Month: August 2024
If the iPhone 16 gets this camera upgrade, I’ll buy one for the Oasis reunion
Apple could make the iPhone 16 one of the best phones for gigs by making one upgrade to its camera.
Liam and Noel Gallagher have confirmed that Oasis will be reuniting for five shows across the UK in 2025, the iconic Britpop band’s only shows in Europe next year. The announcement follows years of speculation since the band split in 2008, and tickets are expected to sell out quickly when they go on sale this coming Saturday (August 31).
The reunited duo will be playing to the UK’s largest stadiums, but with an ultimately limited ticket supply, plenty of fans will be left waiting for videos and photos from their luckier friends. According to the BBC, an announcement on Oasis’ social media accounts confirmed that the shows would not be televised, raising the stakes for those looking to get the perfect snap or clip.
It’s got me thinking about whether I’m equipped to be the designated concert photographer for my friends and family – and with Apple’s ‘It’s Glowtime’ event expected to bring news of a new iPhone (presumably the iPhone 16) on September 9, I’m giving serious consideration to upgrading my battle-worn Huawei Mate 20 Pro, which first launched all the way back in 2018.
Zooming in on specs
(Image credit: Future)
I want to see the iPhone 16 improve its digital zoom and start catching up to its Android competitors. Apple has earned a reputation for great cameras, and the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max all garnered strong camera scores in our reviews – for me, the zoom distance really is the final piece of the puzzle.
We predict the iPhone 16 Pro will inherit the 5x optical zoom from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, working out to a maximum 25x digital zoom on both models. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have no telephoto lens, but support 2x optical zoom by cropping the main sensor. As the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus likely won’t add a telephoto lens, digital zoom will probably remain limited to 10x.
In both cases, this is less than the 30x digital zoom on my six-year-old Huawei. The iPhones offer a decent level of zoom, especially the Pros, but they don’t quite stand up to the impressive zooms offered by Android phones. Samsung is a known leader in this department, and its 100x Space Zoom is backed by a 50MP periscope lens on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Honor Magic 6 Pro matches the 100x zoom but ups the resolution to 180MP, whereas Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro XL matches my old Huawei with a respectable 30x.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts 100x Space Zoom backed by a 50MP periscope lens (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Chinese manufacturer Vivo seems to be coming for the top spot in zoom capability though. According to the Times of India, the rumored Vivo X100 Pro Plus may offer up to 200x digital zoom from a 10x telephoto lens. With a zoom like that, you’d be able to see the individual strings on Noel’s guitar from half the world away – so long as the picture holds up.
At the moment, the longest optical telephoto lenses in smartphones are the 10x lenses used by Samsung and Huawei. Once you go past the optical zoom limit, the phone software has to upscale the image to make up for lost quality. This is called interpolation, and it can result in blurry or unclear images at very high zoom levels.
Manufacturers are keen to improve the zoom capabilities of phone cameras through intelligent software and AI. My interest has been piqued by the Video Boost feature on the Pixel 9 Pro, which makes use of AI to upscale and stabilize videos at the higher end of its 30x zoom range. Alternatively, Samsung’s Space Zoom uses AI to create composites of multiple images at extreme distances.
Other parts of a phone’s camera system are crucial to support a long digital zoom, too. Apple’s high-resolution sensors, reliable stabilization and responsive camera app tick all the boxes here, and with strong low-light performance I’d feel confident using an iPhone for indoor concert photography. I’d love to make use of these great features at a further distance, especially if I’ll be watching Oasis from high up in the stands.
Why hasn’t Apple caught up?
Some might say that Apple is waiting to pull an AI ace from its sleeve to support further digital zoom. Apple has yet to reveal whether Apple Intelligence – its version of on-device AI – will have any camera applications beyond image editing. With the iPhone 16 family expected to heavily implement Apple Intelligence, we could hear more about this at the September 9 event.
However, it’s typical of Apple to simply not overstep. In general, the company would rather offer a comparatively limited camera that produces consistently great results than one that’s ambitious but unpredictable. It’s also fairly steadfast in keeping its product lines separate, so don’t expect a Pro Camera System on the base iPhone anytime soon (see also the news that the iPad is finally getting a calculator).
Still, when it comes to digital zoom, I think it’s time that Apple sped up a little. I won’t look back in anger (sorry) if Apple chooses not to upgrade its digital zoom, but I may end up choosing another phone for my concert-going needs.
