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Apple's Face ID Will Allow Mask Wearing Users To Unlock Their Phones Quickly - Benzinga

Posted: 20 May 2020 09:55 PM PDT

Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) facial recognition technology will now enable users wearing facemasks to unlock their iPhones faster.

What Happened

The changes to the facial recognition system are part of the iOS 13.5 update released Wednesday. A password or passcode field will be presented to masked users automatically after swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen.

After the iOS sysem is updated, Face ID will allow the same unlocking process for App Store, Apple Pay, iTunes, and other supported applications.

Before the update, the system would make more than one attempt to identify the user before displaying the passcode screen, thereby delaying device access, reported CNBC.

The new update also includes COVID-19 related digital contact tracing technology and exposure notification, which Apple developed in collaboration with Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said on Twitter, "Technology can help health officials rapidly tell someone they may have been exposed to COVID-19. Today the Exposure Notification API we created with @Google is available to help public health agencies make their COVID-19 apps effective while protecting user privacy."

Why It Matters

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has earlier issued guidelines on face coverings to control the spread of COVID-19, which encourages the use of masks.

Masks are compulsory in certain public and private environments, including on airplanes.

Face ID cannot recognize a masked user, necessitating the use of a password or a passcode, as many recent models of iPhones do not come with a fingerprint sensor, reported CNBC.

No changes to settings are required to use the new features in Face ID, users can simply download and apply the iOS update.

Apple Price Action

On Wednesday, Apple shares closed 1.94% higher at $319.23.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 20 leak just revealed all of its cameras - Tom's Guide

Posted: 21 May 2020 04:16 AM PDT

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Plus' rear cameras have just leaked, showing a couple of surprises: there's definitely a periscope zoom sensor and also a new kind of camera we've not seen before.

Camie Ngo on Twitter captioned the image, claiming that it's indeed the camera cluster for the upcoming Galaxy Note 20. While Ngo isn't a big name in smartphone leaks, this leak has been endorsed by Ice Universe and Max Weinbach, who specify that this is likely the Note 20 Plus' rear camera array.

The block is rectangular, like the Galaxy S20 series rather than last year's Galaxy Note 10. Within it there are three main camera sensors, likely the same trinity of main (wide), ultra-wide and telephoto cameras from the Note 10, with the telephoto using a periscope lens based on the rectangular shape of one of the openings.

While other rumors claim that the Note 20 series won't get the 100x zoom 'Space Zoom' feature from the Galaxy S20 Ultra, it could still get the Galaxy S20 or Galaxy S20 Plus' smaller 3x optical zoom camera, or perhaps a completely new sensor.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 camera array — (Image credit: Camie Ngo via SlashLeaks)

To the side of these cameras, we see three more cutouts. The small round one is likely for a rear microphone, which can be used for 'audio zoom' like the Note 10, while the larger round one could either be a flash or a time-of-flight sensor for improved photo effects and use with AR apps.

What's less certain is what the large rectangle will be for. Weinbach suggests that this could be the autofocus sensor that Ice Universe recently mentioned. The Galaxy S20 Ultra has been criticized heavily for its slow and jumpy autofocus, making it difficult to use its high-spec camera array, though software updates have gone a good way to fix this. The additional sensor the Note 20 is expected to have will hopefully solve this problem from the offset, making the camera far easier to use.

The Note 10 used a 16MP main sensor with 12MP ultrawide and 12MP 2x optical zoom telephoto cameras on its back, while the Note 10 Plus added a time-of-flight sensor.

We found that these cameras produced impressive photos during our review, but didn't quite deliver enough to become one of the best camera phones. It's the same story with the Galaxy S20 series released earlier this year - good, but not quite as good as the iPhone 11 Pro.

We're expecting the Note 20, along with the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, to appear in August at an online-only Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. Both phones have more going for them than just the cameras though. We're expecting both phones to make use of S Pen styluses, and inherit some features from the Galaxy S20 series like displays with 120Hz refresh rates, Snapdragon 865 chipsets and 5G compatibility by default.