the first to 'debut' it. It's sadly indicative of the current high end smartphone market where pretty much everything genuinely useful has been done already so manufacturers (whoever they are) have to come up with more and more bizarre gimmicks to try and stand out from the crowd. But this one is the worst in the sense of the potential danger (no matter how miniscule the actual risk may be) it introduces into the equation.
Everything genuinely useful has already been done? I'd be inclined to agree with you, but if I've alluded to that in the past, by saying that the smartphone tech has pretty much plateaued I get shot down in flames about how everyone other than still introducing great new, innovative features.
IIRC last year, when people were talking about Apple's lack of innovation, a fingerprint reader was one of the things suggested that they could have introduced.
It certainly isn't something that would swing me towards one phone over another, but I think its more than gimmick though. Gimmicky things tend to be things that people won't end up using much, whereas this is something I can see a lot of people using all the time. Unlocking your phone is, after all, something that phone users do many times every day.
Everything genuinely useful has already been done? I'd be inclined to agree with you, but if I've alluded to that in the past, by saying that the smartphone tech has pretty much plateaued I get shot down in flames about how everyone other than still introducing great new, innovative features.
IIRC last year, when people were talking about Apple's lack of innovation, a fingerprint reader was one of the things suggested that they could have introduced.
It certainly isn't something that would swing me towards one phone over another, but I think its more than gimmick though. Gimmicky things tend to be things that people won't end up using much, whereas this is something I can see a lot of people using all the time. Unlocking your phone is, after all, something that phone users do many times every day.
It's a gimmick and a potentially dangerous one as has already been discussed, however remote the possibilities of the already discussed scenarios. Until something really revolutionary occurs in the high end smartphone market from any of the players this is the sort of thing that we will be seeing regularly (Like I said, from ALL manufacturers).
AFAIK using the fingerprint sensor is optional and you can still use a pass code if you prefer. There are however a scarily high number of people who never lock their phones, so I guess a fingerprint unlock is mainly aimed at them.
It's a gimmick and a potentially dangerous one as has already been discussed, however remote the possibilities of the already discussed scenarios. Until something really revolutionary occurs in the high end smartphone market from any of the players this is the sort of thing that we will be seeing regularly (Like I said, from ALL manufacturers).
I still think that something that will be used a lot on a regular basis makes it a bit more than a gimmick.
And I definitely think you are exaggerating the dangerousness of it, because the worst case scenario is so incredibly unlikely. If people do have serious security concerns, the answer is probably not to keep financially sensitive data on their phone in the first place.
Don't forget, if most people apparently don't even use a passcode, then giving them the ability to use something like this is a potential improvement.
You can easily purposely corrupt a phone's operating system to force it into recovering to factory condition.
Proven many times with passcoded iPhones, check YoutTube.
That doesn't work on iOS 7. You are forced into entering your Apple ID (not your passcode) with the vanilla OS. Things may change if an untethered iOS 7 Jailbreak ever comes out.
Firstly, nobody is being told they have to buy an iPhone, and even if they did the fingerprint scanner is an optional feature (that means you don't have to use it). So why all the outrage and emotion against it.
Secondly, why is this same level of criticism not being levelled at the pinsentry card readers (the little terminals some banks give you to manage online banking). As I have pointed out elsewhere, these are generic and can be used to verify the pin on any credit/debit card. You may not be aware of it but you don't need to have signed up for online banking or even possess one of these to be a possible victim. Every single card in the country can be verified by one of these card readers - and you have zero choice in this matter. So, a villain can take you down a dark alley and verify the pin number he coerces out of you is correct (with his machine - all he needs from you is your card).
At the end of the day it's actually a darn sight easier to quickly monetise a credit card for which you have the pin, than an unlocked phone. What's he going to do with my phone before I can take appropriate action - watch a free movie on iTunes ?
That's exactly why I said it's easier to find a useful number to call on an unlocked phone. If you consider the real life example that happened to me the standard information one might put on a lockscreen wouldn't have helped. We were on our way to catch a plane and had the phone been locked but showing our home details we still would have lost the phone as obviously we weren't at home.
I think its fortunate that you had someone you know well as the first entry. Depending on the phone, people could end up calling my clients from work, acquaintances etc before finding someone that could contact me on a different number.
