It has always been the practice of competitive companies to seek out more information about a product in government licensing and patent office. It is because regulating agencies are charge of processing patent applications, which exposes some of the closely guarded company secrets and Apple, Inc. is no exception.
A new patent application from the famously secretive Cupertino company has shed light on a potentially exciting upgrade coming to the Touch ID home button used on iPhones and iPads.
Discovered by AppleInsider, patent application 13/918221 reveals work on a Touch ID button which would not only be able to read fingerprints but also interpret finger gestures.
The application’s verbose title is 'Electronic Device Switchable to a User-Interface Unlocked Mode Based Upon a Pattern of Input Motions and Related Methods' and in it diagrams illustrate unlocks with twists, swipes and patterns. Interestingly the application was made by Dale R. Setlak who is the co-founder of AuthenTec, the company Apple acquired which led to the development of the original Touch ID fingerprint sensors.
Obviously at this stage it is impossible to know if or when such an enhanced Touch ID button could come to market. That said it does show Apple is not happy to sit on a technology which is currently both a competitive differentiator and key driver of new services like Apple Pay.
In addition security experts have often called for biometrics to be used in conjunction with passwords rather than as a substitute. This notion of biometric 'IDs' and separate passwords greatly enhances security, but has long been seen as too cumbersome for users to adopt. Apple’s approach in this patent could solve it.
Touch ID was first unveiled with the iPhone 5S in 2013 and Apple has shown it to be far more than the gimmick some critics suggested. Touch ID has since been added to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPads range with its importance emphasized by the fact it was the only change made from the iPad mini 2 to the new iPad Mini 3. But it seems Apple is only just getting started.
A new patent application from the famously secretive Cupertino company has shed light on a potentially exciting upgrade coming to the Touch ID home button used on iPhones and iPads.
Discovered by AppleInsider, patent application 13/918221 reveals work on a Touch ID button which would not only be able to read fingerprints but also interpret finger gestures.
The application’s verbose title is 'Electronic Device Switchable to a User-Interface Unlocked Mode Based Upon a Pattern of Input Motions and Related Methods' and in it diagrams illustrate unlocks with twists, swipes and patterns. Interestingly the application was made by Dale R. Setlak who is the co-founder of AuthenTec, the company Apple acquired which led to the development of the original Touch ID fingerprint sensors.
Obviously at this stage it is impossible to know if or when such an enhanced Touch ID button could come to market. That said it does show Apple is not happy to sit on a technology which is currently both a competitive differentiator and key driver of new services like Apple Pay.
In addition security experts have often called for biometrics to be used in conjunction with passwords rather than as a substitute. This notion of biometric 'IDs' and separate passwords greatly enhances security, but has long been seen as too cumbersome for users to adopt. Apple’s approach in this patent could solve it.
Touch ID was first unveiled with the iPhone 5S in 2013 and Apple has shown it to be far more than the gimmick some critics suggested. Touch ID has since been added to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPads range with its importance emphasized by the fact it was the only change made from the iPad mini 2 to the new iPad Mini 3. But it seems Apple is only just getting started.
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