Apple used to have a pretty consistent iPhone naming scheme. On so-called ‘tick’ years it’d release models such as the iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and iPhone 6 while on ‘tock’ years it’d launch the likes of the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5S, and iPhones 6S. This continued until 2017 when the company decided to switch things up.
Rather than releasing the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus as everyone was expecting, Apple went straight to the iPhone 8 branding. Minutes later, it also announced the iPhone X which was confusingly pronounced ‘ten’ in honor of the smartphone’s tenth anniversary.
Last year, the Cupertino giant did very little to help the situation. Rather than selecting a different name, it stuck with the ‘X’ branding that few people pronounce correctly and subsequently released the iPhone XR and iPhone XS. But with the iPhone 11 now looming, it appears Apple could be preparing yet another marketing shakeup.
The iPhone Pro could be the name of the next iPhone
According to tipster “CoinX” who revealed the iPhone XS/XR naming scheme last year and also confirmed the existence of a 10.5-inch iPad Air weeks before it was introduced, Apple’s next-gen iPhones will make use of the ‘Pro’ moniker. Specifics about what the company is planning weren’t divulged but it seems there are three possibilities.
Scenario 1: The models currently referred to as the iPhone 11 and 11 Max are branded as the iPhone Pro (5.8-inch) and iPhone Pro (6.5-inch). As for the iPhone XR’s replacement, Apple could launch it as the iPhone (2019). This is perhaps the most likely option as it coincides perfectly with the company’s iPad branding.
6.5-inch iPhone Pro dummy unit
Scenario 2: The iPhone XS and XS Max successors are launched as the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max. The latter is a little clunky but certainly not impossible considering iPhone XS Max doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. In this particular case, the next-gen iPhone XR would still likely be branded as the iPhone (2019).
Scenario 3: The iPhone XS is replaced by the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XS Max is substituted by the iPhone 11 Pro. The 2019 iPhone XR model, on the other hand, would likely be called the iPhone 11R.
What differentiates the 2019 iPhone models from the XS/XR?
This year’s iPhones are set to be virtually identical to the 2018 models when it comes to the front panel’s design, but reports suggest Apple is planning a rather drastic change on the rear.
Much like Google’s Pixel 4, the 2019 iPhone series is expected to debut with a square-shaped camera module on the rear that positioned in the top-left corner. A main camera similar to the one found on current-gen iPhones is to be expected on all three models in addition to a telephoto alternative. But what will differentiate the Pro-branded models from the non-Pro device is the third camera.
According to multiple leaks, Apple is planning to include a 12-megapixel camera paired with an ultra-wide-angle lens. The setup will give next-gen iPhones the chance to better compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 or Huawei’s upcoming Mate 30 Pro, and it should also support an all-new feature called ‘Smart Frame.’ The exact details of this are yet to be confirmed but it reportedly captures extra information outside of a photo’s frame to allow cropping and other adjustments later on.
Moving away from the cameras, rumors suggest all 2019 iPhone models will include larger batteries and support for reverse wireless charging, the latter of which should mean AirPods and Apple Watch units can be charged wireless by placing them on the iPhone’s back. Completing the setup be Apple’s A13 Bionic and iOS 13.
Researchers hacked Apple's FaceID authentication on the iPhone in just two minutes
Getty
Security researchers attending the annual Black Hat hacker convention in Las Vegas have managed to bypass the iPhone FaceID user authentication in just 120 seconds.
The way they did it may well surprise you, but should it worry you as well?
Black Hat?
Black Hat is always guaranteed to produce some exciting security headlines, and this year’s convention certainly hasn't disappointed. Everything from a demonstration of how WhatsApp messages can be intercepted and manipulated to Microsoft confirming it had paid hackers $4.4 million (£3.6 million) for example. However, for sheer ingenuity and that "WTF" factor, what the researchers from Tencent did is pretty hard to beat.
What did the researchers do?
The researchers were able to demonstrate that they could bypass the FaceID user authentication and access the iPhone of the victim in less than 120 seconds. To do so, they needed three things: a pair of spectacles, some tape and, erm, a sleeping or unconscious iPhone user.
