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How Google built its “best ever” camera for the Pixel 2 smartphone

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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.

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Google’s Pixel 2 combines optical and electronic image stabilisation for rock steady video

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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.

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Google Clips puts AI inside a camera to pick the best moments to take a snap

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We’ve all been hearing about AI tech that wants to tell us how good our shots are. Apple recently bought out Regaind to help critique our images. Adobe included something simialr in the newest version of Photoshop Elements 2018. Software solutions so far simply look at the thousands of shots you’ve already made. Google wants to cut out the middleman and put this functionality into the camera.

Google’s new “Clips” camera has quite a few bits missing. It has no LCD, and only one button, a shutter button. Although this button is entirely optional. You see, the camera has AI built into it that uses machine learning to recognise and learn faces. It then seeks out interesting moments to capture all by itself. A little creepy, but also pretty cool.

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Google is crowd sourcing Street View footage – There’s no compensation and you need to buy a $3500 camera

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Call me a cynic if you like, but this seems a bit cheeky to me. Google announced in May that users will be soon able to create their own Street View imagery. A new range of 360° cameras and tools would be released with “Street View ready” certification. They are are split into four categories. Mobile, auto (vehicles), VR, and workflow. Now, the first 360° “auto” camera has been approved and announced.

That camera, is the $3,500 Insta360 Pro 8K camera. A $3,500 camera that Google expects you to buy and then drive around with to fill gaps in Street View. Have to be honest, if I’m spending that much money on a camera, the last thing I’m going to be doing is spending yet more money on fuel, not to mention time and processing power, and upload that footage for free.

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Mobile photo editor Snapseed gets a UI facelift and new perspective correction tool

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Google have released a new version of Snapseed with a drastically overhauled user interface. Version 2.18 is available for both iOS and Android. You know Snapseed, it’s the reason Google bought Nik Software. A company which offered a fantastic suite of desktop tools Google then abandoned.

They say that the new user interface is designed for faster editing and a more efficient workflow. All of the usual features are still there, and a new perspective correction feature has also been added. The new, brighter look is getting some mixed reactions, though. Many aren’t happy about the new, bright grey and white background. I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of it myself.

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Google is killing off Google Drive in March – Are you prepared?

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With Amazon killing off their unlimited storage, and CrashPlan ditching consumers in favour of enterprise level clients, more were bound to follow. Google is now shaking things up, announcing that they’re ending Google Drive in March 2018. The difference, however, is that Google don’t seem to be screwing their customers over in the process.

For Google Drive users, Google Backup and Sync will be the replacement. For commercial G Suite customers, Drive File Stream is the new main system. But as of this moment, Google Drive for Mac & PC is officially deprecated. Support will end on December 11th, 2017, and it will shut down completely on March 12th, 2018.

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Google Street View now lets you explore the International Space Station

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Google Street View lets you see almost all corners of the world, but now you can even see the world from another angle – from space. They launched the latest novelty to the web app, which lets you explore the inside of the International Space Station (ISS). In addition, you can also see the images of the Earth taken from the observation cupola.

The ISS floats 250 miles above the Earth, and it’s a base for space exploration. And through Google Street View, now you can get some insight what it looks like for the astronauts who spend their time there.

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Google AI now takes professional photos. And it does it based on Street View images

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Thanks to Google Street View, we can see many corners of the world we may never even visit.  Some artists even use it to create photos of remote places from their own home. Now, Google itself finds a way to produce professional-looking photos from their Street View shots. They have created Creatism, a deep-learning system that analyzes Street View scenes searching for a beautiful composition. The algorithm finds the scenes which it’s supposed to turn into shots worthy of professional photographers.

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