Samsung Said to Follow Apple's Lead with Fingerprint Sensor, No Iris Scanner in Galaxy S5

[spjonez]

I disagree with you about Iris Scanners (and retina), which I'm familiar, Security analysts considers all biometric recognition as a 2nd verification protocol to reinforce main security protocol (joint with passords/and a hardware key), this is for SERIOUS SECURITY, but Apple (as Samsung seems will do) offered it as gimmic, just to help lazy users to keep "locked" their devices.

If Apple does offer, an option to require a short password (4 digit) and figerprint recognition this is an safer measure, but FP alone NOT.

Iris Scan isnt that complex, actually very similar to fp scan, and is done on IR spectrum, the advantage is that you cant clone an iris. Similar to Retina scan (wich requires a more complex but similar sensor), btw no biometric sensor is capable to read your WILL, so are only a 2nd verification protocol.
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So they are just a security gimmic.

We are talking about cell phones here not a bank vault.

Text passwords have always been a poor form of security. A good password is hard to remember, so most users pick a bad password making it's effectiveness as a security measure questionable. If you've ever managed a user database you'd know just how often people will use "1234" or "1111" as a password. It's been mathematically proven that enforcing recommended passwords like "1X$%34@#" are actually less secure (as in quicker to brute force) then something like "ilikeboats".

The problem was users not using a pass code or using a dead simple pass code for convenience. Apple noticed a large percentage of it's customers fell into one of those two categories and added FP to make it more convenient to secure your phone. The FP scanner has been successful in doing that. So while you may call it a gimmick for a lot of users their security (or previously lack there of) has been improved.

 

[ArcaneDevice]

On this board though, all innovation should end once Apple has implemented their vision. God forbid another company, let alone the "evil" Samsung, try and make that innovation work for them.

What people also don't realize, is that most of these projects don't start when another company implements it. Fingerprint tech? - OMG WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THIS?! More than likely, projects have been in the pipeline for quite some time.

Interestingly Apple fanboys have once again forgotten that Apple did what they always do. They didn't create this tech from scratch, they bought it.

Authentec were developing cell phone biometrics a decade ago, so Apple swooped in and bought them a couple of years back. Cash is a good shortcut to ingenuity.

 

[richman555]

No surprise here. Samsung is a copying company. Even before Apple their strategy was to copy the market leader in a given industry and make similar products at a cheaper price. It works for them. I don't buy any of their products though. It's mostly of lower quality and I've had a few bad experiences with them.

Back in the day, I bought a Samsung 17 inch computer monitor as I didn't have the money to shell out for a Sony Trinitron monitor. The Samsung still had a 'flat screen' technology and offered it for less. It never was good as a real genuine Sony Trinitron.

Also, I had bought a Samsung Blueray player. Worst purchase ever. The motor died within 3 weeks and the remote was made of cheap plastic.

So while their products come close from a digital electronics perspective, its certain no replacement for the real thing. It is more likely that Google is more of a reason for their smartphone success.

 

[158275]

Brian Roemmele:

In the torrent of the billions of words already written about Touch ID very, very few people have really understood just how revolutionary this really is. Apple not only has developed one of the most accurate mass produced biometric security devices, they have also solved critical problems with how the data from this device will be encrypted, stored and secured. Apple Calls this the Secure Enclave and it is a relatively new concept.​

 

[flux73]

You think Apple invented fingerprint scan security?

Said no one. Ever.

 

[158275]

You think Apple invented fingerprint scan security?

How do you know what Samsung has or doesn't have?

"Apple has taken a very slow and methodical approach with the release of Touch ID. We can see that there was a tremendous amount of amazing work that has gone into this project. All of this convergence took over seven years of very hard work. It includes many patent applications, the acquisition of AuthenTec, the selection of the A7 processor and the integration of the TrustZone suite all baked together into what we now know as Touch ID."

(from Brian Roemmele)

 

[Winni]

You think Apple invented fingerprint scan security?

Didn't you know? On MacRumors, Apple invented everything and everybody else is just stealing from them.

That being said, it's simply wrong to use fingerprint scans as passwords. Like a photograph, they merely identify a person. But would you use a photograph to AUTHORIZE someone? I don't think so. It's extremely stupid to trust fingerprints as a form of authentication.

 

[HEK]

You think Apple invented fingerprint scan security?

No, they perfected it to the point it functionally works. Ford and GM didn't invent the automobile. Don't hear anyone complaining they stole idea from Daimler.

On 25th Jan it will be 30th anniversary of Macintosh. Jobs didn't invent mouse, graphical user interphase, pull down menus, point and click. Smart R&D people at Zerox Parc did. The brilliant Xerox management couldn't see past their own noses. When team presented them with the future on a silver plate they funded. Jobs visits and can see the future of computing when it's shown to him. Takes the ball and runs with it.

IBM and Microsoft laugh and say it's a toy computer. Then years later blatently copy all the design features. Windows is born, LOL.

