Evidence of new feature discovered in HomePod firmware

Aug 3, 2017 07:27 GMT  ·  By

Apple could improve the iPhone 8 camera with a new mode called “SmartCam” that would allow the device to automatically detect a specific scene and optimize the settings for better shots.

Evidence of such a feature was discovered in the leaked HomePod firmware by Guilherme Rambo, who came across several references to scenes that could be automatically recognized, like Baby, Bright Stage, Document, Fireworks, and Foliage. Most likely, if this feature indeed gets the green light, the list of supported scenes would improve substantially, though this is expected to happen after the launch of the iPhone 8 with future iOS updates.

Apple turning to object recognition is not a new thing, as the company has been using similar features in iOS and macOS to power the Photos app and group pictures in the camera roll in categories using a number of scanned objects, such as people’s faces.

If this feature is improved and makes it to the iPhone 8, the device could thus recognize the scene as soon as it starts focusing, recommending specific settings to the user, but also allowing a default configuration should the detected scene not be correct.

Bye-bye, Touch ID!

The HomePod firmware also includes hints of a facial recognition being used for authorizing payments, and this is very likely another hint that Touch ID is expected to be removed completely.

Apple has had a hard time choosing the location of the Touch ID sensor given the OLED display with no bezels, and the company reportedly failed to embed it into the display. The final decision appears to be getting rid of Touch ID entirely, with Apple to go all-in on facial recognition for securing iPhones.

While facial recognition systems have raised concerns over their security in the past, Apple apparently believes its own feature is impossible to hack and thus wants to use it not only for granting access to the device, but also to authorize payments.

The iPhone 8 should be announced officially in September, ahead of the start of sales later this year, possibly in October or November.