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Score Free Ribeye Steaks for a Year From Good Chop With This Coupon Code
If you love quality steak, Good Chop is currently offering free Ribeye steaks and $30 off your first box with this coupon code.
If you love quality steak, Good Chop is currently offering free Ribeye steaks and $30 off your first box with this coupon code.
For Lego, the future is increasingly digital. Pity your inner child
As one of millions of adults who grew up building Lego, the company’s digital adventures distort my childhood memories. Yet my screaming inner infant can’t derail the transition. Our beloved bricks have now been in video games for nearly three decades. Since debuting on Sega Pico in 1995, the Lego games empire has expanded across over 80 titles and 200 million sales. The biggest hits have come from licensing deals. Collaborations with Star Wars, Marvel, and Harry Potter have shifted copious copies — despite their dubious quality. Buoyed by the results, the company has started splurging on games studios. In 2022,…This story continues at The Next Web
As one of millions of adults who grew up building Lego, the company’s digital adventures distort my childhood memories. Yet my screaming inner infant can’t derail the transition. Our beloved bricks have now been in video games for nearly three decades. Since debuting on Sega Pico in 1995, the Lego games empire has expanded across over 80 titles and 200 million sales. The biggest hits have come from licensing deals. Collaborations with Star Wars, Marvel, and Harry Potter have shifted copious copies — despite their dubious quality. Buoyed by the results, the company has started splurging on games studios. In 2022,…
This story continues at The Next Web
Is X about to launch a video conferencing tool?
An X developer has shared an early look into the platform’s upcoming video conferencing tool, and Musk approves.
In the latest step on its quest to become an ‘everything app’, Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) is now exploring video conferencing.
X employee Chris Park shared a screenshot of the tool to his profile, revealing the company recently conducted its first internal video call using the new tool, dubbed X Conference.
Park claimed initial feedback was positive, and the company plans to add features such as speaker pinning and improved notifications for when users leave or join calls. The developers are also likely working on reducing how much the interface flickers between speaker views in order to prevent the speaker from seeing themselves so frequently.
X Conference
Among the comments was a fire emoji from Musk himself, suggesting that the post is indicative of an upcoming launch and not just a rumor.
App developers exploring the new tool suggested that it could also be supported within the iOS app, and that unique meeting codes could be added for improved security.
The development follows X’s recent moves to challenge platforms like LinkedIn for job listings, and PayPal for payments, with the company now setting its sights on the likes of Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams in the video meeting space.
Despite being a new feature, X has already been using live video streaming via the Spaces feature, which could integrate with X Conference, if not at least inspire it.
However, the platform hasn’t been without its share of criticism since the Musk takeover in late 2022. Specifically, users expressed concern over the lack of proper IP masking and the on-by-default approach for the new calling feature.
Given the controversy surrounding the platform – and its ownership – demand for an X-owned video conferencing platform is unclear, however with hybrid and remote working continuing to be popular across the world (even if Musk isn’t a fan), there’s undoubtedly space for one more online collaboration tool in the space.
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Microsoft Partners Beware: Action Pack To Be Retired in 2025
Microsoft is to discontinue the Microsoft Action Pack and Microsoft Learning Pack on January 21, 2025, sending partners off to potentially pricier and cloudier options. From a report: The Action Pack and Learning Pack, alongside Silver or Gold Membership, gave Microsoft partners access to many on-premises licenses for the company’s software. The company’s recommended replacements, Partner Success Core Benefits and Partner Success Expanded, abandon those benefits in favor of cloud services. According to Microsoft, it is “evolving the partner benefits offerings to provide partners with the tools and support they need to continue to lead the way in the shifting tech landscape.”
Or cutting back on some things in favor of others. After all, it would never do to have all that software running on-premises when Microsoft has a perfectly good cloud ready to take on partner workloads. A Register reader affected by the change told us: “The first impact for us will be cost. We’ll need to go from Action Pack ($515 + VAT) to Partner Success Core ($970 + VAT). Secondly, the benefits appear to have moved all online. “That’s not a problem for day-to-day operations but it will make it harder when trying to recreate a customer environment with legacy software.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft is to discontinue the Microsoft Action Pack and Microsoft Learning Pack on January 21, 2025, sending partners off to potentially pricier and cloudier options. From a report: The Action Pack and Learning Pack, alongside Silver or Gold Membership, gave Microsoft partners access to many on-premises licenses for the company’s software. The company’s recommended replacements, Partner Success Core Benefits and Partner Success Expanded, abandon those benefits in favor of cloud services. According to Microsoft, it is “evolving the partner benefits offerings to provide partners with the tools and support they need to continue to lead the way in the shifting tech landscape.”
