Google doodle of a sylized rabbit with the Google logo for Lunar Year 2023.
A new lunar new year is hopping off to a great start and Google is marking the occasion with a series of Google doodles.
The Lunar New Year 2023 began today (Jan. 22) marking the start of the Year of the Rabbit on the lunar calendar, with Google celebrating with an ornate stylized logo with the company’s name inside a hopping rabbit.
“After the first new moon of the Lunar calendar each year, communities around the world set up decorations, make festive food and gather with loved ones to usher in the new year,” Google wrote in a doodle explainer.
Related: What moon phase is it today? Moon phases 2023 explained
Google doodle of a sylized rabbit with the Google logo for Lunar Year 2023 in South Korea
Top telescope pick!
Celestron Astro Fi 102
Looking for a telescope for the moon? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner’s telescope guide.
“The traditions of the Lunar New Year festival date back thousands of years to a popular legend. A mythical beast called Nian was known to show up each Lunar New Year’s eve and terrorize people and livestock,” the company added. “Loud noises, the color red and fire scared Nian away, so it became a tradition for families to decorate their doors in red paper, set off fireworks and leave lanterns burning all night.”
The Year of the Rabbit comes after the Year of the Tiger on the lunar calendar.
“This year marks the Year of the Rabbit, which is associated with peace and prosperity,” Google wrote in its description. The Doodle artwork is crafted from paper to honor Chinese paper-cutting (Jianzhi), which is a long-time Lunar New Year tradition.”
Google doodle of a sylized cat with the Google logo for Lunar Year 2023 in Vietnam
Related:
— How to photograph the moon using a camera: techniques, kit, and settings
— How to observe the moon with a telescope
— What you can see in this month’s night sky
— Best cameras for astrophotography
Google released several different versions of its Lunar New Year 2023, including versions for South Korea and Vietnam, where it is known as Tet and kicked off the Year of the Cat.
“Known as Tet in Vietnamese, this holiday is celebrated by communities each year during Tet festival, people often travel to the homes of their extended families and bring in the new year with feasts. Tet festival is traditionally celebrated across three days to spend time connecting with friends and colleagues and visiting temples and ancestral burial sights. During family feasts, people typically eat vegetables, banh chung (sticky rice cake), and cu kieu (pickled scallion),” Google wrote.
“This year marks the Year of the Cat, which is associated with prosperity, cleverness, and skillfulness. The Doodle artwork is crafted from paper to honor the paper folding & cutting art traditionally practiced during Lunar New Year.”
If you’re looking for some amazing sights to mark the lunar new year, Venus and Saturn will shine extremely close together after sunset in a planetary conjunction. You can watch the Venus and Saturn conjunction in a free webcast at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT).
Sunspots are planet-sized regions on the sun’s surface that have increased magnetic shields and often appear dark or black on the surface of our star. These spots are often the originating point of coronal mass ejections or solar flares, which unleash solar energy into space. Now, an amateur astrophotographer has captured the peak of one of these spots in a breathtaking sunspot time-lapse.
The time-lapse was captured by Şenol Şanlı between December 2 and December 27, 2022. The video follows an evolving cluster of sunspots known as A3176 and A3153, the former is located in the sun’s northern hemisphere, while the latter resides in the sun’s southern regions. To hone in on the target sunspots during the time-lapse, Şanlı digitally removed other sunspots in the footage.
He then shared the time-lapse on his Instagram. The time-lapse is especially interesting because it allows viewers to track the evolution of these two sunspot groups accurately. In December of 2022, astronomers detected more than 113 active sunspots, some of which unleashed dangerous solar flares toward Earth during that time, causing dangerous solar storms on our planet.
As the sun continues to peak during its solar cycle, it is likely we’ll only see more of these sunspots appearing on the sun’s surface, and many of them even explode in solar flares of coronal mass ejections. Suppose you’re interested in learning more about the evolutionary process that sunspots go through or geek out for anything like this. In that case, I highly recommend checking out the sunspot time-lapse yourself.
