Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — With the iPhone 5S approaching and competitors working fiercely to topple its products from the best-seller lists, Apple is working overtime to remain competitive and relevant in 2013.
Rumor: Fingerprint sensor may help secure NFC payments in next iPhone
Apple may be shipping near-field communication (NFC) as part of iOS devices shipping this year, embracing mobile payments and other new consumer-oriented wireless technology. NFC enables a smartphone or other electronic device to function as a digital wallet, enabling consumers to authorize purchases and make payments by tapping their device on a payments terminal.
Security experts, however, have warned that enabling wireless payments could also enable criminals to remotely connect and steal your personal information, making NFC and mobile payments a heated debate between consumer convenience and information security.
Rumors surfaced recently in the China Times, saying that the iPhone 5S will include fingerprint sensing and recognition technologies in order to secure the device from hackers and identity thieves. The report suggests that Apple would use technology from AuthenTec, a company Apple recently acquired. Apple has been quietly selling off some portions of AuthenTec since the acquisition, selling encryption and other general-purpose security patents while retaining its portfolio of fingerprint authentication technologies.
While rumors of an NFC-enabled iPhone have circulated for years, these more recent developments do underscore that Apple may be gearing up for its next major iPhone upgrade.
Rumor: Wireless charging may be coming to an iPhone near youDigitimes reported that Apple is exploring wireless charging in the iPhone as early as this year. Wireless charging technologies have been on the market for several years, including an accessory for the Palm Pre in 2009, however the technology has not experienced much widespread adoption.
Apple's Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, recently discounted wireless charging playing a role in Apple's product road map. In a report by AllThingsD, "Schiller notes that the wireless charging systems still have to be plugged into the wall, so it's not clear how much convenience they add. The widely-adopted USB cord, meanwhile, can charge in wall outlets, computers and even on airplanes, he said."
Seth Weintraub of 9to5mac also discounts the rumor, adding that, "The design changes to the aluminum shell would need to be significant to make wireless charging possible. So, we don't think this report is accurate."
Rumor: Apple may offer more dividends, stock buyback In an exclusive report by Quartz, Apple may be preparing to reward shareholders with additional dividends or a share buyback program. Such a move could be part of a solution to Apple's cash management "problem," since the company has a $137.1 billion cash pile that has been growing quickly since the introduction of the iPhone.
Hedge fund manager David Einhorn has been calling for Apple to return some of its accumulated cash to investors, going so far as to file a lawsuit against the company. Einhorn even won an injunction preventing Apple from taking a shareholder vote on a measure that would have limited Apple's ability to issue preferred shares — another potential vehicle for distributing Apple's cash back to investors.
Apple CEO Tim Cook commented at the annual shareholders meeting on the lawsuit, saying it was a "silly sideshow" and that Apple was in "very, very active discussions" about how to use its cash pile. Einhorn withdrew his lawsuit on March 1.
Leak: Google Now coming to an App store near you
Finally, a promotional video for Google Now briefly surfaced online before vanishing from YouTube, but not before an Engadget tipster recorded the video and republished online. While it is possible that the video is an elaborate hoax, the voice, animations and content of the video are strikingly similar to the promotional video for Google Now on Android, indicating that a release of Google Now for iOS may be imminent.
Such a move by Google would be interesting, as Google Now has been an exclusive feature to Android smartphones that is even unique to Apple's Siri. While Siri functions as a digital assistant on recent iOS devices, Google Now offers more complete assistance by analyzing data from the user's Google account like recent search queries, email messages and other Google-connected content.
Google Now uses this information to guess what a user wants or needs next, and offers "cards" to the user with that information. By expanding Google Now to iOS, Google may be suggesting that gathering more information about its iOS users is more important and valuable than keeping Google Now an exclusive feature to the Android platform.
Given that Google's mission is to "organize the world's information," enabling Google Now for iOS devices may be a better fulfillment of that mission than keeping the product exclusive to the Android marketplace.
Brent Anderson is a mobile app developer and technology consultant. He studies information systems at Brigham Young University and loves connecting businesses with technology. Contact him at www.BrentJAnderson.com
