Apple has reportedly bought the Israeli tech firm RealFace

On the heels of current rumors that the upcoming iPhone may have a way of biometric authentication (aside from fingerprint scanning) comes the information that Apple has acquired RealFace, an Israeli tech agency specializing in facial recognition. 

The report comes from Israeli website Calcalist (by way of MacRumors) which claims Apple purchased the Tel Aviv-based firm for "a number of million dollars."

Some customers might know RealFace from its app Pickeez, which automated the method of selecting one of the best pictures from a bunch. On the time of writing, nevertheless, the app seems to be defunct, and RealFace's personal web site is offline as properly. 

The acquisition might flip into an app or a function down the road, however it's unlikely to be vital for the upcoming iPhone this late within the recreation. 

The iPhone eight (its rumored identify) is more likely to be launched within the fall of this yr, and reports declare it's going to have an all-new glassy design and wi-fi charging, amongst different options.

Apple has acquired or appeared into buying a number of photo-related firms prior to now; however one acquisition stands out because it's fairly just like RealFace. In Jan. 2016, Apple acquired Emotient, a startup which had AI-powered facial recognition tech that would learn human feelings. 

We have contacted Apple concerning the report however haven't but heard from them.