Astrophotographers like Şanlı continue to deliver breathtaking visuals of our solar system’s various planets. Some have even taken us a step beyond our solar system to look at stars within the galaxy and universe beyond. As we continue into the year, we will likely see more active sunspots like these groups appearing all across the sun.
Earlier this month, Xiaomi’s subsidiary Redmi unveiled the next generation of the in-famous Note series. Yes, I am talking about the newly released Redmi Note 12, Redmi Note 12 Pro, and Redmi Note 12 Pro+. The camera has always been one of the major highlights of the Redmi Note series phones. And the new Redmi Note 12 series is no exception, introduced with a 200MP camera for the Note 12 Pro+. Just like the previous iterations, the new Note phones support Google Camera aka GCam mod. Here you can download Google Camera for Redmi Note 12 and Redmi Note 12 Pro (+).
Google Camera for Redmi Note 12 (Pro)+ [Best GCam 8.7]
Redmi Note 12 Pro comes with a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor, whereas the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ sports a 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HPX sensor. Although both phones capture similar photos there’s no huge difference noticed between the 50MP sensor and the 200MP sensor.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro duo captures decent photos using the built-in MIUI camera app. These camera sensors can capture much better photos with the Google Camera app, you can install the GCam app for better low light and detailed photos. The vanilla Redmi Note 12 comes with the standard 48MP camera sensor with pixel binning tech. It also supports sideloading GCam ports.
No matter which Redmi Note 12 series phone you own, you can install the latest Google Camera mod port on your smartphone and start taking some amazing low-light photos using the Night Sight feature. Not only this, but you can also use Astrophotography Mode, Enhanced HDR, SloMo, Portrait, and more. Here’s the step by step guide by which you can easily install Google Camera app on your Redmi Note 12, Redmi Note 12 Pro, or Redmi Note 12 Pro+.
Download Google Camera for Redmi Note 12 Pro and Pro+
Redmi Note series phones are feature-packed phones and come with all essential features, and the same can be said for Redmi Note 12 series. The new phones have Camera2 API support out-of-the-box which means you can install GCam APK on your smartphone and start using it, there’s no need of rooting the device. Here we attach the latest GCam 8.7 port by BSG and GCam 7.3 by Urnyx05, apparently, both ports are compatible with the Redmi Note 12 series phones. Here are the download links.
The GCam 8.7 mod doesn’t require any changes, but, if you’re using the GCam 7.3 on your Redmi Note 12 series phone, then you can apply the below-listed settings for better results.
Note: Before Installing the new Gcam Mod ported app, make sure to delete the older version (if you’ve installed). This is not a stable version of Google Camera, so it may have some bugs.
Recommended Settings
For GCam 7.3
At first, download this config file on your smartphone.
Now create a new folder with GCam name.
Open GCam folder and create one more folder with configs7 name.
Now paste the config file inside the configs7 folder.
Once done, Open the Google Camera app and double tap on the black blank area placed next to the shutter button.
Tap on the settings shown (with note12-config.xml), available in the popup & press the restore button.
Go back to the app drawer and then open the app again.
Screenshots:
How to Install Google Camera (GCam) on Redmi Note 12 Pro and Redmi Note 12 Pro+
First, download the GCam app for your Redmi Note 12 series smartphone from the above links.
Then, install the Google Camera APK on your phone.
Then, open the app & grant the needed permissions like Camera, Microphone, Storage, and Location.
That’s it.
Now you can start using GCam on your Redmi Note 12 smartphone can try out the features like Night Sight and Astrophotography Mode.
If you’ve any query, drop a comment down in the comment box. Also, share this article with your friends.
If you’re looking to try your hand at stargazing this new year, or know someone who does, saving 25% on the Celestron Inspire 100AZ telescope (opens in new tab) could be exactly what you need.
The 25% discount (opens in new tab) is a saving of $118, which is pretty sizable, especially at a time when a lot of people are trying to save where they can. This telescope is ideally suited to those without much stargazing experience and we rate it so highly that it features on our best telescopes for beginners guide.
There’s a lot to like about this telescope, aside from the price, and if you want a more detailed look, you can see how it stacked up in our Celestron Inspire 100AZ review. It has a lightweight frame, provides clear views of planets and the moon and even comes with a smartphone adaptor. If you want to check out other top telescopes, be sure to read our best telescopes and telescope deals guides.
