MacRumors

The front-facing 3D sensor on Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 will be the device's "crown jewel," able to unlock the iPhone 8 in a "few hundred milliseconds" to give users quick access to their smartphone and quickly authenticate Apple Pay purchases.

The statement comes in a new report by Bloomberg, and follows on the heels of a recent article by The Korea Herald which used similar language to describe the unlocking process on the iPhone 8. As we near the device's launch, expected in September, so-called "Face ID" has risen to the forefront of iPhone 8 rumors and is largely believed to be replacing Touch ID entirely on Apple's majorly redesigned tenth anniversary smartphone.

The Korea Herald: The new facial recognition scanner with 3-D sensors can deeply sense a user’s face in the millionths of a second.

Bloomberg: The next iPhone will seamlessly mesh screen and charging technologies invented by others with such Apple innovations as a 3-D face scanner that unlocks the phone in a few hundred milliseconds. Upgrades to core technologies aside, the new iPhone’s crown jewel will be a 3-D facial scanning sensor that will unlock device and authenticate purchases—an industry first.

Recent HomePod leaks have also been building up Face ID features over the past few weeks. The HomePod discoveries started off with mention of infrared sensors in the iPhone 8's front-facing camera notch, which will reportedly allow the device to scan the user's face in dark environments, and then led to a string of code that suggested the iPhone 8 will be able to scan faces at various odd angles, including when it's flat on a table.

In the midst of the HomePod leaks, Mark Gurman tweeted that Apple's pitch for Face ID over Touch ID during its upcoming September keynote will be that "Face ID is quicker, more secure, and more accurate than Touch ID." Rumors that the iPhone 8 will omit Touch ID entirely began in early July in a report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, which was then corroborated in a report by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's original report mentioned an "improved" security system coming to iPhone 8, potentially with eye scanning to "augment the system," and the ability for the smartphone to be unlocked with an advanced 3D sensor within a few hundred milliseconds.

As more reports have built upon these original rumors -- including the general idea that Face ID will be more secure than Touch ID because it can capture more data points than a fingerprint scan -- users can expect that advanced facial recognition features will likely be one of the major talking points of Apple's iPhone 8 keynote next month.

Check out Bloomberg's full report here, including a few infographics about the new features coming to the iPhone 8 with a focus on Apple's "best, not first" philosophy.

Streaming movie and TV service VUDU has officially launched as an app on the fourth-generation Apple TV, allowing users to stream their collection of UltraViolet movies, as well as over 4,000 free "Movies on Us" titles, natively on Apple TV.

As expected, the VUDU Player app on Apple TV is limited in one respect -- users can't rent or buy any movie or TV show directly from Apple TV, so they'll first have to add content to their collection elsewhere before navigating to Apple TV in order to view it.

The Vudu Player for Apple TV lets you play over 4,000 free Movies On Us titles, as well as your existing Vudu collection, natively on 4th generation Apple TVs with tvOS 10. And the Vudu Player is the first (and only – just want to reiterate that) player that gives you access to your UltraViolet digital locker on Apple TV (#humblebrag).

Additional features include Siri voice search to find content within your VUDU collection, and a wishlist where users can add any title to save for later, and view on any platform that VUDU is available on. Users on Reddit noted that there is no integration with Apple's TV app.

The official launch of the VUDU Player app for Apple TV comes after rumblings about the app began in March, and then last week a report by Variety confirmed its release date of August 22.

For anyone without a VUDU account, the company encourages new users to head to its signup page to create a free account before launching the Apple TV app, since Apple's App Store guidelines prevent it from adding a sign up option within the app. On the web, users can browse, rent, and buy over 100,000 titles, link an existing UltraViolet and Disney Movies Anywhere account, and then sync everything with their Apple TV app to view their collection on Apple's fourth-generation set-top box.

Google will launch an all-new Pixel-branded Chromebook and a miniaturized version of its Google Home smart speaker alongside new Pixel smartphones at an event this fall, according to a source familiar with the company's plans.

Details are scant on the new Pixel notebook, which will revive the Chromebook line after two years of inactivity, but AndroidPolice suggests it could be the fruition of Google's secretive "Project Bison" first reported last year.

According to rumors, the Bison has a 12.3-inch display, 32 or 128GB of storage, 8 or 16GB of RAM, and a thickness of under 10mm, with the possibility of a "tablet" mode. Originally tipped for a Q3 2017 release and with prices said to start at $799, Bison was said to be considered internally as a serious competitor to Apple's MacBook and Microsoft's Surface Pro, but it's unknown whether the new Pixel Chromebook will actually take this form.

Again, details are few and far between regarding the rumored Google Home "mini" that could debut at the company's fall event, but it's likely to be positioned similarly to Amazon's Echo Dot as a smaller, cheaper version of the $129 flagship model, offering existing Google Home owners a more affordable way of extending smart speaker coverage to additional rooms of the house.

Google's second-generation Pixel smartphones will come in two sizes and both models are expected to feature "squeezable" sides that enable them to perform different functions. The 4.97-inch device will by made by HTC and is said to have a 1080p display and stereo speakers, while the 6-inch XL handset made by LG will feature an AMOLED display with a 2:1 aspect ratio. Both devices are said to have no headphone jack.

There's still no confirmation of the actual date of Google's fall event, but the original Pixel smartphones were unveiled in October of last year, so expect it to be around then.

Facebook's Safety Check service is set to become a permanent feature of the social media network on both mobile and web, with the next update of the iOS app.

The Safety Check feature first appeared in 2014 to help users let loved ones know they are safe if they are close to a crisis. Facebook announced on its Disaster Response page that the service will roll out to become a permanent feature over the next few weeks.

