This week on The CultCast: Apple accidentally leaked major details about the iPhone 8 and HomePod — we’ll tell you everything we’ve learned. Plus: Leaked audio files show off the HomePod’s cool UI sounds; we reveal exclusive new audio of the HomePod’s boot-up noise; and we wrap with our reviews of the best internet-connected security cameras and the hawt new flagship Olympus OM-D EM-1 mirrorless camera in an all-new Under Review.
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Episode
CultCast #295 – Big HomePod and iPhone 8 leaks… directly from Apple!
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This week’s links
More juicy details about iPhone 8 discovered in Apple code
- Apple clearly didn’t realize that the firmware it made available on Friday was a goldmine of secret information. Not only did it reveal the final design of the iPhone 8 and its new facial recognition technology, but it tells us stuff we didn’t know about HomePod, too.
- First of all, buried in the firmware are GLYPHS of the actual phone itself. WHOOPSIE!
- We now know the device will have a split status bar designed to fit its edge-to-edge display
- Things like cellular signal and time might be displayed on one side of the bar, while indicators for Bluetooth, location, and battery level could appear on the other. “The new status bar seems a lot more complex and powerful in design, maybe even interactive,” iOS sleuth Steven Troughton-Smith says.
- The software has also revealed that iPhone 8 will boast tap to wake functionality. This is a feature found on many Android and Windows Phone devices, which lets you wake the device simply by tapping its screen. It’s handy when there is no physical Home button.
- It appears, however, that iPhone 8 will have a “Home Indicator.” It’s believed to be similar to the virtual Home button that appears at the bottom of the display on Android devices, and it looks like Apple will allow developers to hide it in certain contexts.
- Interestingly, Troughton-Smith tweeted “I’ve seen nothing to suggest an ultrasound under-the-display Touch ID here,” meaning either no touchID or one on the back
- Rumors have said that facial recognition is even more accurate than touch id and will even work with Apple Pay.
Apple code confirms that facial unlocking tech is on the way
- “I can confirm reports that HomePod’s firmware reveals the existence of upcoming iPhone’s infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit and elsewhere” Steve Stoughton Smith
- Unlocking will be called FaceID
- Will use an inferred camera to should work in dark situations
- Will reportedly not support Apple pay to start, indicating we’re getting a touchID sensor somewhere on the phone
iPhone 8’s radical redesign could bring awesome UI change
- we can look forward to a display with a 2436×1125 resolution
- This resolution is 812×375 points rendered @ 3x – exactly the same logical width as the iPhone 7, but 22% taller,” explains Allen Pike, a developer who previously worked at Apple
HomePod software leaks new ‘SmartCamera’ feature for iPhone
- Apple’s HomePod might have revealed another huge new iPhone feature
- HomePod software appears to reference an unannounced “SmartCamera” feature built into iOS 11 or the yet-to-be-released 2017 iPhone
- iOS developer Guilherme Rambo unearthed references to the new feature. He posted a screenshot of a section of the code to Twitter
- It looks like the SmartCamera feature will be able to tune your camera settings based on the scene it detects. DSLRs possess similar features
- The HomePod code contains references to Fireworks, Foliage, Pet, BrightStage, Sport, Sky, Snow and Sunset/Sunrise scenarios.
HomePod software reveals new details of Apple’s smart speaker
- Troughton-Smith has done some serious research into HomePod and discovered that it’s basically like another iOS device only it doesn’t have a big screen. That could open HomePod up to some exciting capabilities in the future.
- will come with a number of accessibility features.
- Third-party apps aren’t likely to arrive on HomePod anytime soon. Smith says there aren’t any provisions in the HomePod OS shell there doesn’t seem to be any kind of provision in the HomePod OS shell for installing apps or extensions.
- The top LED area of the HomePod could have more advanced functionality than previously thought. Rather than just using big LEDs, it appears that the top surface is an LED Matrix. Temperature and weather icons could be displayed on the 32×32 pixel matrix.
Leaked audio files reveal HomePod’s cool UI sounds
- Apple’s early software for the HomePod continues to reveal new features of the smart speaker, as developers dive deeper into files. After details on the speaker’s screen got discovered, another developer unearthed the UI sounds that will be used on HomePod.