Or cutting back on some things in favor of others. After all, it would never do to have all that software running on-premises when Microsoft has a perfectly good cloud ready to take on partner workloads. A Register reader affected by the change told us: “The first impact for us will be cost. We’ll need to go from Action Pack ($515 + VAT) to Partner Success Core ($970 + VAT). Secondly, the benefits appear to have moved all online. “That’s not a problem for day-to-day operations but it will make it harder when trying to recreate a customer environment with legacy software.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Try out Google’s DALL-E defeater in Imagen 3, Gemini’s new AI image generator
Google Gemini releases AI image generator Imagen 3.
Google’s most advanced image generator has arrived, months after the tech giant teased the model at this year’s Google I/O event. The Imagen 3 model is now available through Google’s Gemini AI platform, both the free version and the subscription-based Gemini Advanced service, as well as within Google’s business products. Google is clearly keen for Imagen 3 to compete with the rapidly mushrooming competition among AI image generators with its own approach to turning words into images.
Like its predecessors, Imagen 3 can create images in any number of styles, including the photorealistic landscapes and cartoonish claymation seen above. The new version improves on Imagen 2 in many ways, particularly when it comes to making pictures of people. The company hinted strongly that you won’t see Imagen 3 fall into the historical errors that embarrassed the company earlier this year. That said, “photorealistic, identifiable individuals” are still forbidden.
Imagen 3 also includes the real-time editing options spotted in the code last month. You can tell Gemini your opinion on generated images and instruct the AI to change it in whatever way you prefer. The company didn’t mention being able to circle the part of the image you want adjusted, but that may come later. Imagen 3 has been integrated across Gemini, starting in English, but with more languages on the way. Imagen 3 is supposed to serve as a major draw for Gemini, which Google seems to want people to turn to as a default option, similar to how so many people unthinkingly go to its search engine.
AI Image War
Imagen 3 also continues Google’s marking of visuals with the SynthID tool for watermarking AI-generated images created with Gemini. SynthID embeds invisible watermarks into images, so you won’t notice it, but an attempt to pass it off as a real photo or something you painted would be debunked quickly. Google describes it as a way of pushing back against misinformation and making the world of AI images more transparent. SynthID is another of the safety measures employed by Google for Imagen 3, along with its guardrails against producing pictures of people, violent imagery, and other problematic scenes.
Imagen 3 is a clear indicator of the rapid advancements in AI image creation and their integration into all sorts of content creation platforms. That’s one area where Google has an edge over most of its completion. Ideogram, Midjourney, and other AI image makers tend to be stand-alone tools. On the other hand, OpenAI has DALL-E as a key feature for ChatGPT, and X recently embedded Flux into the Grok AI chatbot. Imagen 3 combined with Gemini gives Google a definite boost, but there’s no way of knowing which, if any, of the AI image generators will dominate the race. It will be a photo(realistic) finish.
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Google Gemini will let you create AI-generated people again
Google’s Imagen 3 is capable of generating photorealistic images of people. | Image: Imagen 3
Google is letting its users generate images of people through its Gemini AI chatbot again after pulling the feature earlier this year amid reports of historically inaccurate images, like racially diverse Nazis. In an announcement, Google says it will roll out an early access version of the capability to Gemini Advanced, Business, and Enterprise users in English “over the coming days.”
This upgrade will be powered by Imagen 3, the latest version of Google’s AI text-to-image generator. Google quietly launched Imagen 3 through its AI Test Kitchen earlier this month, and now it’s coming to Gemini across all languages. The upgraded tool is capable of generating anything from photorealistic landscapes to textured oil paintings with a description of “just a few words.”
Image: Imagen 3
Imagen 3 is capable of creating a wide range of images.
Google paused Gemini’s ability to generate images of people in February after users found it created historically inaccurate images. The upgraded Imagen 3 model comes with built-in safeguards and “performs favorably compared to other image generation models available,” Dave Citron, Google’s senior director of product management for Gemini, writes in the announcement.
This isn’t to be confused with Google’s new Remagine feature, which lets you incorporate AI elements into the photos shot on the company’s new lineup of Pixel 9 phones.
