If we’re to believe the video we saw yesterday, Ice Cream Sandwich is already floating around out there in the wild. Considering the limits of our knowledge concerning the changes in store for the OS, it’s quite difficult at this point to weed out legitimate Ice Cream Sandwich leaks from the work of hoaxsters just looking to mess with us all for the lulz. Keep that in mind as you consider this discovery stemming from a list of files purported to be on an Android 4.0 device, suggesting Google could introduce facial recognition to unlock your phone.

A list of APKs has been leaked that supposedly came from a Nexus Prime. Some are familiar, some new, but there’s one in particular called FaceLock.apk. The only thing we have to go on at the moment is this file name, so a bit of speculation is needed, but it doesn’t take too far of a leap to think the app might have something to do with face-based authentication.

Front-facing cameras are now the norm, rather than the exception, so the timing certainly feels right. All Google would need is a good algorithm with both false-negatives and -positives low enough to make this a convenient way to secure your phone; we already know from Google Goggles and Picasa that the expertise is there, again making such a feature in Ice Cream Sandwich seem possible.

Source: My Droid World

Via: Android And Me