So what is it exactly that makes this telescope worth buying? Well, if you’re starting off in the world of astronomy and taking your first steps into stargazing, this is ideal as it has all you want and need from an entry-level telescope.
What sets it apart from the other cut-price options on the market is the quality of the build, its sturdy tripod and the smartphone adaptor, which opens it up to astrophotography. It features a 100mm aperture which allows plenty of light to pass through making objects appear brighter.
It also features a 660mm focal length and it’s at its most effective when viewing planets and moons. You also get a finder scope and eyepieces for your money. If you’re looking for something above the absolute basic models and you’re wanting to save money (a saving of $118.96 (opens in new tab) to be exact) this is an ideal entry-level telescope for you.
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Canon has filled out the RF mount lens library at an aggressive pace, with many options that offer impressive performance and push the boundaries of lens design. Nonetheless, there are still some missing lenses. Some new patents have emerged that indicate Canon is working on filling those holes, and they might do so with some fairly extreme designs.
Canon Rumors has uncovered two new patents for RF mount lenses: an RF 14mm f/1.4L IS USM and RF 24mm f/1.4L IS USM. The EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM was long one of the company’s most popular lenses, as its wide focal length and very wide maximum aperture made it useful for a range of applications. I’m sure an RF version would be equally popular.
On the other hand, Canon’s premium 14mm prime, the EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM, maxed out at f/2.8. This patent is for a lens a full two stops faster. There have been some fairly fast 14mm lenses; for example, I was such a fan of the experience of shooting with the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art that I ended up purchasing one for myself. However, no full frame 14mm DSLR or mirrorless lens has reached f/1.4. Surely, such a lens would capture the attention of a lot of astrophotographers and would be unique in its focal length and aperture combination. All that being said, just because a patent is filed doesn’t mean a lens will actually be brought to market. I am sure we will see an RF 24mm f/1.4 at some point, but I also hope we see the 14mm f/1.4, as it would likely be one heck of a fun lens.
Astrophotography is a time-consuming business, with the need to track objects in the night sky – be they stars, nebulae or galaxies – while taking exposures making it complex, fiddly and not as fun as it should be. The best star trackers (opens in new tab) help, but many are basic, buggy devices with as many cons as pros.
Cue the Benro Polaris smart electric tripod head ($899/£900), which offers camera interface control (if you wire up your camera to it via a mess of cables in the box) and pre-programming. It allows users to set up a camera on a tripod – with the Polaris in between – and tweak the ISO, aperture, shutter speed (and much more) from a smartphone.
The basic two-axis version of the Benro Polaris spits out a WiFi network and can also be operated remotely if you insert a SIM card. That’s a unique proposition in itself and it’s largely for creating time-lapses, motion time-lapses. HDR, focus stacking, panoramas, and sunset/sunrise tracking.
Benro Polaris Wi-Fi Astro Pack Edition – what’s in the box (Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
What we’re reviewing here is the Benro Polaris Astro Edition ($1,149/£1,100), which adds an angled azimuth module that attaches to the main device’s quick-release clamp, making it a three-axis head to enable star tracking. It’s also available as a slightly more affordable version that lacks cellular connectivity. Both versions make images of the night sky possible, from automated stacks of short exposures to Milky Way panoramas.
Here’s how we got on with the first intelligent electric remote head for astrophotography.
Specifications
Benro Polaris Wi-Fi Astro Pack Edition comes in a cube-shaped carry case (Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
Max. lens focal length: 300mm
Control: Benro Polaris app
Max. payload: 15lbs/7kg
Alignment method: smartphone compass and one-star alignment via Polaris app
Power: built-in 2,500 mAh battery (or USB-C portable battery)
Tripod thread: 3/8-inch (and 1/4 inch adaptor screw)
Weight: 1.98 kg (1.46kg Polaris Body Head + 525g Astro module)
Dimensions: 160x139x125mm
Key features
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
Most star trackers are fiddly devices with lots of small parts. They demand care and patience. Not so the Benro Polaris, which is sculpted from aluminum alloy. It requires a very sturdy, but with that in place, it can happily support a whopping 7kg of gear. That’s great news for anything approaching deep-sky astrophotography, which demands decently long, heavy lenses, though it tops out t 400mm. In practice, it’s a little less than that. The hardware’s IPX6 waterproofing is important, too, because dew can be an issue when on night shoots.