The researchers found a flaw in the liveness detection function of the biometric authentication system that is used by Apple for unlocking an iPhone using FaceID. During the session, Threatpost reported, the researchers said that "Liveness detection has become the Achilles’ heel of biometric authentication security as it is to verify if the biometric being captured is an actual measurement from the authorized live person who is present at the time of capture."
Except it doesn't. Assuming you can follow the hacking process demonstrated by Tencent, which is relatively unlikely in most scenarios. Not that the method isn't unusual and has that wow-factor, but rather it would be a difficult one to pull off in the real world. It would be a lot easier to access a TouchID-protected iPhone using the finger of a sleeping victim.
All these kinds of hacks require physical access to both the device and the unresponsive owner. Somewhat ironically, I don't think you need to lose too much sleep over this one.
How does the FaceID hack work?
The researchers discovered that the FaceID liveness process wouldn't extract full 3D data from the area around the eye if it recognizes the owner is wearing glasses. Instead, it looks for a black area for the eye with a white point upon it for the iris. So the researchers created a pair of spectacles with white tape covered by black tape in the center. A hole in the black tape was allowing the "white point" to be visible to FaceID. This is enough to fool FaceID and unlock the iPhone
But it's also the last time you can use the word "simply" in connection with the hack. Sure, the researchers showed how they placed the "X-glasses" onto a "sleeping" victim, unlocked the iPhone and managed to transfer money using mobile payment. But you try and do that in the real world.
It's not impossible by any means, but it does require a sleeping or unconscious victim who happens to have an iPhone protected with FaceID and who won't wake up when you are stuffing a pair of specs onto their face.
A look at the different versions of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G can spur a minor headache.
Sarah Tew/CNET
AT&T has had, generously speaking, a mixed year when it comes to 5G. It kicked off 2019 by doubling down on its dubious 5GE claim, which misled consumers into thinking they had 5G, when they really were tapping into an advanced form of 4G that every other carrier already offered. After touting the launch of the world's first 5G network in December, it still hasn't made it available to anyone aside from select, friendly business customers. Even as Samsung launches its second 5G phone in the Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G, AT&T has yet to launch its consumer service.
But, as odd as it sounds, AT&T may have been right all along.
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But to the carriers, that doesn't matter. If the last few years have been all about building up hype for when 5G becomes reality, 2019 has been about sustaining that hype until 5G becomes something ready for mainstream consumers. It's been about a series of first: AT&T and Korean telecom player KT jockeying to be the first to launch a 5G; Verizon launching the first 5G network available to US consumers; Motorola launching the first 5G device through a Moto Mod attachment; Samsung launching the first 5G smartphone; or EE launching the first UK network.
Ultimately, this is more about bragging rights and the ability to tout network superiority over their competitors, and less about whether you as a consumer are going to get a good experience. As CNET senior reporter Shara Tibken explains, you should wait it out before really investing in a 5G phone, because the early technical limitations mean the first-generation devices aren't actually a way to future-proof yourself when better coverage rolls out.
While AT&T is hardly blameless here, withholding 5G service from consumers is at least an honest admission that its 5G experience isn't ready.
"We're not distracted by the 5G popularity contest," an AT&T spokesman said. "Our focus is on our customers."
Likewise T-Mobile, which has launched its millimeter wave network in a limited fashion, hasn't talked about the service much and isn't going to go big until it can roll out broader coverage.
"You can't go to a US consumer and charge them a big premium and it works on three street corners," T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said in an interview in March.
Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G confusion
A look at the different versions of the upcoming Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G spurs a minor headache. Verizon Wireless is the exclusive US launch partner for the device, but the phone can tap only into the super-fast but super-limited network that the carrier has built using a high frequency form of radio signals called millimeter wave spectrum. If you happen to be in the right intersection or sports arena in one of nine cities, you'll get some of the highest speeds available.
Walk a block or two away, and you're out of luck.