Safety Check helps our community let loved ones know they are safe during a crisis, find and give help, as well as learn more about a crisis. There’s now a single place to go to see where Safety Check has recently been activated, get the information you need and potentially be able to help affected areas. We will gradually roll this out in the upcoming weeks starting today.

Facebook's example images show the service being accessed on Android, but the Safety Check feature should make its way onto iOS with the next update to the app, as an additional option in the Explore tab, which can be displayed by tapping the hamburger button in the lower right corner of the interface.

Facebook recently made several changes to the News Feed to make it easier to read and navigate, with tweaks to the design and the use of chat bubbles to display comments. Facebook is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple recently dropped the price of the HomeKit-enabled D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD camera from $199.95 to $149.95 in the United States, a $50 discount off of the launch price. Apple's website doesn't mention a discount, suggesting the base price of the accessory has been lowered.

The price has also been lowered in Canada from $269.95 CAD to $199.95 CAD, and it's also been discounted in several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and more. It appears the price cut went live a few weeks ago.

The D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD was the first camera to include support for HomeKit, but other products have been released since then, including Logitech's Circle 2.

The Omna is a quality in-home security camera with a wide angle lens, night vision support, and an accompanying app, but it records all content to a microSD card and does not include support for uploading to the cloud, a feature that may keep some users from wanting to buy it.

For a more complete picture of the D-Link Omna, make sure to check out our review.

Back in April, Apple product designer and Siri co-founder Tom Gruber gave a TED Talk, where he spoke about his vision of the future of computers and artificial intelligence.

The full 10-minute TED Talk was today published on YouTube, giving us a chance to hear his complete thoughts on the future of AI and Siri.

Gruber's talk also covers the importance of privacy and a range of useful applications for AI, like cancer detection and advanced personal assistants like Siri.

Apple's progress in 3D sensing design and mass production is 1.5 to 2 years ahead of Qualcomm's, according to a new investor's note released today by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo believes that Qualcomm is behind in both software and hardware development for 3D sensing, and won't be able to ship the technology until 2019. As Qualcomm is the "most engaged" company when it comes to 3D sensing components for Android devices, Android smartphones could lag behind Apple devices for some time.

While Qualcomm has excelled in designing advanced application processors and baseband solutions, it lags behind in other crucial aspects of smartphone applications like dual-camera (many Android phones have instead adopted solutions used to simulate optical zoom from third-party vendors such as Arcsoft (US)) and ultrasonic fingerprint scanner (while a new reference design has been released, there is no visibility on mass production). So while Qualcomm is the most engaged company in the R&D of 3D sensing for the Android camp, we are conservative as regards progress toward significant shipments and don't see it happening until 2019F.

According to Kuo, Qualcomm is dealing with immature algorithms and an unfavorable hardware reference design for smartphones due to form factor design and thermal issues. Qualcomm may also be impacted by Apple's choice of suppliers. Many key component suppliers have already allocated resources to Apple, so Qualcomm has to find different suppliers in order to obtain sufficient resources. Kuo also outlines the suppliers each company is using:

In general, Kuo says the "Android camp" appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach to 3D sensing, which also does not bode well for Qualcomm's 3D sensing technology. Android manufacturers are said to be waiting to see how Apple will use 3D sensing and whether it will offer an "innovative user experience" with features like facial recognition.

Xiaomi's 2018 flagship device is said to be the only potential adopter of Qualcomm's 3D sensing technology, and if the OLED iPhone doesn't see positive feedback following launch, Kuo believes Xiaomi may drop the project.

Apple is rumored to be introducing a front-facing camera with 3D sensing functionality that will enable a new facial recognition system to replace Touch ID, which the company could not build under the display of the device due to production issues. Apple's "iPhone 8" with 3D sensors is expected to debut in just a couple of weeks.

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming watchOS 4 update to developers, one week after seeding the sixth beta and more than two months after introducing the watchOS 4 update at its 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

watchOS 4 introduces three new watch faces, including a dedicated Siri watch face that displays dynamic information unique to each individual and is perhaps the most significant new feature in the update. There are also new complications for Now Playing and Apple News, and an enhanced Workout app that supports High Intensity Interval Training and new swimming options.

Many other small tweaks and changes have been introduced, all of which are outlined in our dedicated watchOS 4 roundup.

watchOS 4 is only available to developers and will not be provided to public beta testers, so non-developers need to wait until the software sees an official release in the fall to try it out. With September approaching, we are nearing the end of the beta testing period.

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming tvOS 11 update designed for the fourth-generation TV, one week after seeding the sixth beta and over two months after releasing the first beta during the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Registered developers can download the tvOS 11 update by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using iTunes.

tvOS 11 didn't receive a lot of attention at the Worldwide Developers Conference because it's a modest update, but according to Apple's release notes, it does introduce a few new features to the operating system.

tvOS 11 brings automatic switching between light/dark mode based on local time, Home screen syncing options that keep multiple Apple TVs in a household in sync, new background modes and notification support, Focus API improvements, custom sound support, network-based pairing and development support, improvements to Mobile Device Management, and more.

The seventh beta of tvOS 11 most likely focuses primarily on bug fixes and other small refinements, as the first six betas did. Apple's new tvOS 11 update is available for both registered developers and public beta testers. It will see a public release later this year.

Update: Today's update appears to include HDR assets for "J105a," the code name for a next-generation Apple TV capable of supporting a 4K resolution. References to J105a have previously been found in the HomePod firmware, suggesting we could perhaps see a release of a new Apple TV in the near future.

Update 2: Apple has also released a new public beta of tvOS 11 for public beta testers.