Samsung builds on camera module work with ISOCELL brand

Samsung looks like they’re getting serious about developing camera modules for smartphones. The South Korean company is naming this image sensor brand as ISOCELL. This new division will be developing four types of cameras that bear descriptive names: Bright, Fast, Slim, and Dual. The last seems like a nod to the possible inclusion of a dual camera setup in the upcoming Galaxy Note8.

Bright refers to sensors aimed at low-light shooting. It’ll offer high color fidelity and low noise. Fast alludes to instant autofocus and the ability to track fast-moving objects even in the dark. Slim type will feature smallest pixels available so they can create modules that will fit into phones where space is limited. And dual provides several sensors that can be paired in different configurations to get that dual-camera setup.

Source: GSMArena

Review: Motorola Moto Z2 Play

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Motorola’s Moto Z Play was last year’s midrange surprise which turned out to be a veritable chameleon handset thanks to easy on, and off Moto Mods accessories as well as the best battery life on any device.

While the flagship Moto Z was, and remains the most premium handset and also the thinnest smartphone Motorola has ever made. The Moto Z Play, on the other hand, is a far more practical and less frivolous affair that appealed to more users.

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Google bringing ads to VR

It seems like an inevitable thing that Google is looking to include advertising into the virtual reality space. The company’s internal incubator Area 120 has a new experiment they call Advr. It’s a way to include ads into the VR space that they say aren’t disruptive for the viewers or hard to implement for the developers. One example they have is the ad cube, which users can opt to interact with. By tapping on the cube, a 2D video player pops up with the ad playing. For now, you can see there’s a “Close Ad” button but we can’t say if that’ll remain the same if or when Google decides to bring sto users.

Area 120 is supposedly working with some developers already but they won’t disclose who. They want the format to work on different VR platforms like Google Cardboard, Daydream, and Samsung Gear VR. Any developers who want to try it out can apply for an early access to the program here. Now, we just hope what they do develop something that isn’t obtrusive and useful.

Source: Tech Crunch + Android Authority

Google Photos puts machines to work with launch of new sharing options

Google has started rolling out Google Photos’s new sharing features, which they announced at the company’s I/O developer conference in May. The two new features—Suggested Sharing and Shared Libraries—put machine learning to the use and encourage the use of the app as more of a social experience instead of a backup tool for photos. Google used to use its virtual assistant to do things like turn photos into animations, collages; stylize photos; offer “throwbacks” to old photos; organize photos into album; and more. Now, it’s expanding its reach with these new functionalities.

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