Things get confusing when you look at the different version that AT&T and T-Mobile get. Their Note 10 Plus 5G uses a more advanced modem by Qualcomm that can tap into multiple bands. But these early versions are hobbled and can only access their lower frequency spectrum – which offer great coverage, but much lower speeds – and not the super-fast millimeter-wave spectrum they've already launched in various cities.
It's unclear which version Sprint will get, but it's likely able to tap into its five-city 5G network, powered by what's known as mid-band 2.5 gigahertz spectrum, which offers a decent compromise between speed and range. Because of the properties of that spectrum, it has the broadest coverage of any of the carriers from a per-square-mileage perspective.
"Sprint has been transparent about its 5G network publishing coverage maps and (population coverage), along with setting expectations about the real-world average speeds customers should expect," said a Sprint spokeswoman.
Then there's the of T-Mobile potentially buying Sprint. Depending on which version of the Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G Sprint gets, there may be issues with tapping into all of the different bands.
Yes, it's hard to keep track of – even if you follow this stuff for a living. The bottom line is that it's a fallacy to think that you're future-proofing yourself with any of these early 5G phones.
Samsung, for its part, says that it ensures that the value proposition of the phone itself justifies the purchase.
It gets better
The good news is 2020 brings a lot more simplicity to the 5G world. That new modem that Qualcomm is rolling out, called the X55 for all you chip nerds, will be more broadly available. And better yet, it'll be able to fulfill its potential of being able to tap into every band. It'll eventually get integrated into a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which will allow for smaller and more power-efficient phones.
More importantly, carriers are shooting for the coverage to be much better.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg told CNBC that his company will cover half the nation with its 5G network by next year and that half of consumers will be using a 5G phone by 2024. Verizon hasn't said specified how it would get that broader coverage, only saying it would use different bands of spectrum for better reach.
The Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G looks exactly like the normal 10 Plus.
Sarah Tew/CNET
AT&T and T-Mobile both expect to officially launch its 5G service later this year, but both are promising nationwide coverage by next year.
T-Mobile's Ray hinted that the company's next "Un-Carrier" event would center on 5G, but it's dependent on getting that version of the Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G that can tap into the broader network. It won't loudly promote its service until that happens.
"T-Mobile has long held a radically different vision for 5G in America: that it should work everywhere and cost the same as LTE does today," Ray said on Thursday.
It's not that radical. For once, AT&T agrees.
"We believe from a consumer perspective, you have to get to mass coverage," Gordon Mansfield, vice president of converged access and device technology for AT&T, said in an interview last month.
Now if AT&T could just get rid of that stupid 5G E logo.
Harmony, which is called "Hongmeng" in Chinese, "is completely different from Android and iOS," Apple's(AAPL) operating system, said Richard Yu, the CEO of Huawei's consumer business group. He announced the software Friday at a developer conference in Dongguan, China.
Yu said that Huawei can start using Harmony in smartphones "at any time," but he said that the company is giving "priority" to Android right now.
"We will switch to [the] Harmony system when we can't use Android," he said, adding that it is "not that difficult" to migrate from Android to Huawei's own system.
Harmony will be deployed first in Huawei's smart watches, smart screens, smart speakers and other devices, including "in-vehicle systems." Devices that use Harmony will be integrated with each other.
The company also said that the operating system will be open sourced.
Huawei is the world's second largest smartphone seller behind Samsung and it has relied on a suite of Google services for its devices, including the Android system and the Google Play app store. But the US ban has thrown a wrench into that partnership since it was implemented in May.
Consumers who already owned Huawei smartphones were largely unaffected, Google said in May. But the blacklist limited Huawei to the public version of Android for new devices — thus cutting it off from Google apps and services, including Gmail and Google maps.
Sales of Huawei's smartphones have suffered in international markets as a result, but have held up well in China where most of Google's popular products are banned anyway and Huawei has been offering alternatives. The company said Friday that it will "lay the foundations" for Harmony in China, and then "expand it further to the global ecosystem."
American tech companies had hoped to soon resume sales to Huawei. But that might not be happening soon: Bloomberg reported earlier Friday that the White House plans to delay a decision on granting licenses that would allow US companies to keep selling to Huawei, citing people familiar with the matter.
