Face ID fail blamed on clumsy staffers

苹果发布会面部识别演示失败...

当地时间9月12日上午10时，美国加州库比蒂诺苹果总部的乔布斯剧院，苹果将在这里发布新一代iPhone以及其他新品。在演示其最新的面部识别解锁功能时却遭遇失败，试了一次不成功，再试第二次又没成功，场面一度陷入尴尬。

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=u1324t533st&width=500&height=375&auto=0

Apple has spoken out about the Face ID fail it suffered on Tuesday and has blamed the glitch[1] on a lockout mechanism which was triggered by clumsy staff handling the device. A company spokesperson told Yahoo: "People were handling the device for [the] stage demo[2] ahead of time and didn't realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face.

[1]glitch: a small problem or fault that prevents something from being successful or working as well as it should 小毛病；小差错；小故障 

We'd expected a few glitches, but everything's gone remarkably smoothly. 我们本来预计会出现一些小的差错，但是一切都进展得非常顺利。

[2]demo: for demonstration (= when you show people how something works or how to do something) 示范；演示 

a demo of the new system 新系统示范

"After failing a number of times, because they weren't Craig [Federighi], the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his passcode."

Apple's launch of the iPhone X didn't go exactly to plan following a live demo fail during the introduction of a key new feature.  

A flustered[3] Craig Federighi struggled to unlock the device while demonstrating Face ID, Apple's new facial recognition software.

[3]flustered: upset and confused 心烦意乱的；慌张的；紧张的 

She seemed a little flustered. 

她似乎有点儿紧张。

"Unlocking it is as easy as looking at it and swiping up[手指上滑，一般是滑动手机屏幕]," he explained.

When it failed to unlock, he told the audience: "Let's try that again."

After being prompted[提示] to enter his passcode, Federighi was forced to grab a backup device to continue with the demonstration.

Apple has offered an explanation for an embarrassing glitch at the launch of its most expensive iPhone ever, arguing that the phone didn't make an error – the company's staff did.

During the first ever public demonstration of the £999/£1,149 iPhone X, Apple executive Craig Federighi attempted to unlock the device using the company's new Face ID feature, which scans a user's face to ensure only they can unlock their phones. But the feature failed, bumping Federighi to an old-fashioned passcode entry screen and forcing him to switch to a backup phone.

Many assumed that the problem was that Face ID system failed to recognise Federighi. That would be a concerning prospect for a feature that is due to replace the company's tried-and-tested[4] Touch ID fingerprint reader on its flagship smartphone. 

[4]tried-and-tested: used many times before and proved to be successful 经过考验的；证明了的；屡试不爽的 

I'll give you my mother's tried and tested recipe for wholemeal bread. 我会给你我母亲屡试不爽的全麦面包制作方法。

But Apple says this was not the issue at all: instead, the company said far too many people were messing around with[5] the phone backstage.

[5]mess around: If you say that someone is messing around with 

something, you mean that they are interfering with it in a harmful way. 乱弄

"Don't be stupid," Max snapped. "You don't want to go messing around with bears." 
“别傻了，”马克斯厉声说。“你不会去跟熊斗着玩儿吧。”

"People were handling the device for stage demo ahead of time,"an Apple spokesperson told Yahoo, "and didn't realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face. After failing a number of times, because they weren't Craig, the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his passcode. Face ID worked as it was designed to."

The news will reassure those concerned that Face ID may not recognise their unique visage[脸；面容], but remains a warning sign for users who fear the feature won't live up to Touch ID, since more chances for accidental activation means Federighi's experience may be a common one.

While analysts seem bullish on[似乎看好] Apple's chances with the iPhone X against stiff competition from rivals Samsung and others, whether the lack of Touch ID will be seen as a step back for the iPhone X remains to be seen.