Benro Polaris Astro module: angled azimuth module that turns the basic Polaris into a 3-axis motorized head. This unit is available to buy separately, allowing you to upgrade to the 2-axis Polaris to the Astro Edition (Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
The main unit comes has a micro SD card (opens in new tab) slot for recording images – not something we’ve seen before on a head or star tracker – as well as motorized knobs and levers for making positional adjustments (something that can also be done using the landscape-orientated Polaris app).
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
With Benro Polaris wired up to a camera via its USB-C slot (it’s compatible with these cameras (opens in new tab)) and a smartphone tuned to its own WiFi network (though a cellular option is also available for those that want to be further away … say, sat in a warm car!), the Polaris app gives you complete in-app control of your camera. After it’s taken the image – with whatever parameters you chose – it presents a small image on your smartphone (though it can’t easily be post-processed or shared online), which it saves to that microSD card.
It’s possible to use the Benro Polaris while sitting inside, but that’s severely limited by its tight WiFi network. The SIM card option is interesting, but the system would work better for those doing astrophotography in their backyard if it was able to be found and accessed on a home’s WiFi network.
Performance, quality and usability
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
Alignment is easy, but imperfect. It’s initially delightful, with the first half of the process needing only the compass in a smartphone to be placed alongside the mount for the Benro Polaris to figure out roughly where it is and what it’s pointing at. Then it’s necessary to do a one-star alignment. You need to pick a star from the app’s grid-style list, which the Benro Polaris will then attempt to line up with. It then presents a bullseye in the middle of the screen, with some digital joystick skills required to nudge the star into the center. There are 5x and 16x magnification options, but getting it perfectly aligned is tricky. In a basic sense, it’s not a problem because the Benro Polaris will slew automatically – and quite quickly – to any object in its (rather limited) database of stars and constellations (though Messier objects (opens in new tab) are in there, too, if you know to search for them). It puts the chosen object in the center of the field of view for photography to begin.
However, as well as requiring the user to be able to align it with one star, it’s surely not the most accurate way of aligning. Sure, your smartphone tells the app where it is on the planet and the initial compass alignment gives it the cardinal directions, but what the Benro Polaris really needs is intelligent plate-solving as featured on the some telescopes, such as the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8-inch Dobsonian (opens in new tab), and the best smart telescopes. It’s something of an oversight at this price. However, it’s still a huge advance from the manual polar scopes most star trackers use.
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
It’s also fair to say that the app lacks polish. It has plenty of features, but it’s not a patch on the best stargazing apps. It should be. It needs to be. After all, it’s literally the user’s only navigational and photography aid. It even comes with AR, but what you see can’t be zoomed in on, is difficult to search within, and generally seems second-rate compared to the excellent hardware provided.
One of the Benro Polaris’ most significant boasts is its accuracy. It promises control precision of up to 0.01˚ (36 arc seconds), meaning that longer exposures can be used without stars beginning to trail. We took several long exposures during our tests – from 30 seconds to three minutes – with several lenses. The Benro Polaris works best with relatively short exposures, particularly with anything over 200mm. However, it finds targets accurately and tracks them proficiently. You could easily take hundreds of 30-second exposures of deep-sky objects to stack – albeit within a wide field of view – and it’s more than accurate enough to use for wide-field night sky panoramas. Up to 60-second exposures are possible without trailing, but not much beyond.
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
However, whenever we went off-catalog and slewed to re-frame a shot (for example, to get a balanced composition of the Pleiades and nearby Mars) the resulting image was marked with weird lines. This happened repeatedly. Other slight annoyances include ineffective automatic focusing at night and an inability, thanks to its physical construction, to image anything at the zenith (its tilt is limited to 80º). That’s something of a faux pas given that astronomical objects are literally at their best for astrophotography when they appear immediately above the viewer at 90º (called culmination). The Benro Polaris is unique and impressive as a star tracker, but it’s certainly not the finished article.
