A Chinese
website CtechCN.com has published photos of what appears to be boxes of the
upcoming iPhone 5S slated to be launched on the 10th of September.
Interestingly, the photos show a silver ring around the home button of the
handset, which is said to be a fingerprint scanner. Also, the home button is
convex in this case to accommodate the fingerprint sensor, thus protruding a
bit. A fingerprint scanner has long been rumoured to be part of the feature set
of the upcoming iPhone and a part of the iOS 7 code also points to such a
possibility.
A fingerprint scanner built into the handset will allow
users to unlock the (securely locked) device without having to enter a
passcode. Apple had acquired
Authentec last year for $365 million and the technology in question will no
doubt be a result of this acquisition. Apple was facing problems integrating
the fingerprint scanner because of interference caused from coating materials
present under the glass. However, it seems that the Cupertino-based company has
finally figured out a way to make the implementation before the launch date.
Check out the spy shots below:
