Google Pixel 4 XL likely to offer brighter camera
Google Pixel fans can expect a brighter camera and beefed up processing power in the upcoming Pixel 4 XL, according to new leaked images of a pre-release Pixel 4 XL provided by Vietnamese phone shop D Store Mobile, the media reported. The primary rear camera will reportedly snap shots with a brighter f/1.73 aperture. Last year’s Pixel 3 had an aperture of f/1.8.
“Leaks of the upcoming camera app suggest that the phone will shoot in 16:9 by default so that photos can take up the entire camera screen, despite the sensor remaining 4:3. The effect is similar to what Apple is doing on the iPhone 11 models, which take advantage of the phone’s extra wide-angle lens to fill the screen,” The Verge reported on Saturday.
The details of the telephoto camera aren’t available as of now but it can be safely presumed there would be significant improvements to low-light photos and close-ups.
The speedy 90Hz OLED screen remains the highlight, but one will also get a Snapdragon 855 processor with 6GB RAM, a 3,700mAh battery (on the XL) and 128GB of UFS storage on at least one model, according to Engadget. (IANS)
Lenovo Carme smartwatch launches in India
Chinese tech giant Lenovo on Saturday launched its latest smartwatch — Carme (HW25P) in India for Rs 3,499.
The device will be available for purchase from Flipkart from September 15 in two colour variants — black and Green. It is equipped with a 1.3-inch IPS colourful display with 2.5D curved surface design. It is also IP68 rated, meaning it is water and dust resistant.
The smartwatch comes loaded with a 24 hours heart rate monitor and it can also track sleep and activity. The device can offer up to 7 days of battery life on a single charge. The watch has eight sports mode, which includes skipping, badminton, basketball, football, swimming, walking, running and cycling. The other features of the smartwatch are weather forecast, search for the phone, alarm reminder, stopwatch and smart notifications for emails, text messages, calls and other social media apps.
Equipped with Bluetooth version 4.2, Lenovo Carme is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. (IANS)
Facebook working on TV streaming device: Report
Social-media giant Facebook is reportedly working on a streaming device, like Amazons Fire Stick which would plug into a TV to offer access to online content.
The new streaming hardware will be part of the company’s Portal family of devices, featuring a camera, combining video chatting with TV viewing and Augmented Reality (AR), variety.com reported on Friday.
The company has recently approached Netflix, Disney and HBO about adding their content to its hardware.
In addition, Facebook is set to launch an updated version of its video chat device ‘Portal’ later this year.
Andrew Bosworth, Vice President of Facebook’s AR and Virtual Reality (VR) has also confirmed that the company has a lot more to unveil “later this fall” related to Portal.
Portal was launched in November 2018. While the smaller device was priced at $199, the larger “Portal Plus” was made available for $349 with a 10-inch display and 15-inch display, respectively. The smart camera-enabled device is also powered by Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa and comes with front cameras. (IANS)
YouTube changes counts views for music videos
Online video giant YouTube is introducing a major change to its music chart system after discovering that artists and labels were using growth hacks to inflate how many people were watching their videos.
YouTube is no longer counting “advertising views” when it comes to the company calculating its music charts. Instead, ranking for top-watched music videos will be based on organic plays, The Verge quoted a new blog-post as saying on Friday.
“In an effort to provide more transparency to the industry and align with the policies of official charting companies such as Billboard and Nielsen, we are no longer counting paid advertising views on YouTube in the YouTube Music Charts calculation. Artists will now be ranked based on view counts from organic plays,” the company wrote in a blog-post.
It is changing its methodology for reporting on 24-hour record debuts to also only count views from organic sources, including direct links to the video, search results.
Recently, Indian rapper Badshah seemed to break YouTube’s one-day record in July, gaining more than 75 million views with his hit Paagal, beating out BTS with 75 million views to their 74.6 million. It is suspected that the rapper’s total view was inflated. (IANS)