Sample images
The Pleiades (M45) for 2 mins at 100mm, f4, ISO 100 (Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
The Pleiades (M45) and Mars for 60 seconds at 105mm, f7.1, ISO 200 (Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
The Pleiades (M45) and Mars for 30 seconds at 105 mm, f4.5, ISO 800 (Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
Verdict
(Image credit: Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)
The Benro Polaris Astro Edition is easily one of the best star tracker camera mounts for astrophotography available, but it’s also by far the most expensive. Its build quality is unrivaled among star trackers, but in use, it has its fair share of quirks.
Using a smartphone to align to the stars is groundbreaking – and something we hope catches on with other star-tracker brands – but its one-star alignment seems a little basic. We wonder if two or three-star alignment (which most computerized telescopes use) or plate-solving tech to automatically align (as featured on smart telescopes) would allow even longer tracked images.
Let’s hope the app keeps developing because the Benro Polaris has the potential to be a truly autonomous and easy-to-use star tracker – but it’s not quite there yet.
Tonight’s new moon may be invisible, but that doesn’t make it any less significant.
It’s not often we get excited about a new moon from a skywatching perspective, given that you can’t see anything from the vantage point of Earth. (New moons occur when the illuminated half of the moon is facing away from us, leaving us seeing nothing but darkness.) But tonight’s new moon is a particularly special one.
It’s the closest new moon to Earth since the year 1030. At 3:54 p.m. EST (2054 GMT), the moon will be exactly 221,561 miles (356,568 km) away from our planet, according to Timeanddate.com (opens in new tab), which sifted through data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to determine the distances of every Earth-moon distance for hundreds of years.
Related: What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2023
Because the moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular, but elliptical, its distance from Earth changes all the time. The next time the new moon will be this close will be on Jan. 20, 2368 — and that moon will actually be 6 miles (9 km) closer than this one. By comparison, the moon’s average distance is 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away.
Now if this moon were a full moon, we’d consider it a supermoon, which occurs when the moon is near perigee, or its closest point to Earth during its orbit, and therefore appears bigger and brighter in the sky. But since it’s a new moon, the skies will be totally dark. But the tides will still be impacted by this “invisible” supermoon — Earth will experience a king tide, or an especially high tide, sometime around this date.
But this moon is special for another reason; it marks the Lunar New Year, a major festival celebrated across Asia, particularly in China. This year is the year of the rabbit, per the Chinese zodiac, a 12-year cycle during which each year is represented by a different animal. All over Asia and in Asian communities around the world, friends and family will gather over good food and good laughs, with plenty of good luck to go around.
If you don’t have all the gear you need to see the night sky up close during the new moon, our guides on the best telescopes and best binoculars are a great place to begin. If you’re looking to take the best photos you can of the night sky, check out our guides on the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
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During the evening of Sunday (Jan. 22) the solar system planets Saturn and Venus will meet up in the night sky making a close approach. Luckily, skywatchers who don’t want to brave the bitter cold of January can watch the encounter from the comfort of their homes.
The Virtual Telescope Project will stream the close-approach and the arrangement, known as a “conjunction,” between Venus, the second planet from the sun, and Saturn, the solar system’s second-largest planet. The livestream will begin while the two planets will be separated by less than half a degree, which is less than the angular size of the full moon, and is equivalent to half the width of a finger at arm’s length.
The Virtual Telescope Project’s livestream of the conjunction of Venus and Saturn will begin at 11:00 am EST (1600 GMT) on Sunday (Jan. 22) and will be available to watch online for free courtesy of the project’s website (opens in new tab) or YouTube channel (opens in new tab).
Related: What time is the conjunction of Venus and Saturn on Sunday (Jan. 22)?
Both Saturn and Venus are visible to the naked eye in the night sky, but there is a massive difference between the brightness of the two. Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon and during the conjunction will be at magnitude -3.9. Saturn, famous for the rings which encircle it, will be at magnitude 0.7 during the conjunction. (Negative numbers indicate bright objects in the sky.)
That means Saturn will be 100 times fainter than Venus during the conjunction according to Virtual Telescope Project head and astrophysicist Gianluca Masi. Masi will be observing the conjunction between Venus and Saturn from Ceccano, Italy.
During the conjunction, the two planets will be close enough in the night sky to be resolved with a telescope. Skywatchers will also be able to observe the conjunction with binoculars or with the naked eye, though Saturn may be difficult to spot without assistance from an instrument.
Conditions for viewing the spectacle should be favorable, weather permitting, as the the moon will only be a 2% illuminated crescent the day following January’s new moon on Saturday (Jan. 21).
An illustration of the night sky on Jan. 22 showing the conjunction of Venus and Saturn. (Image credit: Starry Night Software)
According to In the Sky (opens in new tab), from New York City the conjunction between Venus and Saturn will become visible in the constellation of Capricorn at around 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT) at around 14 degrees over the horizon to the southwest. The planets will set around two hours after the sun at 6:48 p.m. EST (2348 GMT).
The conjunction of these planets marks the beginning of the evening apparition of Venus. According to Space.com’s Joe Rao, the evening apparition of Venus will see it literally soar high into the heavens by late spring during which time the already bright planet will more than double its brightness.
As Venus rises above the horizon, during this period Saturn will lower in the night sky each subsequent night, disappearing into the twilight as it does so. This is leading to Saturn’s solar conjunction on Feb. 16th, 2023.
If you’re hoping to observe the conjunction between Saturn and Venus for yourself, our guides for the best telescopes and best binoculars are a great place to start. If you’re looking to take some photos of the conjunction, see our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Note:If you snap the conjunction between Saturn and Venus, and would like to share it with Space.com’s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to [email protected].
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Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes Galaxy S23 Ultra camera details, the latest Galaxy S23 photos, Pixel 7’s YouTube problems, the Honor Magic 5 is coming, Red Magic 8 Pro review, Pixel Tablet preparations, and Google’s podcast plans.
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week (and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).
At The Heart Of The Ultra’s Image
Samsung has launched a new camera sensor in the ISOCELL HP2, which sports a massive 200-megapixel image sensor and a lot of smart tricks to improve performance – such as pixel-bing technology so the sensor can simulate different pixel sizes to match the lighting conditions. Unsurprisingly, the specs of the new sensor match the leaked specs of the Galaxy S23 Ultra:
“Samsung has already promised improved nighttime photography and astrophotography from its next-gen flagship, as revealed in a promo video accompanying the recent launch of pre-orders for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Now, it looks highly likely that the claimed ‘epic detail and color reproduction’ of the Isocell HP2 will be making its way to that smartphone too.”
(Forbes).
The Smooth Galaxy
The team at WinFuture has details on the upcoming Galaxy S23 handsets, which have come to light via smartphone dealers in Germany, including new promotional images that highlight eh smooth back of the handsets except for the main camera’s three lenses:
“. Samsung mainly “removes” the camera hump and refines a few details on the case so that the optics only protrude slightly from the back… Otherwise, you rely on a pleasing look, which runs in a similar form through all new smartphone series that Samsung is presenting this year, so it should also be used in the cheaper Galaxy A, E, F and M models. “
(via SamMobile).
The Google Pixel 7 Pro phone is displayed at its launch in New York on October 6, 2022. – Once a … [+] minor player in the smartphone business, Google confirmed its new ambition to penetrate the highly competitive market. (Photo by Thomas URBAIN / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS URBAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Pixel 7’s Latest Problem
Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro users are reporting problems with YouTube on the latest Google handsets. Existing full-screen video on YouTube or YouTube TV is causing handsets to randomly lock up; sometimes leaving controls active, other times requiring a reboot:
“This isn’t the first problem that Pixel 7 owners have faced since the device was launched, including networking issues that resulted in dropped calls, display problems including touch events being misreported and white lines appearing on the screen, face unlock not unlocking Google Pay, and media player controls not showing on the lock screen… No doubt, the new issue with YouTube will also be addressed promptly.”
(Forbes).
Get Ready For More Magic
It’s still to be announced (and let’s face it, Mobile World Congress is just around the corner), but we have another indication that Honor will be bringing the Magic 5 series to the public in the very near future.
“The HONOR Magic 5 series, model PGT-AN00, appeared on the network certification portal powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and features optical image stabilization and at least one telephoto lens with the possibility of supporting up to 100x zoom. The device is also rumoured to be released at the end of February.”
(via Reddit).
Red Magic 8 Pro Review
The latest gaming phone from Nubia is the Red Magic 8 pro. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and running the Redmagic OS and it’s own customized gaming launcher, the team at GSM Arena has reviewed the handset to see what’s new in the mobile gaming world in 2023:
“…gaming is the bread and butter of the Red Magic line, and the Red Magic 8 Pro excels at it like few others. Not only does it have the raw power to chew through even the heaviest modern titles, but nubia’s extra Game Space software layer has gotten better than ever. We found ourselves particularly impressed with how well the Red Magic 8 Pro handles gaming on an external monitor via a display connection “
(GSM Arena).
Preparing For The Tablet
Google has tweaked the UI of its Discovery app to better suit devices with larger screens, such as its upcoming Pixel Tablet. Of course, this has benefits for other Android tablets as well, so it’s a win for every manufacturer, even if Google gets there first:
“Instead of just two columns of articles, Google Discover now has a third that makes the feed go edge-to-edge. The fullscreen effect is particularly prominent to the left of your homescreen with a black background, while the Google logo and your profile avatar are moved to the top corners.”
(9to5Google).
And Finally…
What’s happened to Google’s grand adventure in podcasting? Links directly into the Google Podcasts app are no longer showing on search results; the one-click play experience for those staying inside Mountain View’s walls is no more.
“The Google Podcasts app has had no feature updates for the last eighteen months; the Google Podcasts Creators Program closed this month; and now with the removal of the product from Google Search, the business unit that owns the app, we asked if Google Podcasts is to close. The answer: “YouTube and Google Podcasts serve different needs. Both serve podcast listeners today and we are not changing this right now. We have nothing more to share at this time”.”
(Podnews).
Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course read the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!
Niklas Hauber has built an impressively-capable material scanner — after building a CNC router and a spectrometer, two tools he declared “absolutely necessary” for the project, along the way — in an effort to be able to more accurately represent real-world items in 3D rendering engines, including games.
“For the last one and a half years I’ve been developing my material scanner in my spare time. The goal of this scanner is to be able to calculate the visual properties of a material,” Hauber explains. “These properties then allow me to render images of the same material under different lighting conditions. So a typical application would be computer games for example.”
This home-brew material scanner aims to provide a high level of realism to 3D rendering projects. (: Niklas Hauber)
The key focus of Hauber’s work: the ability to put any material underneath the scanner and capture its albedo, a normal map, specularity, and how metallic or rough it is — using a bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BDRF) to turn real-world captures into representations of the material under any lighting conditions in a 3D rendering engine.
The scanner Hauber has created is a bit of a beast, featuring 63 white LEDs and eight programmable color LEDs with a 16-megapixel monochrome camera and a motorized linear polarizer. “This allows me to separate the specular and diffuse reflections,” Hauber explains. “For switching the LEDs on and off I’ve designed some simple PCBs which are basically just daisy chained shift registers connected to MOSFETs. The scanner is capable of taking 11 images per second, but this is mainly limited by my camera, which is an ASI 1600MM Pro that I normally use for astrophotography.”
Recent work on the project has resulted in the ability to calculate height maps, and create 3D models, from the captured 2D images. (: Niklas Hauber)
On the software side, Hauber has developed “pretty much all of the software for acquisition, solving, and visualizing” — coding primarily in C and C++, using NVIDIA’s CUDA to leverage general-purpose GPU (GPGPU) acceleration to speed up the solving process, and Microsoft’s DirectX for visualizing the results. Most recently, Hauber added the ability to calculate a height map from the scanner’s normal map — creating a 3D model from 2D image data.
More information on the scanner project is available on Hauber’s blog; design files and source code have not been made publicly available.
