Google hardware event 2019

[wombleh]

Or someone robs your phone and sparks you out.

Doesn't seem hugely different to the risks with a finger print sensor for most users.

[leglessAlex]

wombleh said:

Doesn't seem hugely different to the risks with a finger print sensor for most users.

This is my thought. I think Apple still has a slight edge over everyone when it comes to phone lock security, but realistically if someone really, really wants to get into your phone they can probably find a way to do it.

Even if it's a pin, someone can always look over your shoulder without you noticing if you're in a busy area.

[OlonMusky]

leglessAlex said:

wombleh said:

Doesn't seem hugely different to the risks with a finger print sensor for most users.

This is my thought. I think Apple still has a slight edge over everyone when it comes to phone lock security, but realistically if someone really, really wants to get into your phone they can probably find a way to do it.

Even if it's a pin, someone can always look over your shoulder without you noticing if you're in a busy area.

That's not the point though, is it? The point is that having to have eyes open - like what Apple does with Face ID - is very much like a 2 factor authentication.

[Funk]

OlonMusky said:

leglessAlex said:

wombleh said:

Doesn't seem hugely different to the risks with a finger print sensor for most users.

This is my thought. I think Apple still has a slight edge over everyone when it comes to phone lock security, but realistically if someone really, really wants to get into your phone they can probably find a way to do it.

Even if it's a pin, someone can always look over your shoulder without you noticing if you're in a busy area.

That's not the point though, is it? The point is that having to have eyes open - like what Apple does with Face ID - is very much like a 2 factor authentication.

There just doesn't seem to be any good reason I can think of that Google disabled that requirement. It was included in pre-launch pics but removed for some reason:

[leglessAlex]

Funk said:

OlonMusky said:

leglessAlex said:

wombleh said:

Doesn't seem hugely different to the risks with a finger print sensor for most users.

This is my thought. I think Apple still has a slight edge over everyone when it comes to phone lock security, but realistically if someone really, really wants to get into your phone they can probably find a way to do it.

Even if it's a pin, someone can always look over your shoulder without you noticing if you're in a busy area.

That's not the point though, is it? The point is that having to have eyes open - like what Apple does with Face ID - is very much like a 2 factor authentication.

There just doesn't seem to be any good reason I can think of that Google disabled that requirement. It was included in pre-launch pics but removed for some reason:

I reckon it was them being optimistic and they couldn't get it to work as fast and as reliably as they wanted. For as much as I often dislike Apple, FaceID is just about as secure as these things can get and it's a really good system.

[ajprice]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Blind and visually impaired people use smartphones too. Voice control, text to speech etc. If the phone has face unlock and no fingerprint reader, it's a bit of a problem if the unlock doesn't work and they physically don't have the same control of their eyelids as a person who can see.

[768]

Funk said:

I saw a lot of the tech reviewers saying, "....the Pixel 4 XL only has the Snapdragon 855, not the 855+...." - but it really matters not one iota. The 855 will be way more than most people will ever need (unless that 0.12Ghz speed increase per core and the 87Mhz increase in the GPU really matters to you...) so do even hardcore geeks see it as a reason not to buy a P4XL...?

The question's the other way round for me.

If I can get an 855+ in OnePlus 7t format for £549 why would I pay a lot more for a cheaper chip in a P4XL? OS updates after the phone is three years old was about all I could come up with, maybe marginally better photos but that seems questionable with gcam being available. Oh, and a bundled Chromebook I don't want which seems to concede they've overpriced it.

[ging84]

You'll always be able to find a 6 month old model selling for less.
The pixel 4 XL seems to be slightly cheaper than the 3 was, so difficult to claim it's over priced.
In 6 months they'll be selling it with £200 off undercutting someone else's latest phone

[768]

The 7t isn't a 6 month old model?

[ging84]

I was looking at the 7 pro
The 7t is newer, but not really not sure why you are comparing the price of the 4XL to the 7t not the 7t pro since they are more equivalent and closer in price

[OlonMusky]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

There are many applications. It makes it much easier to use the phone when it's mounted inside a car, for example.

[ging84]

OlonMusky said:

There are many applications. It makes it much easier to use the phone when it's mounted inside a car, for example.

