Facial Recognition Feature on Galaxy S8 Bypassed Using Just a Photo

[McCool71]

In reality, the stellar sales of the iPhone 7 shows that consumers have already moved on, between Lightning EarPods,

The funny thing is that Apple had to actually remove the option before a lot of sheep discovered that there was such a thing as wireless headphones. Talk about being captured in the walled garden with fences too high to look beyond.

I have been using stereo bluetooth headsets for years now, I still think removing the audio socket is a cynical move only motivated by the possibility to sell more gear.

 

[Abazigal]

The funny thing is that Apple had to actually remove the option before a lot of sheep discovered that there was such a thing as wireless headphones. Talk about being captured in the walled garden with fences too high to look beyond.

I have been using stereo bluetooth headsets for years now, I still think removing the audio socket is a cynical move only motivated by the possibility to sell more gear.

I own wireless headphones. I just didn't care much for them because of the pain of pairing them and keeping them charged. The AirPods was the first pair of wireless headphones I have owned that truly felt frictionless to use.

 

[McCool71]

What really surprises me is that device manufacturers haven't given users the option of enabling multiple authentication options in an effort to at least compensate to a degree.

I agree. I use 'trusted locations' so that my phone is automatically unlocked when I am at home and I have to use my finger print to unlock it elsewhere. A middle ground such as face unlock when at home so that wife/kids/whatever don't mess with your phone would probably be preferable to lots of people.

 

[Solomani]

Is fingerprint authentication not good enough? Do we really need this other stuff or are they just gimmicks?

Samsung is known for being gimmicky. Their big selling point is that the Galaxies have tons more features than the iPhone. What they don't tell you is that many of the features are useless or impractical gimmicks.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I own wireless headphones. I just didn't care much for them because of the pain of pairing them and keeping them charged. The AirPods was the first pair of wireless headphones I have owned that truly felt frictionless to use.

Well this I can agree with. I have a couple of pairs Bluetooth headphones but the charging and pairing annoyed me to the extent that I rarely used them and when I wanted to they were never charged. The airpods are easier to use than my EarPods now.

 

[Abazigal]

Is fingerprint authentication not good enough? Do we really need this other stuff or are they just gimmicks?

I would argue that it really boils down to implementation. Apple wasn't first with fingerprint scanners, but their take has undeniably been the most refined and secure. They even had secure enclaves in their custom processors to ensure that not even Apple themselves could read your fingerprints.

Contrast this with companies like HTC, which stored your fingerprints as plain image files on their phones.

I can imagine fingerprints not being feasible when you are wearing gloves or your hands are dirty, so alternatives are always welcome. But they have to work right so they can serve as a viable alternative that is just as secure and convenient to use. Not a "yeah, it sucks but it's there, so it's up to you to use it" dismissive attitude.

 

[tomi03]

If by clean, you mean swiping your finger over it to wipe off thick dirt. It doesn't have to be smudge or dirt free, just not completely covered.

The claim to need to clean it 40 times a day is BS and you should feel dumb posting such an inane lie in a place where the majority of people are using that exact technology, daily over years, without said qualm. Then when called out you say "well SOMETIMES". Yeah, ok.



Let me know when the problem becomes so common that it must be banned by the FAA. IIRC, there hasn't been a single story of a nondamaged iPod lighting up onboard a flight. Let alone a replacement from that program.

Biased.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I would argue that it really boils down to implementation. Apple wasn't first with fingerprint scanners, but their take has undeniably been the most refined and secure. They even had secure enclaves in their custom processors to ensure that not even Apple themselves could read your fingerprints.

Contrast this with companies like HTC, which stored your fingerprints as plain image files on their phones.

I can imagine fingerprints not being feasible when you are wearing gloves or your hands are dirty, so alternatives are always welcome. But they have to work right so they can serve as a viable alternative that is just as secure and convenient to use. Not a "yeah, it sucks but it's there, so it's up to you to use it" dismissive attitude.

Well the iris scanner is supposed to work very well. It did on the note 7. The facial recognition also works well early reviews say but it isn't that secure it seems.

The fingerprint scanner on the S7E was awful so alternatives would be welcome imo.

 

[McCool71]

The fingerprint scanner on the S7E was awful so alternatives would be welcome imo.

I use mine every day, never have any issues with it. Maybe 1 in 20 times I have to move my finger a bit to rescan, but that probably adds 2 seconds at worst.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I use mine every day, never have any issues with it. Maybe 1 in 20 times I have to move my finger a bit to rescan, but that probably adds 2 seconds at worst.

