in ,

Pixel 4 face unlock finally gains an alertness check, Ars Technica

Pixel 4 face unlock finally gains an alertness check, Ars Technica

      Wake up! –

             

The Pixel 4’s face unlock will now finally check to make sure you’re awake.

      

      

              

      

            

                                  

                                                                 The Pixel 4 XL.                                                         

                                                  Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                    

                                                                 The many sensors in the Pixel 4’s top bezel.                                                         

                                                  Ron Amadeo / Google                                                                   

                                    

                                                                 In the right lighting conditions, you can begin to make out the components hidden in here. Most cutouts are for the 3D face unlock system.                                                         

                                                  Ron Amadeo                                                      
                

                                    

                                                                 We have the white version, which looks great with the contrasting black accents.                                                         

                                                  Ron Amadeo                                                      
                

                                    

                                                                 The top of the phone. There is a lot of bezel here.                                                         

                                                  Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                    

                                                                 Does the display look … kinda pink? That’s the ambient EQ display mode in action.                                                         

                                                  Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                    

                                                                 Google camera block has two cameras: a 29 MP main camera and a

      MP telephoto.                                                         

                                                    Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   In the right lighting, the camera block looks like a surprised robot. The two eyes are cameras, the mouth is the LED flash, and a microphone is a small beauty mark on the right. See the sensor on the robot’s forehead? Let’s zoom in …                                                         

                                                    Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   It’s a color sensor! Neat.                                                         

                                                    Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   The back has a soft-touch coating everywhere but on this “G” logo. You can catch a fingernail on the edge of it.                                                         

                                                    Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   We get a neon orange power button, and in this shot you can see the camera bump.                                                         

                                                    Ron Amadeo                                                                   

                                                                                                    There’s just a USB-C port, a speaker, and a microphone on the bottom. The slots are just for symmetry.                                                         

                                                      Ron Amadeo                                                      
                    

                                        

                                                                     There’s just a microphone on top.                                                         

                                                      Ron Amadeo                                                      
                    

                                        

                                                                     The black sides are metal with a heavy coat of paint on top, and there are actually plastic bumpers where the metal meets the two glass panels.                                                         

                                                      Ron Amadeo                                                  
          

        Google is shipping Android’s April security patch this week, and with it comes a fix For a long-standing issue with the Pixel 4’s face unlock feature. The Pixel 4’s face unlock system is finally getting an alertness check, almost a whopping six months after launch.

        Google went all-in on a face unlock system for the Pixel 4, removing the fingerprint reader that had been on previous models and using and IR-backed, 3D face scanner as the only biometric system. The Pixel 4 sported a big, lopsided top bezel with all the requisite hardware to build a FaceID-like system, but Google’s software left a bit to be desired. The face-scanning system worked even when the user’s eyes were closed, so it would be possible to point the phone at the sleeping owner and unlock the phone without their consent. With the new eyes-open check, there’s more of a consent factor built into the biometrics.

        ask the user to blink to verify that they were a living, breathing, alert person.

        The April Android security patch is rolling out now, but it may take weeks to hit the entire population.

                

        (Listing image by Ron Amadeo)                                                             Read More

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings

Userdir URLs like https://example.org/~username/ are dangerous, Hacker News

[FREE]Python for Machine Learning and Data Science Bootcamp (20 Hrs)