Not sure what you are saying, the alertness detection doesn't work while you are keeping an eye on the road?

[768]

ging84 said:

I was looking at the 7 pro
The 7t is newer, but not really not sure why you are comparing the price of the 4XL to the 7t not the 7t pro since they are more equivalent and closer in price

Because the 7t has better specs than the 4XL and they were the two I was choosing between - I didn't want a pop up front facing camera or a screen that rounded the edges. For me the 7t is more equivalent.

[OlonMusky]

ging84 said:

OlonMusky said:

There are many applications. It makes it much easier to use the phone when it's mounted inside a car, for example.

Not sure what you are saying, the alertness detection doesn't work while you are keeping an eye on the road?

You have to look at your phone to unlock it and you have to be fairly close to it at the same time. With this option disabled (and touch to unlock enabled) you can just touch the screen to unlock without moving your eyes of the road and getting much closer to the phone.

[wombleh]

768 said:

The question's the other way round for me.

If I can get an 855+ in OnePlus 7t format for £549 why would I pay a lot more for a cheaper chip in a P4XL? OS updates after the phone is three years old was about all I could come up with, maybe marginally better photos but that seems questionable with gcam being available. Oh, and a bundled Chromebook I don't want which seems to concede they've overpriced it.

That extra year means a lot, it's effectively allowing a third extra use out of the phone. There's also the extra delay for other vendors to release updates after all the vulnerabilities in the old version have been public.

I appreciate that many may not care but personally I think it's a bit risky running a phone that's no longer receiving updates. Especially if I've got my email, banking, Amazon /etc set up on it.

[ging84]

wombleh said:

That extra year means a lot, it's effectively allowing a third extra use out of the phone. There's also the extra delay for other vendors to release updates after all the vulnerabilities in the old version have been public.

I appreciate that many may not care but personally I think it's a bit risky running a phone that's no longer receiving updates. Especially if I've got my email, banking, Amazon /etc set up on it.

Being on the latest hardware / software comes with its own risks, this face unlock issue highlights that.

[768]

wombleh said:

That extra year means a lot, it's effectively allowing a third extra use out of the phone. There's also the extra delay for other vendors to release updates after all the vulnerabilities in the old version have been public.

I thought Pixel phones got upgrades guaranteed for four years, but apparently it's three - same as the 7t?

[leglessAlex]

Unless you're really into stills photography, or really into Google's own version of android, I don't really see why you'd go for the Pixel.

I'm into both those things, which is why I think the 4 XL is better for me than any other phone, but if you're less picky the OP offers the smae or more for a fair chunk less. It wouldn't bother me about buying a six month old version of a phone, I rarely keep them long enough for security updates to become an issue.

[wombleh]

ging84 said:

Being on the latest hardware / software comes with its own risks, this face unlock issue highlights that.

It's not risk free but argusbly lower risk than running old versions. If you're using a phone that's not had Android 10 after 2019-09-01 then there's a fair list of vulnerabilities:
https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/andro...

[Funk]

768 said:

Funk said:

I saw a lot of the tech reviewers saying, "....the Pixel 4 XL only has the Snapdragon 855, not the 855+...." - but it really matters not one iota. The 855 will be way more than most people will ever need (unless that 0.12Ghz speed increase per core and the 87Mhz increase in the GPU really matters to you...) so do even hardcore geeks see it as a reason not to buy a P4XL...?

The question's the other way round for me.

If I can get an 855+ in OnePlus 7t format for £549 why would I pay a lot more for a cheaper chip in a P4XL? OS updates after the phone is three years old was about all I could come up with, maybe marginally better photos but that seems questionable with gcam being available. Oh, and a bundled Chromebook I don't want which seems to concede they've overpriced it.

Well in the case of OnePlus I swore blind I'd never have another after my 3T with the revelations that they were mining user info and data from the phones (huge amounts too) off to some unknown AWS servers despite users having explicitly opted out of it. Despite starting out as the 'premium phone at budget prices' manufacturer, they're now far closer in price to the main players anyway. It's also only recently that other manufacturers have started to catch up on things like the camera.

For me the pros with Google are firstly security, support and pure Android although OnePlus' implementation was fairly light-touch which was one of the things that made it appealing when my Nexus 6P packed up.