I use main mobile+email address on my tablet and work phone, and work mobile+email address on my main mobile. Obvs there's always the possibility that I might be running for a plane and unable to check my email/messages but for me that would be better than someone playing roulette with my entire list of contacts.
I think the focus in this thread on passcode unlocking of the phone is somewhat missing the point.
The significant thing about Apple's fingerprint reader is that they have enough confidence in it to open it up on day one for e-commerce. With 600 million credit card accounts at stake that would be some gamble if the technology was flakey.
I'm not saying for sure this will happen, but I can easily see in 1-2 years time we will look back and say that Apple were the company responsible for kickstarting biometric authentication for e-commerce - in the same way that the first iPhone brought touch screens for phones to the masses (and yes I know theirs wasn't the first touchscreen). It may well turn out to be a lot more than "a silly gimmick".
I think its fortunate that you had someone you know well as the first entry.
Well you're right of course, we were lucky. But the principle still stands. I know in the past I have found a couple of phones and I remember looking through the contacts list for generic family names like mum,dad nana etc. as obvious people to try. There's no point ringing a random contact when you don't know whose phone it is.
I like the idea of the fingerprint scanner. I'm not an Apple user or fan but full credit to them for getting to the party first on this one. I use Face Unlock on Android so I guess I'm just a bit of a geek for futuristic-feeling unlock methods; I like the feeling that, through biometric data (face, fingerprint, presumably retina at some point), my phone recognises me rather than just something I can remember (and any old monkey could input).
I haven't seen the fingerprint reader in live action yet, but one bonus of Face Unlock - especially on a top end phone like the Nexus 4 - is that most of the time it can recognise my face and unlock the phone quicker than I could swipe a pattern or type in a PIN, so it offers both convenience AND speed. I trust the same is probably true of the scanner on the 5S.
AFAIK using the fingerprint sensor is optional and you can still use a pass code if you prefer. There are however a scarily high number of people who never lock their phones, so I guess a fingerprint unlock is mainly aimed at them.
I have never used a passcode, but when the time comes to upgrade my phone I will probably use a fingerprint scanner.
I must admit though, I don't think I'll walk around worrying that somebody is going to cut my finger off. More likely, if someone wants to steal your phone, they'll stick a knife to your neck and say "unlock your phone" and that's regardless of whether its a pin or fingerprint sensor.
I have never used a passcode, but when the time comes to upgrade my phone I will probably use a fingerprint scanner.
I must admit though, I don't think I'll walk around worrying that somebody is going to cut my finger off. More likely, if someone wants to steal your phone, they'll stick a knife to your neck and say "unlock your phone" and that's regardless of whether its a pin or fingerprint sensor.
Whilst it is still a terrible crime surely it's far less serious a crime to knock you out and use your finger than put a knife to your throat in order to get a pass code out of you? 'Robbed at knife point' versus 'knocked unconscious and robbed'?
Whilst it is still a terrible crime surely it's far less serious a crime to knock you out and use your finger than put a knife to your throat in order to get a pass code out of you? 'Robbed at knife point' versus 'knocked unconscious and robbed'?
Or, alternatively, if you are in a busy place, don't go waving your smartphone around.
It's all a load of nonsense. I predict that there will not be one single media report of a finger being chopped off for this purpose or a person being knocked unconcious to get a fingerprint scan.
Comments
That's exactly why I said it's easier to find a useful number to call on an unlocked phone. If you consider the real life example that happened to me the standard information one might put on a lockscreen wouldn't have helped. We were on our way to catch a plane and had the phone been locked but showing our home details we still would have lost the phone as obviously we weren't at home.
No, it should be optional. I just don't fall asleep in public, why should I be penaiised for those who go out and get blind drunk.
Everything genuinely useful has already been done? I'd be inclined to agree with you, but if I've alluded to that in the past, by saying that the smartphone tech has pretty much plateaued I get shot down in flames about how everyone other than still introducing great new, innovative features.
IIRC last year, when people were talking about Apple's lack of innovation, a fingerprint reader was one of the things suggested that they could have introduced.
It certainly isn't something that would swing me towards one phone over another, but I think its more than gimmick though. Gimmicky things tend to be things that people won't end up using much, whereas this is something I can see a lot of people using all the time. Unlocking your phone is, after all, something that phone users do many times every day.
Exactly - at the end of the say people have to have some responsibility and common sense.
