Google smartens up dark mode for the next version of Chrome for Android

The new beta release for Google Chrome on Android wants to make the dark mode a bit smarter. The aim is to make the site look more normal when dark mode is forced. Chrome 77 for Android is less likely to invert the color of images, even if their backgrounds are mostly white. This beta update is also less likely to turn gray text bright white, so it'll be a more comfortable reading experience. And it'll be closer to what the site's creators originally intended.

When dark mode first came to Android, it was simply a way to invert the colors of an entire site. But when it comes to photos, this would sometimes render them indecipherable. The previous version of Chrome automatically activated a dark version of a site if one is already available, and it only reversed the colors if there's no alternative. 

Source: Tech Radar

Samsung launches its 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor

The future of smartphone cameras features hundreds of megapixels. Samsung and Xiaomi partnered to develop the 108-megapixel ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor. It's one of the largest smartphone sensors ever at 1/1.33-inches. That is about three quarters the size of the 1-inch sensor on Sony's RX100 VII compact camera and just a bit smaller than the sensor on Nokia's legendary Pureview 808 phone. The sensor will still feature small pixels. By default and with Samsung's Tetracell tech, it will gather the light from four pixels and transform this into a 27-megapixel photo. If you want to take 108-megapixel photos, you'll need to make sure the room is brightly lit, so you can get decent shots. The sensor also allows for recording 6k video at 30fps.

With Samsung's Smart-ISO mechanism, it'll automatically select lower ISOs in brighter light and high ISO in dim areas. Samsung has been criticized in the past for inferior low-light performance when compared to its competitors like the Huawei P30 Pro and other models that use Sony chips. But by putting in a bigger sensor, the company might finally have an answer. Production of the chip will start later this month.

Source: Engadget

'Minecraft' design overhaul has been axed

Mojang/Microsoft

Minecraft won't stick with its look forever, but it looks like it's going to take some time before it gets an overhaul. Mojang just announced that it won't release the Super Duper Graphics Pack visual redesign. After two years of delays, the developer decided that it was "too technically demanding" to implement. And the company wasn't "happy" with the upgrade's performance across platforms. Instead of providing inconsistent quality across platforms, Mojang decided to just shut down the project.

The promise was to enable 4K on the Xbox One X as well as introduce more sophisticated visuals effects for areas like the atmosphere, highlights, and water. It doesn't mean that Minecraft won't get a redesign, though. Mojang is still "looking into other ways" to give Minecraft a new look. And that it has news on optimizing the constructive games on different platforms "very soon."

Source: Engadget

Samsung Galaxy Note10 tops read/write speeds benchmarks

Samsung's new Galaxy Note10 comes with a lot of bells and whistles to compel people to buy one. One of these features is that it's the first Samsung devices with UFS 3.0 (technically it should've been the Galaxy Fold, but we know what happened to that device.) UFS stands for Universal Flash Storage, which is a commonly used storage for handheld devices. And UFS 3.0 is the latest standard and it's twice as fast as UFS 2.1. It allows for data transfer speeds of up to 23.2Gbps (11.6Gbps in two lanes). And it pits it up against the OnePlus 7 series which also has UFS 3.0 (based on Samsung's tech).  

Read/write benchmarks show that Samsung's UFS 3.0 implementation on the Note10 has beat out the OnePlus 7 Pro. It beat out all the devices with UFS 3.0 in terms of Random write and SQLite, which means in this regard, you're getting the best Samsung has to offer.

Source: MSPowerUser