On the Horizon: iPads and iPhones That Personalize Via Facial Recognition

Apple wants to build a world in which the iPad and iPhone are for the whole family. Literally.

The company applied for a patent last week that would enable its devices to recognize a user through its camera and then personalize its desktop, applications, contacts, favorites and more. Personalization facial recognition software isn't just a simple security device. This type of "visual log-on" would enable multiple people to share a single device, while still enjoying a personalized user experience.

The patent filing describes a "low-computation solution for reasonably effective (low threshold) face recognition that can be implemented on camera-equipped consumer portable appliances." That means that the facial recognition software will focus on each user's "high information portions," including eyes, mouth and nose. Since the software won't require a lot of time or battery power to identify these easily distinguishable features, battery life should be a non-issue.

So all you'd have to do is pick up your iPad and look into the camera. Even if another user was just logged in, the new software should automatically call up your settings. Maybe this feature won't be popular for iPhones, but I see a lot of people getting into this for the iPad. After all, who wants someone else's apps cluttering up their device?

The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-Up (July 15, 2011)

Photofly Brings 3-D Models to the Masses: According to the New York Times, Autodesk's Photofly is turning thousands of digital photos into 3D models in seconds. Originally for professionals, they're seeing a ton of adoption by consumers to transform pictures of battleships, Lego men and crab arms, among others. See above. 

iPhone Camera Apps to Bring out the Best Photographer in You: From the Chicago Sun-Times list of top iPhone apps to take pictures, edit them...and 'synth' them. That last one is definitely intriguing. 

Apple Exploring Augmented Reality for iPad -- New Target for Pickpockets? A patent filing published this week suggests real-time 3D mapping is coming to iPads soon. More details here. May beat using a paper map, a tourist walking around an unknown city with an pricey iPad makes for an awfully easy target for pickpockets.

Court OKs Airport Body Scanners: A Wired piece from earlier today reported that a federal appeals court has declined to block the government from using body scanners in airports nationwide. Might be a good opportunity for all of us to take a another look at Privates. 

Another Dumb Thief Targets Security Tradeshow

Another dumb criminal tried to steal something from another security conference.

At last week's, International Security Conference in Las Vegas, two suspects gained entry to the show with bogus credentials. While one suspect distracted staff at the Advanced Technology Video booth, the second suspect -- the one in the black Chargers shirt -- lifted the iPad. The video security system caught the whole act. 

"On the first day of the show, we noticed that our demo iPad went missing," said Duncan Havlin, vice president of sales and marketing for ATV. "None of my staff had the device so we reviewed the video recording of the booth and watched the entire episode unfold.  I was amazed at how foolish this guy was, stealing at a video security expo!"

Thanks to what Las Vegas police called "outstanding video," the iPad was recovered and the suspect was arrested over the weekend.  He was charged with Grand Larceny for the theft and Burglary for forging his credentials to gain entry. Charges were not filed against the other suspect -- the one in the green Chargers shirt -- who claimed he had nothing to do with the crime.  The video seems to back up his story.

Your iPhone/iPad Password Can Be Hacked in Six Minutes

Think your iPhone/iPad is locked down with a passcode? Think again; passwords can be hacked in about six minutes.

Watch the scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology test laboratory in Germany demonstrate this. 

Within six minutes the institute’s staff was able to render the iPhone’s encryption void and decipher many passwords stored on it. If the iPhone is used for business purposes then the company’s network security may be at risk as well. The flawed security design affects all iPhone and iPad devices containing the latest firmware.

The testers did not have to break the 256-bit encryption to get to the passwords stored in the devices’ keychain. A weakness in the security design was used: The underlying secret the attacked password’s encryption is based on is stored in the device’s operating system. This means that the encryption is independent from the personal password, which is actually supposed to protect the access to the device.

Any device using the iOS operating system can be attacked in such a way, irrespective of the user’s password. As soon as attackers are in the possession of an iPhone or iPad and have removed the device’s SIM card, they can get a hold of e-mail passwords and access codes to corporate VPNs and WLANs as well. Control of an e-mail account allows the attacker to acquire even more additional passwords: For many web services such as social networks the attacker only has to request a password reset. Once the respective service returns the new password to the user’s e-mail account, the attacker has it as well.

Playboy Coming to iPad: There Will be Nudity

According to Hugh Hefner via Twitter: Playboy will be available on iPad beginning in March.

"The iPad version of Playboy will include the whole magazine from the first issue to the latest," Hef tweeted.

He promises the iPad version will be uncensored.

Apple has always restricted nudity through its apps, but this is not an app; instead subsribers will access the iPad editions through Safari.

Playboy spokesman Theresa Hennessey also told Fox News that a non-nude version of a Playboy iPad app will be available in a few months.