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HomePod firmware reportedly confirms 'Face-Lock' for the iPhone 8

NEW DELHI:

One such news was reported by Bloomberg where it was mentioned how Tim Cook and his team are planning to include a face-recognition security lock on the upcoming handset. Now, an evidence of the same seems to have popped up, courtesy the new firmware released by Apple, for its forthcomingHomePod smart speaker.

Spotted by noted developer Steve Troughton-Smith, the HomePod firmware apparently indicates the existence of an infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit, a framework that runs Touch ID security lock on iPhones.

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7 'confirmed' features of Apple iPhone 8

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7 'confirmed' features of Apple iPhone 8

Apple will be launching its tenth anniversary iPhone this year. The speculations about the likely features and specifications of the upcoming smartphones have kept the tech grapevine churning for months now. Recently, Apple unveiled the latest version of its mobile operating system iOS 11. The software update coming to iPhones and iPads also gives some clues about iPhone 8's features. Other than these, CEO of Wistron, a contract manufacturer of Apple devices, too inadvertently revealed some details about the upcoming iPhones. Based on these, here are 7 'confirmed' features of Apple iPhone 8.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) will play a big role in the upcoming Apple iPhone 8. Apple made some big announcements related to AR for the upcoming iOS 11 at the recent WWDC conference. The company announced its own AR development platform (ARKit), which means that developers can create AR apps well in time for iPhone 8. It is likely that by the time the smartphone launches in September, Apple developers will be ready with several AR-based apps.

Dual-rear cameras

Although Apple has revealed nothing about the dual-rear camera setup, guessing it's inclusion with the upcoming iPhone 8 is easy. This is as Apple has already brought such camera technology with the iPhone 7 Plus last year. AR apps will also be able to make good use of the dual-rear cameras.

Homepod integration

Apple recently unveiled HomePod, its answer to Amazon's Echo and Google Home. Shipping later this year, the pill-shaped speaker will very likely have support for Apple iPhone 8. Though the company didn't go much into the details, iPhone 8-HomePod integration appears integral part of Apple's home computing ambitions.

Wireless charging

Yes, iPhone 8 will feature wireless charging. This has reportedly been revealed by Robert Hwang, CEO of Taiwan-based iPhone assembler Wistron. "Assembly process for the previous generations of (iPhones) have not changed much, though new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing, and waterproof function will alter the assembly process a bit," Hwang reportedly told reporters during a shareholders' meeting. Wistron is said to have recently started assembling iPhone SE units at its plant in Karnataka, India.

Water resistant, glass back panel

Besides confirming the wireless charging feature, Wistron CEO also revealed that the upcoming smartphones will have water-resistant design. Since the smartphone will come with wireless charging, analysts believe that it is likely to sport a glass or a plastic back panel for hinder-free connection.

NFC

With iPhone 8, Apple is quite likely to take its NFC support beyond Apple Pay. The company's all-new iOS 11 Beta adds support for Core NFC, which as per release notes is described as "a new framework for reading Near Field Communications (NFC) tags and data in NFC Data Exchange Format." This means new NFC chip may read more tags than just Apple Pay tags. Users may be able to pair the Apple Watch with the iPhone using NFC. It could also be used for online payments at stores.

Siri may do a lot more

Apple didn't reveal much about the new features coming to Siri during its WWDC conference. This has led to the speculation that users may have lot more to do on Siri in iPhone 8. The glimpse of the improved AI seen at WWDC 2017 conference during the iOS 11 launch too hints at the same. Siri will able to translate languages in real time and will will be fluent in carrying out other commands as well.

T

It was mentioned that users may not require to hold the iPhone 8 in order to make the face-unlock work. The device can even detect faces when kept on a table.

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 It has been rumoured since last year that the iPhone 8 will come with an all-screen front. The top and bottom bezels will be removed along with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.