Man sees, copies, improves,, tries, improves ......Primitive man did't invent fire, copied it from nature when lightening struck.

With all this said, there are more and less ethical ways of using someone else's ideas, innovations, improvements and taking them a step further.

 

[pittpanthersfan]

if both iOS and Android have alternative unlock options then there is no more security on the phones then not having a scanner which makes scanners a gimmick.

It absolutely allows for more security. If someone is looking over my shoulder while I unlock my phone, I'd rather unlock it with my fingerprint than with a gesture or 4-digit number every time.

 

[Avieshek]

Look at the level of 'follow' here, wow! Wh't a imitating parrot! The perfection of copying is so much that the word better shl'd be called 'imitating' but doesn't understands. Samsung should rebrand themselves as 'pineapple'

 

[Renzatic]

Jobs visits and can see the future of computing when it's shown to him. Takes the ball and runs with it.

IBM and Microsoft laugh and say it's a toy computer. Then years later blatently copy all the design features. Windows is born, LOL.

I love how you say Jobs was inspired to make his own, yet Gates just flat out stole it. Kinda unfair, don't you think?

 

[Serelus]

I don't think Steve was at Apple when he said it. I have a feeling it was after his exit from Apple, so keep in mind, he didn't have to be politically correct when he said it (not that this was his style anyway).

I have no doubt he understood it very well (he was an incredibly intelligent man), but he could also be incredibly one-sided in its application. Consider his famous statement many years later:

"I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."​

I have no doubt Jobs cared so much about Apple's product design, carefully crafting every little detail of the user experience and not settling for 'good enough'. So I can understand his frustration when those little details start getting copied by the competition—I really can! But at times I think he lost some perspective by being so emotionally involved with the design process, and forgetting about all the great ideas Apple borrowed from others over the years.

When steve jobs said: "Good artists copy, great artists steal", he actually said something right after that, which was: "And we've always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

So saying he's going to go thermonuclear on android is a very valid point. Because Samsung is not stealing ideas they are stealing products.

 

[HEK]

I love how you say Jobs was inspired to make his own, yet Gates just flat out stole it. Kinda unfair, don't you think?

That's why I ended by saying there are more and less ethical ways to use copied ideas. Xerox throws idea in garbage, Jobs uses it to create computer revolution. Gates could have collaborated paid royalties. Not use the style of a thief, er excuse me, free market capitalist.

 

[Bilbo63]

You are absolutely right! I mean, based on that logic pretty much everything have been invented up to now, or at least tried. So, if Apple lets say, invent a time machine tomorrow.... well, they are not the first. It have been tried before and it does not matter at all if it have been total faliure on the past

Apple didn't invent the concept of fingerprint scanning. You are totally missing the point. Fingerprint scanning as a security measure is not new and has been tried before with little wide acceptance because it was either unreliable or too expensive. What is different is Apple's implementation of fingerprint security that is the issue. Apple is attempting to go about things is their own way that makes fingerprint scanning work the way we want it to work. They invented new tech and acquired tech (by buying Authentec) to make TouchID a reality. If Apple have done their job, people will embrace it. If it's a swing and a miss, then they fail. Ultimately the consumer will decide the outcome.

Anyone can add fingerprint security to their devices if they want. I don't think anyone is really arguing that. If anyone (including Apple) is found to be in violation of another's IP, there will be issues however.

 

[winston1236]

Apple's lawyer's are gunna have a field day with this one!

Doing what exactly? I had a safe back in 2006 with a fingerprint scan to unlock, and someone else probably did it before the safe maker. Its nothing new and Apple certainly didn't invent it.

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Apple didn't invent the concept of fingerprint scanning. You are totally missing the point. Fingerprint scanning as a security measure is not new and has been tried before with little wide acceptance because it was either unreliable or too expensive. What is different is Apple's implementation of fingerprint security that is the issue. Apple is attempting to go about things is their own way that makes fingerprint scanning work the way we want it to work. They invented new tech and acquired tech (by buying Authentec) to make TouchID a reality. If Apple have done their job, people will embrace it. If it's a swing and a miss, then they fail. Ultimately the consumer will decide the outcome.

Anyone can add fingerprint security to their devices if they want. I don't think anyone is really arguing that. If anyone (including Apple) is found to be in violation of another's IP, there will be issues however.

There's nothing new about it. It works the same as all other fingerprint scanners.

"Apple is attempting to go about things is their own way that makes fingerprint scanning work the way we want it to work."

What does that even mean?

 

[dec.]

I think they did right around the time they invented the rectangle.

You're just going to encourage the idiotic crowd that claims that Apple has patented "rounded corners and the rectangle" ...

Anyway, it's just a rumor for now, and if they use it, it's total coincidence that Apple used a fingerprint sensor too.

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Didn't you know? On MacRumors, Apple invented everything and everybody else is just stealing from them.