I just couldn't get it to work reliably. I often got locked out for 30 seconds. I think the swiping sensor they have on the S5 was better.

 

[macfacts]

I own wireless headphones. I just didn't care much for them because of the pain of pairing them and keeping them charged. The AirPods was the first pair of wireless headphones I have owned that truly felt frictionless to use.

You only have to pair Bluetooth headphones once. Also with old tech (nfc), other devices have been able to pair by just touching the devices together.

Interesting that only Apple can access the nfc chip in iphones and their new airpods can pair so easily.

 

[Roller]

I own wireless headphones. I just didn't care much for them because of the pain of pairing them and keeping them charged. The AirPods was the first pair of wireless headphones I have owned that truly felt frictionless to use.

I have a pair of wireless headphones as well. They automatically pair with my Macs and iPhone without any action on my part. The requirement to keep them charged applies to all devices with rechargeable batteries, with the frequency dependent on how much power they draw and how often they're used. Of course, there are always tradeoffs. I prefer my headphones because they provide very good audio quality and effective noise cancellation, but I can certainly see why some people find AirPods more functional.

 

[sulpfiction]

This was the facial recognition not the iris scanner alao don't forget that the iPhone touch Id was bypassed by a nipple.

No, no..Touch ID was programmed with and then unlocked with a nipple. BIG BIG difference.

 

[Shanghaichica]

No, no..Touch ID was programmed with and then unlocked with a nipple. BIG BIG difference.

Did it have to be unlocked with the same nipple or could you use a different nipple to the one it was set up with?

 

[citysnaps]

Did it have to be unlocked with the same nipple or could you use a different nipple to the one it was set up with?

Give it a try and report back?

 

[Shanghaichica]

Give it a try and report back?

No quite fine using my finger.

 

[marty11]

I hate to defend Samsung here but it's always been a sh*tty form or security, but mostly for people who want a step above nothing.

 

[Mac 128]

The funny thing is that Apple had to actually remove the option before a lot of sheep discovered that there was such a thing as wireless headphones. Talk about being captured in the walled garden with fences too high to look beyond.

I have been using stereo bluetooth headsets for years now, I still think removing the audio socket is a cynical move only motivated by the possibility to sell more gear.

While I don't necessarily agree with your conclusion, I do agree with your observation about the blind, ideological fervor, with which some defend Apple and attack the competition.

The reality is, Apple chose to remove the headphone jack to include other technologies they ranked higher than maintain compatibility with the convenience and ubiquity of the headphone jack. I don't necessarily disagree with them. But it was a choice, not some insightful move on their part, especially given that their wired solution is proprietary, and incompatible with anything else, including the Mac.

Samsung is known for being gimmicky. Their big selling point is that the Galaxies have tons more features than the iPhone. What they don't tell you is that many of the features are useless or impractical gimmicks.

You mean like 3D Touch?

Well this I can agree with. I have a couple of pairs Bluetooth headphones but the charging and pairing annoyed me to the extent that I rarely used them and when I wanted to they were never charged. The airpods are easier to use than my EarPods now.

I've never had any trouble pairing any recent Bluetooth headphones to my Apple products. I'm not sure how you can complain that yours were never charged when the the AirPods also require charging as well, and can just as easily be discharged when you need them. Indeed, my phone has almost always run a greater chance of being discharged than my headphones.

AirPods bring a lot of bonuses to wireless headphones specifically with Apple products, but basic maintenance (e.g. Charging) and pairing to other devices is not one of them. In fact if a person only uses them with one Apple product, pairing them is still a one-time procedure with any BT headphone, W1 chip or no. AirPods also being a lot of limitations when it comes to sound quality and features, so the Apple trade offs continue ...

 

[Shanghaichica]

While I don't necessarily agree with your conclusion, I do agree with your observation about the blind, ideological fervor, with which some defend Apple and attack the competition.

The reality is, Apple chose to remove the headphone jack to include other technologies they ranked higher than maintain compatibility with the convenience and ubiquity of the headphone jack. I don't necessarily disagree with them. But it was a choice, not some insightful move on their part, especially given that their wired solution is proprietary, and incompatible with anything else, including the Mac.



You mean like 3D Touch?