Additionally, Gemini won’t allow users to create photorealistic images of public figures; content involving minors; or gory, violent, and sexual scenes. “Of course, not every image Gemini creates will be perfect, but we’ll continue to listen to feedback from early access Gemini Advanced users as we keep improving,” Citron adds. Google plans to expand the ability to create AI-generated people to more users and languages soon.
Google’s Imagen 3 is capable of generating photorealistic images of people. | Image: Imagen 3
Google is letting its users generate images of people through its Gemini AI chatbot again after pulling the feature earlier this year amid reports of historically inaccurate images, like racially diverse Nazis. In an announcement, Google says it will roll out an early access version of the capability to Gemini Advanced, Business, and Enterprise users in English “over the coming days.”
This upgrade will be powered by Imagen 3, the latest version of Google’s AI text-to-image generator. Google quietly launched Imagen 3 through its AI Test Kitchen earlier this month, and now it’s coming to Gemini across all languages. The upgraded tool is capable of generating anything from photorealistic landscapes to textured oil paintings with a description of “just a few words.”
Image: Imagen 3
Imagen 3 is capable of creating a wide range of images.
Google paused Gemini’s ability to generate images of people in February after users found it created historically inaccurate images. The upgraded Imagen 3 model comes with built-in safeguards and “performs favorably compared to other image generation models available,” Dave Citron, Google’s senior director of product management for Gemini, writes in the announcement.
This isn’t to be confused with Google’s new Remagine feature, which lets you incorporate AI elements into the photos shot on the company’s new lineup of Pixel 9 phones.
Additionally, Gemini won’t allow users to create photorealistic images of public figures; content involving minors; or gory, violent, and sexual scenes. “Of course, not every image Gemini creates will be perfect, but we’ll continue to listen to feedback from early access Gemini Advanced users as we keep improving,” Citron adds. Google plans to expand the ability to create AI-generated people to more users and languages soon.
Google’s custom AI chatbots have arrived
Illustration: The Verge
Google will soon let Gemini subscribers create custom chatbots that can serve as a gym buddy, cooking partner, writing editor, and more. Users can give the chatbots — called Gems — distinct personalities and specialties by simply describing a set of instructions.
Google first introduced Gems during I/O in May. In an example prompt shown by Google, users can create a “knowledgeable, casual, and friendly” Gem that can help people plan low- or no-water gardens. For users who don’t want to create a custom chatbot right away, Google is offering some premade Gems, including a learning coach, an idea brainstormer, a career guide, a coding partner, and an editor.
GIF: Google
You can give Gems a name and a set of instructions.
Google is rolling out Gems to Gemini Advanced, Gemini Business, and Gemini Enterprise users on mobile and desktop devices in over 150 countries and “most” languages.
Google likely launched Gems to catch up to OpenAI, which started letting users create their own chatbots months ago. OpenAI takes things a step further by letting users share custom GPTs through its store.
Illustration: The Verge
Google will soon let Gemini subscribers create custom chatbots that can serve as a gym buddy, cooking partner, writing editor, and more. Users can give the chatbots — called Gems — distinct personalities and specialties by simply describing a set of instructions.
Google first introduced Gems during I/O in May. In an example prompt shown by Google, users can create a “knowledgeable, casual, and friendly” Gem that can help people plan low- or no-water gardens. For users who don’t want to create a custom chatbot right away, Google is offering some premade Gems, including a learning coach, an idea brainstormer, a career guide, a coding partner, and an editor.
GIF: Google
You can give Gems a name and a set of instructions.
Google is rolling out Gems to Gemini Advanced, Gemini Business, and Gemini Enterprise users on mobile and desktop devices in over 150 countries and “most” languages.
Google likely launched Gems to catch up to OpenAI, which started letting users create their own chatbots months ago. OpenAI takes things a step further by letting users share custom GPTs through its store.
Telegram CEO released by police, transferred to court for possible indictment
Durov released from police custody, brought to court after days of questioning.
Enlarge / Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is heading to court for a possible indictment after being released from police custody, authorities in France said on Wednesday. “An investigating judge has ended Pavel Durov’s police custody and will have him brought to court for a first appearance and a possible indictment,” according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office that was quoted in an Associated Press article.
Durov was arrested in Paris on Saturday and questioned by police for several days. The French investigative judge will “decide whether to place him under formal investigation following his arrest as part of a probe into organized crime on the messaging app,” Reuters wrote today.
“Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial, but indicates that judges consider there is enough to the case to proceed with the probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or shelved,” Reuters wrote. The judge’s decision on a formal investigation is expected today, the article said.