A few days ago, Apple supplier Qualcomm announced a second-generation Spectra image signal processor and a brand new line of high-resolution 3D depth-sensing camera modules that it said were specifically designed for the Android ecosystem.
Tuesday, an image surfaced on leak aggregator SlashLeaks of Apple's alleged 3D-sensing camera destined for iPhone 8, sporting an infrared transmitter and emitter.
iPhone 8 is said to pack in sophisticated 3D sensors on its front and back capable of scanning a user's face within “millionths of a second”. The Wall Street Journal has now learned that the phone's deep-sensing scanners work in low-light situations, even in complete darkness.
Brazilian iOS developer Guilherme Rambo has discovered additional tidbits in the HomePod firmware that hint at some exciting capabilities for iPhone 8's rumored 3D facial scanning technology.
Apple's chief executive Tim Cook was spotted around Apple's campus wearing a non-invasive glucose tracker prototype on his body, CNBC said Thursday. A mystery device was connected to his Apple Watch. He's been test-driving this rumored accessory to understand how his blood sugar responds to factors like food and exercise, according to the report.
This is yet another hint at Apple's interest in non-invasive and continuous glucose monitoring, an effort described as a holy grail for treating diabetes and life sciences.
“A source said that Cook was wearing a prototype glucose-tracker on Apple Watch, which points to future applications that would make the device a must have for millions of people with diabetes—or at risk for the disease,” reads the report.
The news adds context to Cook's comment made in February at the University of Glasgow, where he received an honorary degree. “I've been wearing a continuous glucose monitor for a few weeks,” he told a roomful of students. “I just took it off before coming on this trip.”
While Cook did not say if the medical device he had been wearing was an Apple prototype, this now seems perfectly plausible. Companies like Medtronic and Dexcom sell iPhone-connected health accessories for tracking blood sugar levels, invasively.
Cook also spoke about the struggles faced by people with diabetes:
It's mentally anguishing to stick yourself many times a day to check your blood sugar. There is lots of hope out there that if someone has constant knowledge of what they're eating, they can instantly know what causes the response... and that they can adjust well before they become diabetic.
CNBC reported a month ago that Apple had hired a small group of dedicated biomedical engineers to develop advanced sensors that would monitor blood sugar levels non-invasively.
This team is allegedly working from a nondescript office in Palo Alto, miles from Apple’s corporate headquarters, reporting directly to Johny Srouji, Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies who joined Apple back in 2008.
Apple's non-invasive diabetes treatment technology may not require all-new Apple Watch hardware with additional sensors. According to BGR, Apple is working on smart bands for Apple Watch that would contain sensors for measuring blood sugar levels non-invasively.
This may actually be a good idea because each Apple Watch features a diagnostic port with six pins, meaning Apple could simply release smart bands for existing Apple Watch models as there's already a path for data flow between the watch and the smart band.
German engineering and electronics company Robert Bosch GmbH has reportedly landed orders to manufacture motion sensors for Apple's upcoming iPhone 8. According to a report Friday by Bloomberg citing a person familiar with the deal, the German firm could build as much as half of the motion sensors in upcoming iPhones, with InvenSense supplying the rest.
InvenSense counts Apple as its client and files as the primary supplier of the smartphone motion-sensing components, with the iPhone maker accounting for an estimated 60 percent of InvenSense's revenue. In that regard, the Apple-Bosch deal could be a major blow to Invense, shares of which declined more than five percent in extended trading Thursday.
InvenSense is currently seeking to complete its $1.3 billion sale to TDK Corp. The deal is partly aimed at boosting the Japanese company’s business with Apple. Apple was already one of TDK’s biggest customers before the Japanese firm agreed to buy InvenSense in December.
“We aim to become a strong player in the sensor business with InvenSense as our perfect partner,” TDK CEO Shigenao Ishiguro said at the time.
Bosch did supply gyroscopes and accelerometers for Apple in the past and it currently supplies barometric pressure sensors for iPhones. Before iPhone 5s came out, STmicroelectronics used to supply gyroscope sensors for iPhones.
Since iPhone 5s, Bosch has been supplying gyroscopes and accelerometers for iPhone 6 models, with California-based InvenSense providing the gyroscopes and accelerometers in iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7 on an exclusive basis.
The first Bosch microelectromechanical systems to make its way inside any iPhone was their Sensortech BMA220 unit in iPhone 5s, which initially suffered from inaccuracies that were later fixed via a firmware update.
The iPhone 6 series uses a three-axis accelerometer sensor built by Bosch and InvenSense’s six-axis MPU-6700 accelerometer. Relying on accelerometers from two different vendors helps increase power efficiency.
The Bosch accelerometer has a significantly faster cold start up time than the InvenSense—3ms vs. 30ms, respectively—meaning users see less of a delay.
For games and other apps that require sophisticated inertial sensing capabilities, iPhone 6 uses the InvenSense sensor. For simpler tasks, such as tracking footsteps and rotating the screen to match the device's orientation, the device uses the Bosch sensor.
Photo: Bosch's Sensortech BMA220 accelerometer in iPhone 5s, via Chipworks.
Apple's hired a small group of dedicated biomedical engineers who have been tasked with the development of advanced sensors that would monitor blood sugar levels non-invasively, an effort described as a holy grail for treating diabetes and life sciences. The initiative was reportedly initially envisioned by Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs before his death. According to CNBC, this team is working from a nondescript office in Palo Alto, miles from Apple's corporate headquarters, reporting directly to Johny Srouji, Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies who joined Apple back in 2008.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, along with a few other sources, believes Apple will bet heavily on augmented reality with iPhone 8. He predicted the device's front-facing camera will use a bespoke 3D sensor to let users take 3D selfies, map their surroundings, scan nearly any real-world object in three dimensions and more.
Analysts Andrew Gardiner, Hiral Patel, Joseph Wolf, Blayne Curtis and Mark Moskowitz reported in a Friday research note, obtained by 9to5Mac, that iPhone 8 may use a second 3D sensor out the back for augmented reality features.
iPhone 8 is widely expected to become Apple's first full-face handset as the company is rumored to have devised ways of integrating Touch ID into the display assembly. A research note by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, claims iPhone 8 may sport a new biometric identification technology that would supplant the good ol' Touch ID system and make possible iPhone 8's rumored zero-bezel design.
A new patent No. 9,543,364 for “Electronic devices having displays with openings” has been awarded to Apple this morning by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). First filed for in February 2015, this newly granted patent reveals more ways iPhone 8 will outclass Android rivals.
The invention would basically put some common components typically found on the front face of the phone behind the display assembly.
What components are we talking about?
Well, stuff like the earpiece, forward-facing cameras, Touch ID and various sensors. Integrating such parts behind the display assembly would help design a truly edge-to-edge device. Apple is thought to be working on such designs for its upcoming OLED-based iPhone 8 refresh.
Online retail giant Amazon is testing a new type of brick-and-mortar convenience store where you simply walk in, pick up your items and walk out, no clerk or a cash register required whatsoever because everything you've put in the shopping basket is automatically charged to your Prime account as soon as you leave the store. Located at 2131 7th Ave in Seattle, the futuristic grocery store, dubbed Amazon Go, has been four years in the making.
The system uses computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning to detect when goods are removed and returned to the shelves. Amazon's retail store of the future that eliminates checkout is launching in early-2017.