Samsung tipped to be adding 3D emoji and stereo speakers to the Galaxy S9

Venture Beat

Samsung isn’t one to shy away from “borrowing” features from Apple. If reports are to be believed, the company is set to add another feature familiar to Apple iPhone X users: 3D emojis. Samsung will reportedly have their own take on Animojis but will supposedly be more advanced than what Apple is offering. It’ll supposedly be similar in the sense that a 3D character (including animal ones) can track your facial movements and copy those. It’s not surprising that this is coming to the Galaxy S9 as Samsung is set to bring its latest Exynos chip to this device, which the company says has “realistic face-tracking filters” as well as improved security features for unlocking the device using facial recognition.

Aside from adding 3D emojis, rumour has it the Galaxy S9 will be sporting stereo speakers that have Dolby Surround and will be tuned by Samsung-owned acoustics company AKG. The speakers will supposedly be placed at the top and bottom of the phone. We don’t have that long of a wait before Samsung unveils the device. It’s set to debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this February 25^th.

Source: The Verge

Panasonic's new Lumix DC-GX9MK camera excels at monochrome street shots

LUMIX DC-GX9MK, a sleek, compact new Digital Single Lens Mirrorless camera. This compact camera enables users to shoot vibrant, true-to-life, high-quality images in their own creative way with excellent resolution, high contrast and impressive colour reproduction. 

The LUMX DC-GX9MK features a 20.3-megapixel Digital Live MOS Sensor without a low-pass filter and Venus Engine to drive maximum lens performance while rendering natural, high-precision images. The L.Monochrome D mode is newly added to Photo Style, making it easy to shoot detailed dynamic monochrome photos with emphasized highlights and shadows.

The Panasonic LUMX DC-GX9MK (GX9 body plus a LUMIX 12-60mm F3.5-5.6 lens) will be available at select Canadian retailers and on the Panasonic eStore in April with an MSRP of $1299.99 (CDN). 

LG to bring AI camera features to new V30 model

LG is joining the bandwagon of putting artificial intelligence tech into its smartphone’s camera. The South Korean company said they will be showing off “the first of a suite of AI technologies into a new version of the V30 at the upcoming Mobile World Congress. This was leaked earlier in Korea with reports that a phone called the V30s will be coming to MWC and will have AI-powered camera features.

This Vision AI tech, as LG calls it, will be initially focused on image recognition and will provide auto image analysis to recommend shooting modes instantly as well as help recognize objects and offer shopping suggestions (similar to Google Lens on the Pixel devices). The technology will also supposedly be used to offer better low-light performance.

Source: The Verge

This is what you can expect from Android P

Fragmentation is still a big issue with Android’s operating system but that isn’t stopping Google from working on the next iteration of its mobile OS. Android P will supposedly work on “improving the look of the software” so it can appeal to iPhone users who might be considering making the switch to Google’s platform. This might also be the best time for the company to redesign Android as Apple focuses on improving performance and reliability for iOS 12 instead of thinking of revamping the look. Another one of the new things we can expect to come to Android P is better integration with camera notches, similar to what we see on the iPhone X and Essential Phone. The upcoming OS update will also supposedly offer better support for different form factors like the ZTE Axon M’s multiple screens or the upcoming rumoured foldable displays.

Google will also supposedly embed Assistant further into Android with the company supposedly considering letting third-party developers directly integrate Assistant into their apps. Assistant might also find its way into the Google search bar on the home screen. If we rely on past instances, we might see a developer preview sometime next month with a more formal outing at Google I/O in May before the final version hits users in the fall. Well, at least the small number of users who can get access to them. At the moment, there are only 1.1 percent of Android users that are on Android Oreo.

Source: The Verge