Forget passwords - you could soon be unlocking your phone by wrinkling your nose or sticking out your tongue

Google has filed a patent that could let users unlock their smartphones and tablets using facial expressions rather than typing in passwords. 

The latest Google Android devices already have a built-in Face Unlock feature that uses facial recognition to unlock their handsets, but this patent would take the technology a step further adding additional 'liveness' features. 

When Google launched Face Unlock in 2011, as part of Android Ice Cream Sandwich, it was criticised by security experts because it could be bypassed by holding static photos up to the phone or tablet's camera.

In the update to Android Jelly Bean in July 2012, Google added a 'liveness' check in an attempt to prevent these static images being used to gain access to devices. 

This meant a user would have to blink while using Face Unlock to prove they were alive.

However, even this could be bypassed using clever photo editing tricks.

According to Google's latest U.S patent, the new system would require users to pull a specific, predeterminded facial expression.

If a patent filed by Google is approved, it could mean users would be able to unlock their smartphones by pulling faces such as frowning, smiling, poking out their tongue, wrinkling their nose, blinking and so on. The technology would compare the facial expression pulled with a previously captured photo and if the expressions matched, the user would be allowed access to their device

April fools' day: Marketing tool?

The April Fools’ Day is dead. Or at least the gentle jester of the common folk has been converted into a corporate colossus controlled by global marketing executives.Companies around the world, from Google to BMW and Sony, have adopted the tradition of goading the gullible on April 1 to show their lighter sides and steal some free publicity.

​Google Inc extended a practice dating back a decade or so in poking fun at its own ubiquity: it introduced a database of smells, pretended that it was shutting down its YouTube service, offered a treasure-hunting mode and old parchment style navigation on Google Maps, and unveiled Gmail Blue, a new version of its email service that is ... blue.

In Japan, telecoms company KDDI offered a mobile phone that was actually a bed - to save ever having to get up.

And Sony Corp went to the dogs, rather literally, introducing a TV that only displays pictures in dog-friendly colors and has a remote with paw-enabled buttons.

A blog at Twitter, or rather “twttr”, said users who wanted to use vowels would have to pay $5 a month. “Trd th nw Twttr yt? Mr tm fr mr twts!” was one of the blog's more easily deciphered examples.

Procter and Gamble Co's mouthwash brand Scope offered a new “Bacon” flavor with taglines like “For breath that sizzles” and the appetizing “Indulge your meat tooth.”German carmaker BMW offered British readers excited at the impending arrival of a royal baby the P.R.A.M. (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile) complete with picture of a sportily styled buggy and corgis at Windsor Castle - inquiries to Joe.Kingzbmw.co.uk.

Facebook poised to announce its 'new home on Android'

Facebook will next week unveil its latest push into the mobile world – and industry watchers are convinced the social network is about to launch a Facebook-branded phone.

Media has been summoned to an event at Facebook's headquarters in California on 4 April, with teaser invitations bearing the words "Come See Our New Home on Android".The world's largest social networking site is giving no further clues, and the announcement could be nothing more than a new service or application, but detailed leaks suggest the company is about to release the fruits of a long-rumoured collaboration with Taiwanese manufacturer HTC – a smartphone whose software is a customised version of Google's Android operating system.

While the camera and memory are reportedly run of the mill – a modest 5 megapixel rear lens for photos, a 1.6 megapixel front facing camera for video calls, and a basic 16 gigabytes of storage – its software may be unique.With a similar look to a black iPhone but boasting a slightly larger 4.3 inch display, the phone is supposedly packed with Facebook services, with easy access to its instant messaging and Instagram photography applications, and a home screen displaying the owner's news feed.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has made no secret of his desire to do more for the 680 million people who access his services on their mobiles each month."You have a good version of all the Facebook features you know and want on your phone. So now the next thing we're going to do is get really good at building new mobile-first experiences," Zuckerberg told investors in January. "That's going to be a big theme for us this year."

Facebook Launches New Facelift

Facebook Inc introduced a visually richer, mobile device-oriented “newsfeed” on Thursday, in the most significant changes to date for the social network’s most recognizable feature.The changes to the newsfeed, whose look and feel has remained largely unchanged since its inception, include a division into several sections, with separate areas for photographs and music. They will begin rolling out in limited fashion from Thursday.The overhaul, which standardizes the feed across mobile devices and desktop computers, is designed to keep users active and interacting as well as appeal to advertisers, as Facebook battles Google Inc for Internet market share.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had singled out the feature as in need of a makeover as recently as January, when the company introduced “graph search” to address inadequacies in allowing users to trawl for information across the world’s largest social network.Facebook’s newsfeed, an ever-changing stream of photos, videos and comments uploaded from friends, is the first page most users see upon logging in. It is one of three “pillars” of the service, along with search and user profiles.The last major update to the feature occurred in September 2011. Since then, the company has incorporated ads directly into the feed and has shifted its focus to creating “mobile-first experiences,” because more people now access the social network from smartphones and desktops than from desktop computers.The addition of advertising, however, prompted complaints from users who preferred an unblemished stream of personally relevant comments, underscoring the difficulty in balancing advertiser-friendly formats – such as larger images – with keeping its 1 billion-plus members engaged.

FACEBOOK VERSUS GOOGLE

The world’s largest social network is moving to regain Wall Street’s confidence after a botched IPO last year, addressing concerns about its long-term prospects – many of which center on an industry-wide shift toward the use of mobile devices.Facebook shares, which are still more than a quarter off their IPO price of $38, were up 2 percent at $27.99 on Thursday afternoon on the Nasdaq.
Facebook and Google, which both got their start on desktop computers, are now managing a transition of their products onto smartphones and tablets, which typically yield less revenue than on PCs.The two Internet mainstays are also waging a war for revenue in mobile advertising – a market that is still small compared with the traditional desktop but that is growing exponentially.In terms of overall mobile advertising, Google commanded a 53.5 percent share in 2012, aided by its dominance in search-based ads. Facebook had just 8.4 percent, a distant runner-up, according to estimates from research house eMarketer.But in terms of mobile display ad sales, Facebook narrowly edges out its rival with 18.4 percent of the market versus Google’s 17 percent, the research outfit estimated.