PARIS - Huawei CEO for consumer business Richard Yu is so confident that the P20 and P20 Pro are better than the iPhone X and the Galaxy S9, he showcased a photo he took with the phone during its international launch here.
The night shot of a Shenzhen riverside, where Huawei is headquartered, showed a patch of red flowers against a backdrop of brightly-lit skyscrapers.
Yu said the blossoms were hardly visible in the dark showing how the P20 Pro shooter sees what the human eye can't.
The Leica-engineered lenses can also take clear night shots without a tripod as the artificial intelligence built into the phone's Kirin 970 processor removes the blur that comes from shaky hands, Yu said.
Huawei is making the case for its P20 line as an imaging powerhouse based on hardware and initial reviews that trump the competition from Apple and Samsung. The phones also come in a color-shifting glass shell that evokes the Northern Lights.
The P20 Pro, which has three Leica-engineered lenses, got an overall score of 109 while the P20 got 102 from camera review website DxOMark.
The Samsung Galaxy S9+ scored 99, followed by the Google Pixel 2 with 98 and Huawei's own Mate 10 Pro and the iPhone X with 97.
Based on total megapixel count, the P20 Pro has a 40-megapixel RGB sensor, a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor. On the front, there's a 20-megapixel selfie camera. The P20 has a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and a 20-megapixel main sensor.
The 40 megapixel count, the telephoto lens and the built-in AI combine to allow the phone to zoom up to 5 times without sacrifing image quality, Huawei said.
We tested these claims on the sidelines of the Paris launch.
Under overcast skies, the Petit Palais appeared bright. The grass was bright green while the details on the castle windows and the tree branches were visible.
At 3 times zoom, a vase of flowers appeared bright purple with details on the petals still visible.
The 3 photos below show a church in downtown Paris without zoom, with 3 times zoom and 5 times zoom.
Design-wise, the P20 range goes head to head with the iPhone X and the Galaxy S9 line, with glass on the front and back, surrounded by a metal frame.
The design cues are more similar to the iPhone X: cameras stacked vertically at the top left corner, rounded corners and a notch at the front.
The P20's notch, which is smaller than the iPhone's, houses the front-facing camera and a circular speaker. Unlike Apple, however, users can hide the P20's notch in the settings.
Aside from black and blue, Huawei offers "gradient" color options. The twilight variant shifts between blue and purple depending on the light and the viewing angle. The other combines pink and a very soft gold, looking almost like jewelry.
The glass back is as prone to fingerprints as it is reflective. Huawei said it would sell woven leather, soft silicone and flip cases.
The P20 Pro's 4,000 mAh battery got through an entire day of messaging, picture-taking and internet browsing in our initial tests.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - Samsung's Galaxy S9+ is the new mobile camera leader, based on a review by industry tracker DxOMark, ahead of flagship phones from Google, Apple and Huawei.
The Galaxy S9+, which will be available locally from March 16, got an overall score of 99, ahead of Google's Pixel 2 with 98 and the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Apple iPhone X which both got 97.
The Galaxy S9+ camera takes "excellent" shots in good light and "impressive" photos in low light, DxOMark said. Samsung "struck a very good balance between noise reduction and retention of detail," it said.
The DxOMark review, however, noted purple "fringing" on the edges of high contrast images, corners that are "a little softer than the center" and "slight blue or pink" color in bright light.
"These are fairly minor issues, however, and overall, the Galaxy S9 Plus is an excellent bright-light performer," according to the review.
Zoomed images on the S9+ are also "noticeably cleaner" compared to the competition, it said.
The S9+ has a dual lens rear camera a first for the S series and a 6.3-inch screen that curves around the edges. The smaller S8 has a 5.8-inch screen and a single lens read shooter.
Samsung's dual lens implementation allows for optical zoom, like the ones on Apple's iPhone X, 8 Plus and 7 Plus.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO - Babies, dogs and artificial intelligence.
Alphabet Inc's Google is betting this combination proves irresistible with the Tuesday launch of Google Clips, a pocket-sized digital camera that decides on its own whether an image is interesting enough to shoot.
The $249 device, which is designed to clip onto furniture or other fixed objects, automatically captures subjects that wander into its viewfinder. But unlike some trail or security cameras that are triggered by motion or programmed on timers, Clips is more discerning. Google has trained its electronic brain to recognize smiles, human faces, dogs, cats and rapid sequences of movement.
The company sees big potential with parents and pet owners looking to grab candid shots of kids and animals. The Clip shoots seven-second videos, without audio, that can be edited into GIFs or high-definition photos. These images can then be downloaded and shared via smartphone.
But Google's bigger ambition is the mastery - and commercialization - of artificial intelligence, an area where it is investing big. Google executives say success requires tight integration between hardware and software, which is why the search-engine giant keeps plugging away at consumer electronics.
The company has yet to dominate with its devices, though its Google Home smart speakers, Chromecast TV dongles and Pixel smartphones have all won high marks from consumers.
Each new gadget wires customers more deeply into its suite of services, which will be essential as Google competes with Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc to be a primary hub for entertainment and shopping.
Google is sharpening its focus with each effort. With its Clips smart camera, the company is trying to hook shutterbugs with a soft introduction to artificial intelligence.
"Being able to have cameras identify what’s happening in the home, without having to filter through recordings, this is where the market for video in the home is moving," said Blake Kozak, principal analyst at IHS Markit.