Just wondering, who on here claimed that Apple invented the fingerprint sensor? Vielen Dank.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Why are people getting their knickers in a twist over this?

Both companies are going to implement the same/similar things in their phones. Pretty soon the phones will be pretty much the same spec-wise. It will all come down to which OS you prefer which results in which handset you get.

 

[Ieo]

Didn't you know? On MacRumors, Apple invented everything and everybody else is just stealing from them.

That being said, it's simply wrong to use fingerprint scans as passwords. Like a photograph, they merely identify a person. But would you use a photograph to AUTHORIZE someone? I don't think so. It's extremely stupid to trust fingerprints as a form of authentication.

Macrumors users seem to have some inflated sense of importance regarding what's stored on their phones. I can guaran-damn-tee less than 5% of iPhone users actually have data that is both valuable and not readily available elsewhere (Does Target ring a bell? If you expose your data to the public, somebody somewhere is smart enough to get it).

My phone doesn't need to be Fort Knox to keep coworkers from browsing my text history. Touch ID is a convenience feature first, a security feature second. If you're somebody who actually has data that valuable, you should know better than to store it on a smartphone AND leave that smartphone vulnerable to theft. If your online passwords and banking information are what you're worried about, your phone is probably the last place a theif will go looking for it. There are much, much easier ways to get your credit card info than through stealing individual phones.

 

[BvizioN]

There's nothing new about it. It works the same as all other fingerprint scanners.

Except from the part where it doesn't.

 

[Bilbo63]

Doing what exactly? I had a safe back in 2006 with a fingerprint scan to unlock, and someone else probably did it before the safe maker. Its nothing new and Apple certainly didn't invent it.

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There's nothing new about it. It works the same as all other fingerprint scanners.

"Apple is attempting to go about things is their own way that makes fingerprint scanning work the way we want it to work."

What does that even mean?

From what I have read, Apple's implementation and the technology involved is somewhat different from how it's been done in the past. The CONCEPT is the same. How it's being done is not the same.

Any other company can do fingerprint recognition. I think that you will see a lot of companies doing things a little differently than it was done 15 years ago. We have better materials now. More research. New ideas.

Fingerprint scanning on mobile devices has proven to be a real challenge which is why we need some new implementations of the concept. From anyone, not just Apple.

 

[lilo777]

When steve jobs said: "Good artists copy, great artists steal", he actually said something right after that, which was: "And we've always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

So saying he's going to go thermonuclear on android is a very valid point. Because Samsung is not stealing ideas they are stealing products.

And when Apple steal great ideas implemented in other products (like Android notifications etc.) what exactly are they stealing: ideas or products?

 

[ZOZO]

Steve Jobs actually understood that quote. It's a shame so many people here keep repeating it without any understanding at all of what it meant.

I believe the real issue is that the quote isn't a very good one. Copying is to stealing as justifiable homicide is to murder. They are the same thing essentially, the difference being one has negative connotations. I'm not entirely certain that the way we interpret the quote is its original meaning. Certainly, the interpretation does not fit the words.

Alas, I suspect most of you will rigorously defend this quote since it was uttered by the Holy Jobs (praised be his name), but if anyone wants to give me an intelligent response, I'm all ears.

 

[Avalontor]

It absolutely allows for more security. If someone is looking over my shoulder while I unlock my phone, I'd rather unlock it with my fingerprint than with a gesture or 4-digit number every time.

Totally understood but I was thinking more about extra security to get the iPhone into secured places like the Pentagon/military.

 

[HEK]

I love how you say Jobs was inspired to make his own, yet Gates just flat out stole it. Kinda unfair, don't you think?

Yes i do think it's unfair. Jobs takes an idea, discarded no less and turns into great selling product. Gates sees a great selling product and copies it, undercutting original product sales. And not compensating for the theft in any way. Yup, quite unfair!

Not making out Jobs as a saint or Gates as a sinner. Both human with full range of behaviors, good and bad. Why does it seem that these discussions always tend towards black and white, good guy bad guy, laudable company laughable company? These are grey scale issues.

J P Getty was an enterprising free market capitalist or a conniving swindling back stabber monopolist? Depend if you were on his team or other side. We won WWII so Admiral Karl Donitz is a War criminal. Had we lost, am sure Curtiss Lemay and Bomber Harris would have been tried as war criminals. All depends on who's side you are on doesn't it.

I don't have Apple or Samsung stock. I don't work for either. I buy products and want them to work as advertised and expect improvements over the years. Beyond that i don't give a rodent's posterior who wins the forum wars on righteousness.

 

[Oletros]

When steve jobs said: "Good artists copy, great artists steal", he actually said something right after that, which was: "And we've always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

So saying he's going to go thermonuclear on android is a very valid point. Because Samsung is not stealing ideas they are stealing products.

Android is not developed by Samsung

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Yes i do think it's unfair. Jobs takes an idea, discarded no less and turns into great selling product.

Xerox didn't discarded any idea, in fact, they sold computers with those ideas