The United States claims that Huawei is a national security concern. Huawei denies that is the case, and says that none of its products pose a national security risk.
CNN Business' Sherisse Pham contributed to this report.
DONGGUAN, China—Huawei Technologies Co. offered the first details about the operating system designed to replace Google’s Android on its smartphones, as the Chinese technology giant races to develop backups to American technology following its U.S. blacklisting.
Huawei’s new operating system, called HarmonyOS, is intended to run on all of Huawei’s consumer gadgets, including its hugely popular smartphones, which run Android and have taken a sales hit overseas since its May blacklisting, said Richard Yu, the head of Huawei’s consumer-device business.
Huawei prefers to continue using Android, the world’s most popular smartphone operating system, on the company’s smartphones, Mr. Yu said. But Huawei could switch its handsets to HarmonyOS “in just one or two days” if it had to.
The company faces numerous hurdles to getting its operating system off the ground if it loses access to Android, and the stakes are high as smartphones make up a large chunk of the consumer-products revenue that comprises more than half of Huawei’s sales.
Mr. Yu offered scant details about the interface and functionality of HarmonyOS.
The U.S. blacklisting of Huawei is cutting off American businesses from a big client. WSJ’s Dan Strumpf looks at the American technology that has powered the Chinese company’s smartphones. Photo composite: Sharon Shi
Handset users are typically reluctant to change operating systems, and users have numerous Android-based handset alternatives to Huawei. In addition to persuading consumers to switch, Huawei must also encourage the development of a new ecosystem of smartphone apps and other software.
Mr. Yu announced the new operating system at an event at a giant basketball stadium on the edge of Dongguan, a southern Chinese factory town. The meeting, called the Huawei Developers Conference, was packed with journalists and software developers from across China and evoked similar annual developer gatherings hosted by tech giants like
Apple Inc.
The launch comes as Huawei struggles to cope with the loss of significant amounts of U.S. technology after the Commerce Department added the Chinese company to its “entity list” in May. That blacklisting prevents companies from selling Huawei U.S.-sourced technology without a license, cutting the tech giant off from billions of dollars worth of American components and software.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you think Huawei users will be willing to switch from Android to the new HarmonyOS operating system? Join the conversation.
Especially problematic for Huawei is the prospect of losing access to Android and other software from
Alphabet Inc.
GOOG 2.62%
’s Google, which has been crucial in making Huawei smartphones popular in Europe and many other Western markets.
The company also uses
Microsoft Corp.
’s Windows on its PCs.
Huawei was the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker in the first half of the year, ahead of Apple and behind only
Samsung Electronics Co.
Shipments rose 24% to 118 million units in the first half, the company said. Mr. Yu said Huawei might have unseated Samsung in the second quarter if not for the “external environment.”
Despite their popularity around the world, smartphones made by Huawei have a tiny market share in the U.S., where major carriers don’t sell its phones. U.S. officials consider Huawei to be a security threat, which the company denies. Huawei is the world’s largest maker of telecom gear, including equipment for the coming generation of superfast 5G networks.
Many analysts think Huawei’s international gadget business is likely to suffer heavily without consistent access to Android and Google’s suite of apps—though sales soared in China, where Google products are largely banned, during the second quarter amid the U.S. clampdown.
“HarmonyOS, if deployed right now for smartphones, could be an uphill battle for Huawei, as still lots of work needs to be done to bring it to iOS or Google Android level at global scale,” said Neil Shah, research director at market-analysis firm Counterpoint Research. Apple’s mobile operating system is iOS.
The Trump administration has been urging U.S. companies to apply for licenses to resume shipments to Huawei, after U.S. actions against the company dimmed the prospects for a trade deal between Washington and Beijing. The Commerce Department, however, has yet to announce whether any such licenses have been granted, and Mr. Yu said Huawei is awaiting updates.
On Wednesday, the White House moved to implement rules that ban U.S. agencies from buying from Huawei and several other Chinese tech companies.