Some analysts are dubious that Clips will be a blockbuster in a marketplace crowded with digital cameras. Its price could prove too high to justify its narrow uses. Alternatives such as pet camera Petcube, for example, provide more functionality, including remote monitoring. Lack of audio, limited battery life and privacy concerns could further limit Clips' appeal.
But the device is nonetheless an important demonstration of Google’s advances in computer vision, a form of artificial intelligence focused on identifying objects, according to Cyril Ebersweiler, founder of the hardware business incubator HAX.
"The next thing after sound will be computer vision, and they can't allow not to be doing something," Ebersweiler said.
THE NEW CANDID CAMERA
Google says Clips, which was announced in October, is the outgrowth of years of research into what people like about their favorite images. Consumers overwhelmingly preferred candid shots as opposed to ubiquitous selfies and other posed photos. But casual photographers often cannot whip out their phones in time to catch the action. And many subjects become self-conscious when they know a camera is pointed their way.
"There is gold in between the photos you take" with smartphones, Juston Payne, product lead for Google Clips, told reporters this month. "This camera gets at those moments."
Payne said his team had no mandate to develop a stand-alone camera. They could have packed more software into smartphone cameras, for instance.
But he said a dedicated device that could fade into the background proved to be the best solution for naturalistic photography. Measuring 2 inches by 2 inches and weighing two ounces, Clips can be hung from a drawer handle or a tree branch at the playground. Payne said the gadget is not meant to be worn.
The camera captures the best shots when subjects are about three feet away and in its frame. It operates three hours on a charge.
Clips is being sold at Best Buy and Verizon retail outlets as well as Google's online store.
Google says it attempted to address privacy concerns by placing white lights on Clips to alert subjects when the camera is filming. It also intentionally avoided giving the camera a direct connection to the cloud.
The device's lack of sound may disappoint consumers, but Payne said audio would have encouraged people to film themselves while skydiving or skiing, pursuits the gadget's auto-capture technology is not yet capable of handling.
Michael Kim, a product design consultant at Kim Advisory Capital, said Clips could be convenient as an "ambient photographer." But he questioned whether such a pricey "novelty toy" could win a large following.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - Chinese electronics giant Huawei on Monday announced its first near bezel-less handset that packs four cameras, joining a slew of mid-priced offerings that offer a flagship experience.
Viewed from the front, the tall, nearly 6-inch screen of the Nova 2i is similar to the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 with tiny top and bottom bezels.
The Nova 2i has dual cameras on the back and the front, promising clear and rich-colored selfies that Huawei's twin camera setups have been known for since 2016's P9 series.
See an unboxing of the Nova 2i in the slideshow below:
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Huawei loaned ABS-CBN News a black version of the Nova 2i, which also comes in gold and blue.
The device feels solid in the hand, though as with aluminum phones, it can be a bit slippery.
It comes with a clear frosted plastic case. The cases that came
bundled with premium Huawei phones get scratched easily and this one
appears to be of the same quality.
The fingerprint scanner is typically fast for a Huawei phone and is easier to reach compared to Samsung's most recent flagships.
The screen is very bright even at just half its full capacity and the tall screen provides immersive viewing. If you're coming from a high-end Samsung phone or a newer iPhone though, the screen's lower quality is noticeable.
Performance was zippy with no noticeable lag, notwithstanding EMUI, Huawei's skinned version of Android. The device can easily go for more than a day on a single charge.
While there is no Leica branding, the dual cameras produced rich colors, deep contrasts even in low light and are comparable to the photo-centric P series.
It tends to oversaturate colors, which is not a bad thing if you like your Instagram posts in vivid color.
CAMERA SAMPLES
The purple tint on this flower arrangement shot looks overblown, but it keeps the details on the stems and the chicken wire that keeps the blossoms in place.
The camera takes very decent indoor shots with dim lighting. In this
shot of Huawei's Beijing headquarters, you can still see light
reflections on the near mirror-polished floor with some noise.
The Nova 2i's shooter is almost flagship quality in good lighting. In
this hotel lobby shot, the details on the chandelier, wall carvings,
staircase and carpet are visible.
Here are the Nova 2i's key features
Height: 156.2mm
Width: 75.2
Depth: 7.5mm
Weight: 164g
Colors: Graphite Black, Prestige Gold, Aurora Blue
Build: metal
Screen: 5.9 inches
Screen Type: IPS
Resolution: 2160 X 1080 (FHD+)
Screen colors: 16 million
Screen Pixel Density: 407 PPI
Processor: Huawei Kirin 659 CPU, Octa-core 4* Cortex A53 2.36 GHz + 4*Cortex A53 1.7 GHz
Operating system: EMUI 5.1, Android 7.0
RAM: 4GB
ROM: 64GB
microSD: supports card up to 256GB
SIM 1：nano SIM Card
SIM 2：nano SIM Card or microSD
Front camera: 13MP+2MP, F2.0 wide aperture
Rear camera: 16MP+2MP, F2.2 wide aperture
Data interface: micro USB
Capability: 3240mAh (Minimum value), 3340mAh (Typical value)
Charging time: less than 150 Mins
Talk time: up to 20 Hours
Standby time: up to 550 Hours
Huawei said the Nova 2i will be available starting Oct. 21 for P14,990. Those who purchase on launch day in any of 6 concept stores will get a free JBL speaker.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
