| Cult of Mac

Samsung will be first to deliver big feature Apple couldn’t

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Galaxy Note 7 USB-C
Samsung's next Galaxy Note will have a fingerprint-scanning display.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Samsung will beat Apple to delivering a revolutionary new smartphone display, according to one reliable analyst.

The South Korean company’s next Galaxy Note will have a fingerprint-scanning screen, which Apple had to drop from iPhone X because it couldn’t be perfected in time for launch.

iOS 11 has another feature to stave off snooping cops

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iOS passcode

Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple has made a couple of changes in iOS 11 that make it more difficult for cops to get into your iPhone. We discovered one of those last month, and now another has been uncovered by security software developer ElcomSoft.

It makes it even more difficult for law enforcement to obtain the data on your iPhone, even if they have your fingerprint.

Flashing the peace sign is now a security risk

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fingerprints from selfies
Your fingerprints can now be snatched straight from your selfies.
Photo: Ryuta Ishimoto/Flickr CC

Next time someone poses for a selfie with their fingers held up in a peace sign, maybe tell them to leave it at a smile.

An ordinary photo of the universal sign of goodwill might be enough for a thief to copy a fingerprint, thanks to the high quality of digital photos these days. And since Touch ID and similar technologies turn fingerprints into keys that unlock our devices and the data we keep in them, that’s cause for concern.

Nexus 5X fingerprint scanner even faster than the iPhone’s

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Nexus 5X is insanely fast at reading your prints. Photo: SuperSaf TV
Nexus 5X is insanely fast at reading your prints. Photo: SuperSaf TV

Fingerprint scanners on Android devices have been hit-or-miss (mostly miss) in recent years, but they’re getting a whole lot better. There’s no better example of that than the new Nexus 5X, which is even faster at recognizing your print than the new Touch ID sensor in iPhone 6s.

Purported iPad 5 Gets Pictured With A Touch ID Sensor

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iPad-5-Touch-ID

Touch ID has received all kinds of praise since it made its debut on the iPhone 5s last month, so naturally, the question everyone’s asking is whether the new fingerprint-scanning technology will make its way to other iOS devices.

We’ve already seen evidence that suggests it will come to the second-generation iPad mini, and the blurry picture above seems to prove that Touch ID is also coming to the fifth-generation iPad, alongside its all-new design.

Did Samsung Just Acquire A Fingerprint Scanning Firm For $650M? Nope.

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Given Samsung’s habit of shamelessly copying everything Apple does, I wasn’t at all surprised to see this morning’s report that the South Korean company had just spent $650 million on a fingerprint scanning firm called FingerPrint Cards. In fact, I simply rolled my eyes when I saw the news and thought, “there’s a surprise.”

But it appears that the whole thing was completely fabricated. The press release that went out announcing the move was false, and both Samsung and FingerPrint Cards have denied the acquisition.