Daily News Courier

Bending Your Ear: Fujifilm’s Flexible Speakers

Fujifilm solves a problem you didn’t know you had, with a “viscoelastic” polymer.

Although I’ve mentioned my own skepticism about the utility of a flexible smartphone (see “Why Do We Want a Flexible Phone?”), the quest for that grail continues apace. Screens are just the beginning of that quest (see “Flexible Smartphone Batteries”), and researchers are now broaching the interesting question of how to achieve flexible speakers.

Android Jelly Bean Face Unlock has new Blink requirement, works faster [VIDEO]

Face Unlock launched with a bit of controversy and skepticism because it was easy to game the system. A person could hold up a picture of the device owner and unlock the phone because the unlock screen required only that a facial match be detected. In Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Face Unlock ups the ante with a “Liveness check” feature.

Jelly Bean has an optional security feature that adds an extra layer of security for face unlock. When someone sets the phone to enable “Liveness check,” the phone will only unlock when the front-facing camera detects that someone blinks when prompted. If someone fails to blink fast enough or tries to use a static image, the phone will not unlock unless the correct backup gesture/pin lock is entered.

Requiring blinking makes Face Unlock smarter, but it’s not foolproof. I managed to trick the phone into letting me in by holding up a video of me blinking. However, considering the extreme unlikeliness that someone has video of you blinking enough times and can quickly line up both screens, I seriously doubt that should be too much of a concern.

Like I said when Face Unlock was first available, this is more about novelty than it is security. That’s still the case because a pin or gesture lock will still be more secure than Face Unlock, but an improvement is always welcome. This is great for people who worried about Face Unlock being duped by someone holding up a Facebook photo of the owner, and the facial recognition seems to be much faster than it was on Ice Cream Sandwich.

Jelly Bean owners can enable blink detection by taking the following steps:

• Settings > Security
• Tap “Screen Lock” and follow steps for Face Unlock
• Return to Settings screen and tap “Liveness check”

Hat tip to Droid-Life

Related Stories

• Adobe: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be Flash Player’s graveyard
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will launch on Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and Xoom by Mid-July
• Galaxy Nexus will be the first to get Jelly Bean Android 4.1 according to Google Play Checkout

Blog – Why Groupon’s IPO Shouldn’t Erase Skepticism

Shares in the company soared on their first day of trading, but that has more to do with technical factors than the underlying prospects for the business.

After a bumpy ride to its initial public offering, Groupon saw its share price jump as much as 56 percent almost immediately after the stock made its debut this morning. On paper, everything might seem to have worked out all right: Groupon raised $700 million. That will give the daily-deals website a bigger cushion as it continues its expensive method of marketing itself to businesses and consumers. The IPO also makes Groupon founder Andrew Mason the latest billionaire in the TR35. With the surge in the stock price Friday morning, the company as a whole was valued at about $18 billion. That’s way higher than the $6 billion Google offered for Groupon last year.

Skepticism grows over reported capture of Gadhafi’s son

Moatassim Gadhafi, a son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, was reported captured Wednesday after a four-hour firefight in Sirte, said Abdallah Naker, the head of the Tripoli Revolutionary Council, who cited field commanders in Sirte as his sources.

Assad’s promises face skepticism abroad

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered vague promises of reform and clear threats against protesters in an address that prompted demonstrations and condemnations of violence. ANALYSIS |

Assad’s promises face skepticism abroad

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered vague promises of reform and clear threats against protesters in an address that prompted demonstrations and condemnations of violence. ANALYSIS |