Mr. Yu said HarmonyOS has been in development for two years, though Huawei Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei has said it wasn’t originally intended to run on smartphones.
Mr. Yu said HarmonyOS would be open source, like Android, and that Huawei is encouraging software developers to help the company build an ecosystem of apps and other products.
“We want to build a global operating system so that it will not be used by Huawei alone,” he said.
Harmony, which is called "Hongmeng" in Chinese, "is completely different from Android and iOS," Apple's(AAPL) operating system, said Richard Yu, the CEO of Huawei's consumer business group. He announced the software Friday at a developer conference in Dongguan, China.
Yu said that Huawei can start using Harmony in smartphones "at any time," but he said that the company is giving "priority" to Android right now.
"We will switch to [the] Harmony system when we can't use Android," he said, adding that it is "not that difficult" to migrate from Android to Huawei's own system.
Harmony will be deployed first in Huawei's smart watches, smart screens, smart speakers and other devices, including "in-vehicle systems." Devices that use Harmony will be integrated with each other.
The company also said that the operating system will be open sourced.
Huawei is the world's second largest smartphone seller behind Samsung and it has relied on a suite of Google services for its devices, including the Android system and the Google Play app store. But the US ban has thrown a wrench into that partnership since it was implemented in May.
Consumers who already owned Huawei smartphones were largely unaffected, Google said in May. But the blacklist limited Huawei to the public version of Android for new devices — thus cutting it off from Google apps and services, including Gmail and Google maps.
Sales of Huawei's smartphones have suffered in international markets as a result, but have held up well in China where most of Google's popular products are banned anyway and Huawei has been offering alternatives. The company said Friday that it will "lay the foundations" for Harmony in China, and then "expand it further to the global ecosystem."
American tech companies had hoped to soon resume sales to Huawei. But that might not be happening soon: Bloomberg reported earlier Friday that the White House plans to delay a decision on granting licenses that would allow US companies to keep selling to Huawei, citing people familiar with the matter.
The United States claims that Huawei is a national security concern. Huawei denies that is the case, and says that none of its products pose a national security risk.
CNN Business' Sherisse Pham contributed to this report.
Huawei kicked off its annual developer conference today, and it’s just announced HarmonyOS. The new, open-source platform is ostensibly the final name for its Hongmeng OS.
HarmonyOS is “the first microkernel-based distributed OS for all scenarios,” consumer group CEO Richard Yu told attendees at the Huawei Developer Conference.
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The new platform supports smartphones, smart speakers, computers, smartwatches, wireless earbuds, cars, and tablets. In fact, Yu says the platform supports RAM sizes ranging from kilobytes to gigabytes.
The Huawei CEO also noted that the platform will eventually support a range of apps, specifically noting that HTML5, Linux, and, crucially, Android apps will be compatible. “They will all be able to run on our OS in the future,” Yu says. Yu added that the ARK Compiler used in HarmonyOS app development will also support Kotlin, Java, Javascript, C, and C++.
“HarmonyOS 1.0 will be first adopted in its smart screen products, which are due to launch later this year. Over the next three years, HarmonyOS will be optimized and gradually adopted across a broader range of smart devices, including wearables, Huawei Vision, and head units for your car,” read an excerpt of an emailed press release.
What about Android?
The Huawei CEO said HarmonyOS can replace Android on its smartphones “at any time,” but reiterated its previous commitments to Google’s platform.
“If we cannot use Android in the future, then we can immediately switch to HarmonyOS,” Yu explained to attendees, adding that migrating from Android to the new platform “is not that difficult.”
The first product to use HarmonyOS will be the Honor Vision TV set, which will be launched in China tomorrow (August 10).
News of the new operating system also comes in the wake of a U.S. trade ban against the company back in May. President Donald Trump has since claimed that the ban will be partially lifted, but the U.S. Commerce Department is still banning the company.
The U.S. ban complicates Huawei’s ability to offer Android on its phones, so HarmonyOS is seen as a plan B if the trade ban affects Google’s ability to support Huawei in the future. In fact, rumors suggest that the Chinese brand is working on a Harmony OS phone for release later this year.
