The new iPhone 5S has been hailed as the safest smartphone on the market with its fingerprint recognition technology.
The iPhone 5S has proved just how secure its new password service is, by registering a cat’s paw print as a key to unlock the gadget.
Technology site, TechCrunch, wanted to test the new Touch ID feature which allows the phone’s owner and four other Touch ID profiles to unlock the phone using skin-recognition technology.
After a few false starts, the cat’s paw was recognized as one of the owner’s five chosen keys and was able to access the phone’s content.
The user was also able to use the heel of his palm and his wrist in the experiment which is described as “a broadening of the definition of what counts as a <<fingerprint>>”.
Though different parts of the body were able to be registered and then recognized as keys, when trying to fool the phone’s software by using the opposite hand than registered access was denied.
The experiment pointed out however that no other animals could be used to unlock the phone as cats have unique fingerprint like paws.
Another technology site, Pocket-Lint, found Touch ID is not just a fingerprint sensor, but a toe and fingerprint sensor.
Their tests found that a print from a toe was able to unlock the phone perfectly every time.
The iPhone 5S has proved just how secure its new password service is, by registering a cat’s paw print as a key to unlock the gadget
Apple unveiled the fingerprint scanner on its iPhone 5S last week with bold claims about its high levels of encryption and security.
The firm even suggested that its Touch ID system could revolutionize smartphone security and replace the traditional, everyday password.
The Touch ID sensor is built into the premium phone’s “home” button and can be used to unlock the phone, as well as pay for shopping and apps automatically – effectively replacing the need for a password or PIN.
Speaking at the launch event in Cupertino, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said: “Half of smartphone customers do not set up passwords. [Touch ID] is an easier and more fun alternative.
“It uses key you have with you everywhere you go. Your finger.”
It works by using a small touch sensor encased around the home button that scans the layers of skin on a finger.
A user can “train” their iPhone to read and learn their unique fingerprint and when they touch the home button, the phone is unlocked.
Touch ID can also replace an App Store password when buying music, apps or books.
It uses a “laser cut sapphire crystal” to take a high-res image scan and the Touch ID software in iOS 7 determines whether the print belongs to the owner or not.
Apple said it is designed to provide “accurate readings from any angle, so the motion to unlock your device ought to be as automatic as it is now”.
It is also designed to become more accurate the more it is used.
Phil Schiller reassured users that Touch ID is secure by explaining that “all fingerprint information is encrypted and stored securely inside the device’s chip” adding the prints are not stored on an Apple server, or backed up to iCloud.
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Apple is in the final stages of purchasing a fingerprint security firm – meaning future iPhones are likely to have an extra layer of built-in security.
There are even suggestions that iPhone 5- due to be unveiled on Wednesday – will already have a fingerprint scanner built in, stopping anyone from reading your messages and data without your fingerprint authorization.
If AuthenTec agrees to the $365 million purchase by Apple on October 4, it will be one of the largest sums paid in a takeover by the tech giant.
Other than the purchase of a “flash memory” supplier last year, this is believed to be Apple’s biggest acquisition since the pre-iPod days of 1997, showing how serious Apple is about the technology.
Apple is also unveiling a new service called PassBook, which allows users to store shop coupons, loyalty cards and other items such as airport boarding passes, with the release of iOS6 – the sixth-generation of its iPhone software – this autumn.
Airlines in the U.S., such as United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Australia will all allow Apple users to store their documents on their phone, meaning a quick swipe will get you to the boarding gates.
Apple is in the final stages of purchasing a fingerprint security firm meaning future iPhones are likely to have an extra layer of built-in security
AuthentTec creates mobile phone security and, according to the merger documents, has already been developing 2D fingerprint sensors for Apple.
The technology could see a fingerprint scanner built behind the screen, requiring your thumbprint to unlock the phone, or it could be a sensor on the back of the device, across which you roll your thumb to allow access.
Technology writer Matt Brian, for the site My Next Web, said: “Will we see fingerprint technology in the new iPhone, or iPad? It seems almost certain.
“Details are scarce but [Apple’s] desire to use the technology and see it developed quickly leads us to speculate that we could see it in just a matter of weeks.”
If Apple comes with NFC, which allows contactless authorization or payments, it could make the iPhone a wallet-replacements, allowing secure payments for small orders.
The technology is similar to that seen on some bank cards.
However, not everyone agreed that the iPhone 5 will come with either finger-print scanners or NFC technology built-in.
Blogger Sonny Dickson, inspecting images of the insides of the iPhone 5, said the internals do not match the rumors.
Previous looks at the internals revealed a mysterious square that seemed an appropriate candidate for an NFC chip.
But Sonny Dickson said the square may simply hold the front-facing FaceTime camera, proximity sensor and a speaker.
He said: “The latest leaked pictures appear to show that there is indeed no NFC chip or fingerprint scanner included in what appears to be the complete front assembly.
“Apple may well be keeping these features under lock and key until their announcement on September 12th.”
He added that an NFC chip and a fingerprint scanner would make “perfect sense”, but added: “Looking at Apple and their incremental iPhone updates it may be too big an update in too short an amount of time.”
Either way, if NFC does not come to the iPhone this time round, it cannot be far away.
AuthenTec executive Art Stewart said recently: “The real sweet spot for today’s smart sensor is the NFC-enabled smartphone, where the smart sensor not only strengthens security but greatly increases the speed and convenience of mobile payment transactions.
“It accomplishes this by reducing multiple steps into one simple user action.”
If the technology does not appear on the iPhone 5, it is likely to appear on the mooted iPad 4 next spring, or in Apple’s annual refresh of the iPhone next autumn.