It's a gimmick and a potentially dangerous one as has already been discussed, however remote the possibilities of the already discussed scenarios. Until something really revolutionary occurs in the high end smartphone market from any of the players this is the sort of thing that we will be seeing regularly (Like I said, from ALL manufacturers).
I still think that something that will be used a lot on a regular basis makes it a bit more than a gimmick.
And I definitely think you are exaggerating the dangerousness of it, because the worst case scenario is so incredibly unlikely. If people do have serious security concerns, the answer is probably not to keep financially sensitive data on their phone in the first place.
Don't forget, if most people apparently don't even use a passcode, then giving them the ability to use something like this is a potential improvement.
That doesn't work on iOS 7. You are forced into entering your Apple ID (not your passcode) with the vanilla OS. Things may change if an untethered iOS 7 Jailbreak ever comes out.
Firstly, nobody is being told they have to buy an iPhone, and even if they did the fingerprint scanner is an optional feature (that means you don't have to use it). So why all the outrage and emotion against it.
Secondly, why is this same level of criticism not being levelled at the pinsentry card readers (the little terminals some banks give you to manage online banking). As I have pointed out elsewhere, these are generic and can be used to verify the pin on any credit/debit card. You may not be aware of it but you don't need to have signed up for online banking or even possess one of these to be a possible victim. Every single card in the country can be verified by one of these card readers - and you have zero choice in this matter. So, a villain can take you down a dark alley and verify the pin number he coerces out of you is correct (with his machine - all he needs from you is your card).
At the end of the day it's actually a darn sight easier to quickly monetise a credit card for which you have the pin, than an unlocked phone. What's he going to do with my phone before I can take appropriate action - watch a free movie on iTunes ?
I think its fortunate that you had someone you know well as the first entry. Depending on the phone, people could end up calling my clients from work, acquaintances etc before finding someone that could contact me on a different number.
I use main mobile+email address on my tablet and work phone, and work mobile+email address on my main mobile. Obvs there's always the possibility that I might be running for a plane and unable to check my email/messages but for me that would be better than someone playing roulette with my entire list of contacts.
The significant thing about Apple's fingerprint reader is that they have enough confidence in it to open it up on day one for e-commerce. With 600 million credit card accounts at stake that would be some gamble if the technology was flakey.
I'm not saying for sure this will happen, but I can easily see in 1-2 years time we will look back and say that Apple were the company responsible for kickstarting biometric authentication for e-commerce - in the same way that the first iPhone brought touch screens for phones to the masses (and yes I know theirs wasn't the first touchscreen). It may well turn out to be a lot more than "a silly gimmick".
Well you're right of course, we were lucky. But the principle still stands. I know in the past I have found a couple of phones and I remember looking through the contacts list for generic family names like mum,dad nana etc. as obvious people to try. There's no point ringing a random contact when you don't know whose phone it is.
I haven't seen the fingerprint reader in live action yet, but one bonus of Face Unlock - especially on a top end phone like the Nexus 4 - is that most of the time it can recognise my face and unlock the phone quicker than I could swipe a pattern or type in a PIN, so it offers both convenience AND speed. I trust the same is probably true of the scanner on the 5S.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a515953/iphone-5s-touch-id-fingerprint-scanner-wont-work-with-severed-finger.html
I have never used a passcode, but when the time comes to upgrade my phone I will probably use a fingerprint scanner.
I must admit though, I don't think I'll walk around worrying that somebody is going to cut my finger off. More likely, if someone wants to steal your phone, they'll stick a knife to your neck and say "unlock your phone" and that's regardless of whether its a pin or fingerprint sensor.
Whilst it is still a terrible crime surely it's far less serious a crime to knock you out and use your finger than put a knife to your throat in order to get a pass code out of you? 'Robbed at knife point' versus 'knocked unconscious and robbed'?
They must have been reading this thread
Or, alternatively, if you are in a busy place, don't go waving your smartphone around.
It's all a load of nonsense. I predict that there will not be one single media report of a finger being chopped off for this purpose or a person being knocked unconcious to get a fingerprint scan.
They probably just saying that to prevent someone loosing a finger!
how about a mugger walks up behind you and punches you on the back of the head?
Nothing worse than a loose finger
Don't forget these phones are made in China
I read on the internet that they literally cut the fingers off small orphan children.