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Apple’s brand-new iPhone 5S isn’t dramatically different from last year’s model, but it has at least one major addition: a “Touch ID” sensor. Us human beings are calling it a fingerprint sensor, and it’s built into the phone’s main Home button below the screen. Apple’s Phil Schiller says, “It reads your fingerprint at an entirely new level” – it’s 170 microns in thickness with 500 ppi resolution. According to Cupertino, it “scans sub-epidermal skin layers,” and can read 360 degrees. As expected, the sensor is actually part of the Home button, making it less of a button and more of a…well, sensor. Using Touch ID, users can authorize purchases by simply using their thumbprint. Pretty neat / scary!
As rumored, the sensor uses a laser cut sapphire crystal cover; it does retain a tactile input for those wary of the sensor wearing down after lengthy use.
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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Software, Mobile, Apple
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