I've never had any trouble pairing any recent Bluetooth headphones to my Apple products. I'm not sure how you can complain that yours were never charged when the the AirPods also require charging as well, and can just as easily be discharged when you need them. Indeed, my phone has almost always run a greater chance of being discharged than my headphones.

AirPods bring a lot of bonuses to wireless headphones specifically with Apple products, but basic maintenance (e.g. Charging) and pairing to other devices is not one of them. In fact if a person only uses them with one Apple product, pairing them is still a one-time procedure with any BT headphone, W1 chip or no. AirPods also being a lot of limitations when it comes to sound quality and features, so the Apple trade offs continue ...

The problem I had was if I wanted to use my Bluetooth headphones with multiple devices. I'd have to unpair them from the lash device they were paired to before I could pair them to another device and use them. Due to all of that pairing and unpairing I wouldn't use them often and therefore I didn't keep them charged up.

The airpods I only use with Apple devices. As I've found them straight forward to use I use them more and therefore remember to keep them charged up. Also the case helps because it can be used to recharge them a couple of times before I need to connect them to a charger.

 

[FrenchRoasted]

The facial recognition feature has been poorly marketed, but no matter how you spin it, the removal of the headphone jack was a bad move by Apple.

 

[I7guy]

The facial recognition feature has been poorly marketed, but no matter how you spin it, the removal of the headphone jack was a bad move by Apple.

What does the headphone jack have to do with this.

 

[WRChris]

You basically have 5 security methods with this phone (Fingerprint reader, Iris scanner, face unlock, pin and pattern unlock). So if you're that paranoid pick Iris scanner followed by fingerprint reader. That being said Samsung knew that face unlock was not as secure because you can't use it for Samsung Pay. Google ran into this very same issue when they released face unlock on Android 4.0. They then introduced a "live" check that required you to blink.

If I decide to buy the Note 8 (pending on Apple releasing a redesigned phone and not an S model) I would use either the fingerprint reader or Iris scanner. My gripe is that the fingerprint reader is in a bad location; it should have been smack damn in the middle of the phone so when you pick it up there is no guess work and you will not smudge the crap out of the camera. That's the biggest issue design wise. Next would be no front speaker in the ear piece. And don't get me started on Samsung software updates. Crap, now I'm back to getting the next iPhone.
[doublepost=1491056514][/doublepost]Straight from Samsung's mouth.

"The Galaxy S8 provides various levels of biometric authentication, with the highest level of authentication from the iris scanner and fingerprint reader. In addition, the Galaxy S8 provides users with multiple options to unlock their phones through both biometric security options, and convenient options such as swipe and facial recognition. It is important to reiterate that facial recognition, while convenient, can only be used for opening your Galaxy S8 and currently cannot be used to authenticate access to Samsung Pay or Secure Folder."

So essentially you have 5 ways of doing the same thing. You say choices I say redundancy and too much for the average consumer. I can see only a small percentage of users doing anything but fingerprint unlock.

I wish my iPhone could unlock 5 different ways for no reason other than "look it's newish tech".

 

[Shanghaichica]

So essentially you have 5 ways of doing the same thing. You say choices I say redundancy and too much for the average consumer. I can see only a small percentage of users doing anything but fingerprint unlock.

I wish my iPhone could unlock 5 different ways for no reason other than "look it's newish tech".

But you don't have to use all of them. You choose. I don't see anything wrong with choice.

 

[FrenchRoasted]

What does the headphone jack have to do with this.

General comparison between the S8 and the iPhone

 

[Mac 128]

The problem I had was if I wanted to use my Bluetooth headphones with multiple devices. I'd have to unpair them from the lash device they were paired to before I could pair them to another device and use them. Due to all of that pairing and unpairing I wouldn't use them often and therefore I didn't keep them charged up.

The airpods I only use with Apple devices. As I've found them straight forward to use I use them more and therefore remember to keep them charged up. Also the case helps because it can be used to recharge them a couple of times before I need to connect them to a charger.

You're making an unfair comparison. You used your old BT headphones with multiple devices. You use your AirPods only with Apple products. AirPods pair exactly the same way with non-Apple products as your old ones.

Also, my BT headphones could be paired to multiple devices, so that's another consideration in your criticism.

As for me, since I didn't have the problems you did with my BT headphones, I also remembered to keep them charged up. Moreover, I carry a portable batter pack in my bag everywhere I go, so no matter what I need to top off, phone, iPad, headphones, I have the ability to do it.

It's all in how you organize your life.