According to reports on Reddit and Google’s support forums, some users of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have come forward to say that it’s not saving all of their photos. And it appears that it also affects the original Pixel, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL as well. Several members of staff at The Verge have also confirmed this issue with their own phones.
Google Pixel 2 fans duped by iPhone XS “Portrait Mode” photo
YouTuber Jonathan Morrison caused some stir on Instagram and Twitter on Saturday and trolled both Apple and Android users with a single photo. He posted a selfie with a caption: “Pixel 2 Portrait mode ? rocking the smalls hat ? thoughts?” Android fans rushed to praise the image quality and of course, to bash the iPhone. But a day later, Jonathan revealed the truth: the photo was actually taken with an iPhone XS.
DxO shows how far phone cameras have come in just six years
While DxOMark isn’t infallible, it does offer some great insight into overall trends as technology evolves. DxOMark have just posted a great report on how far phone camera technology has come in the last six years since DxOMark started testing them. It’s not surprising that their numbers seem to marry up with real world experience, but it’s interesting to see just how quickly it’s all happened.
You can now have Google Pixel 2’s Portrait mode on older phones, for free
Google Pixel 2 is currently taking the first place on DxO’s list of best-rated smartphone cameras. It’s a single-lens camera, yet it offers the Portrait mode on both rear and front camera. This feature wasn’t available on earlier phones from Google, but now you can get it even on some older devices.
Developer Charles Chow has made the Portrait mode available for free, for the original Google Pixel phone, as well as Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.
How Google Pixel 2 compares to $20,000 Hasselblad medium format camera
In recent tests from DxO, the camera of Google Pixel 2 takes the first place as the best mobile device camera they’ve tested so far. According to the sample images, it really does a good job, but how does it stack up against a professional camera? Tyler Stalman has decided to check it. In this video, he and photographer Jason Eng test Google Pixel 2 and a Hasselblad medium format system in different lighting conditions, and compare the results.
How far has “Portrait Mode” come and can it compete with a Hasselblad X1D?
When “Portrait Mode” was first introduced with the iPhone 7+ it was met with mixed reaction. Some people loved it, thought it was a fantastic feat of software engineering. Others hated it, either they felt threatened by it (yes, really) or just didn’t think it looked believable enough. Neither side is particularly wrong, though.
It is a fantastic feat of software engineering. But it wasn’t perfect in the beginning. It still isn’t, but it’s improved a whole lot in the last year and a bit. Other manufacturers have also developed things further. So, how do they stack up today against a large sensor camera like the Hasselblad X1D? That’s what Marques Brownlee attempts to determine in this video.
Google finally opens up Visual Core chip for HDR+ to third party apps on the Pixel 2
Google have now announced the availability of the final Developer Preview of Android 8.1. While the finalised version won’t roll out until December, the new preview features “near-final” system images. The new preview actives the Pixel Visual Core chipset in both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL.
Essentially, this is an 8 core system on chip (SOC) which can run three trillion operations per second. Android Central reports that Google’s HDR+ routines will be five times faster using less than a tenth of the energy over using the standard image processor. This means better dynamic range and reduced noise through computational imaging.
How Google built its “best ever” camera for the Pixel 2 smartphone
Google’s Pixel 2 smartphone quickly dethroned the new iPhone 8 Plus once DxO Mark got their hands on it. And the reviewers so far seem to be giving it great praise, both as a camera and a phone. But how is the camera inside the Pixel 2 actually put together?
That’s what Nat of Nat and Friends wanted to find out. Being a Google employee, she has a little more access than most of us. So, in this video Nat takes us inside Google’s HQ to speak to engineers and find out more about how the camera’s development and working process.
Google’s Pixel 2 combines optical and electronic image stabilisation for rock steady video
Optical image stabilisation is in high demand on new smartphones today. It beats the heck out of electronic image stabilisation. Google’s new Pixel 2 smartphone, however, features both.
As well as receiving DxOMark’s highest score ever for a smartphone, it appears the Pixel 2’s image quality won’t be wasted by jerky footage. When working in tandem, they produce ridiculously smooth footage, if this sample posted by Google is anything to go by.
Google Pixel 2 scores 98 on DxO, sets the new record
Just days ago, iPhone 8 Plus took the first place on the DxO list, and then it shared the throne with Samsung Galaxy Note 8. But, according to DxO, Google Pixel 2 leaves both these phones behind. With the impressive overall score of 98, this now seems to be the best smartphone for “phoneography” there is, at least judging from DxO’s tests.
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