Apple Reveals Its Design Philosophy Behind the iPhone Camera

Since the Pro Max marks the first time in a while that Apple changed the size of its camera sensor, PetaPixel spoke to two Apple executives who outlined the company's vision and design philosophy behind camera development.

In an interview with Apple's Product Line Manager, iPhone Francesca Sweet and Vice President, Camera Software Engineering Jon McCormack, both made clear that the company thinks of camera development holistically: it's not just the sensor and lenses, but also everything from Apple's A14 Bionic chip, to the image signal processing, to the software behind its computational photography.

iPhone Camera Design Philosphy

Apple says that it's main goal for smartphone photography is based around the idea of letting folks live their lives, and capture photos of that life without being distracted by the technology.

"As photographers, we tend to have to think a lot about things like ISO, subject motion, et cetera," McCormack said "And Apple wants to take that away to allow people to stay in the moment, take a great photo, and get back to what they're doing."

He explained that while more serious photographers want to take a photo and then go through a process in editing to make it their own, Apple is doing what it can to compress that process down into the single action of capturing a frame, all with the goal of removing the distractions that could possibly take a person out of the moment.

"We replicate as much as we can to what the photographer will do in post," McCormack continued. "There are two sides to taking a photo: the exposure, and how you develop it afterwards. We use a lot of computational photography in exposure, but more and more in post and doing that automatically for you. The goal of this is to make photographs that look more true to life, to replicate what it was like to actually be there."

McCormack says that Apple achieves this by using machine learning to break down a scene into more easily understood pieces.

"The background, foreground, eyes, lips, hair, skin, clothing, skies. We process all these independently like you would in Lightroom with a bunch of local adjustments," he explained. "We adjust everything from exposure, contrast, and saturation, and combine them all together."

Speaking specifically about Apple's Smart HDR technology, McCormack explained how we already see the benefits of this kind of computational photography.

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Jeddah Travel Guide and Tourist Attractions

Jeddah - Travel Guide

Jeddah is located on the shoreline of Red Sea and is one of the largest cities in Saudi Arabia. The main gateway to holy Mecca, Jeddah is the major urban center and the commercial capital of the country. As a result of settling the city on the banks of Red Sea, it hosts many luxurious beaches. Jeddah affords outstanding appearance of coastal splendor and ancient Arabian architecture.

Jeddah offer numerous attractions which are unique in their way. Take a morning walk on the fabulous Corniche, a seaside promenade. Wander around the shopping area of Balad which provides a very good shopping experience. The rich cultural heritage of Islam is displayed in the form of exhibitions and programs in the ancient Biet Nassif.

King Fahad Water Spring

Capture the fabulous images of King Fahad Water Spring which is the famous landmark of the city. It is listed as the highest water fountains on the globe. Notice the splendid construction of the Floating Mosque as it is positioned in the middle of the sea. Souk Al-Alawi is the most extensive and traditional souk in the entire Kingdom.

Also read: Delhi Travel Guide and Tourist Attractions

Green Island - Jeddah

Take a trip to the magnificent Green Island and experience the water world of Jeddah. Ride on a camel and go for a safari over the desert of Jeddah. Free your hands on scuba diving as Jeddah hosts some good places for scuba diving. Roam around the markets in Balad town and observe the traditional handicrafts in Shallaby Museum.

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Turkey earthquake: Videos Capture Horrific Turkey Quake

Images on social media showed water rushing through the streets of one of the towns near Izmir from an apparent sea surge.

At least 26 people were killed and several injured on Friday when a powerful earthquake struck the Turkey's western coast and parts of Greece.

The scale of the destruction captured on camera showed entire building blocks being reduced to rubble, water gushing through the streets in coastal towns after a Tsunami alert, and people running out of buildings in sheer panic. 

Much of the damage occurred in and around Turkey's Aegean resort city of Izmir, which has three million residents and is filled with high-rise apartment blocks.

Aegean Sea earthquake

People on social media expressed shock and prayed for Turkey.

May Allah help Turkey 🤲🏻 #PrayForTurkey pic.twitter.com/WRvQwPuU6V

— Official_HMPI (@Official_HMPI) October 31, 2020

In one such video that went viral on social media, CCTV footage from inside a restaurant's kitchen showed staff members cowering under tables in fear as the earthquake measuring 7.0 magnittude violently shook the building.  

In another video that also went viral, water from an apparent sea surge flooded the streets of one of the towns near Izmir. And aerial footage showed large piles of debris where building once stood.

Thick white plumes of smoke towered over various parts of the city where large buildings had collapsed. Rescuers, helped by residents and sniffer dogs, used chainsaws to try and force their way through the rubble of one destroyed seven-floor building. 

My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this terrible #Earthquake in Turkey and Greece. 🇹🇷 🇬🇷

Yet another tragedy during these difficult times. Compassion, humanity and hope, must drive us forward at this time.

pic.twitter.com/AzTzdpOWVE

— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 30, 2020

Some of the world's strongest earthquakes have been registered along a fault line that runs across Turkey to Greece.

In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey's northwest, killing more than 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul.

In Greece, the last deadly quake killed two people on the island of Kos, near Samos, in July 2017. 

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How to Speed Up Broadband Internet Wi-Fi Connection with Simple Tricks

Simple tricks with the Wi-Fi router of broadband internet can speedup your downloading process in mobile or gaming devices.

At some point of time every one of us face speed issues with our Wi-Fi or broadband internet connection, which kills lot of time while browsing or downloading any content from the internet. We get frustrated with the internet connection that we have. With the slow internet we can't do a lot of things without a good speed connection such as online gaming, watching online movies, streaming full HD videos, and more.

High-speed Internet Plan but Low Speed Experience

Even though we subscribed to a high-speed internet plan and experiencing the unexpected low speed after connecting Wi-Fi router of good company, then there are some simple tricks you can do yourself easily which can improve your Wi-Fi speed in no time.  

Try below Tricks to Improve Broadband Internet Connection

Trick 1:

First thing’s first, if you have an old router, then please upgrade it to a new one. Modern generation routers provide easy configurations and more data throughput. Once that is done, check the direction of the antenna in the router. Ensure that the antenna of the Wi-Fi router is parallel to the antenna in your gaming device. Even keeping one antenna horizontal and the other one vertical can work well for your gaming, video, or downloading experience.

Trick 2:

Another thing which you must do is evaluate the strength of the Wi-Fi network. There are multiple apps present in both the Android Play Store and Apple App Store which can do this for you. It will help you identify the dead zones in your house where Wi-Fi connectivity is not as impressive as on other parts.

Trick 3:

If there are multiple devices connected to the same Wi-Fi router, then it only makes sense that you disconnect some of the devices from the network during heavy streaming or online gaming purposes.

Trick 4:

On rare occasions, there is also interference with the Wi-Fi network. See if your Wi-Fi is placed correctly. If not, then the performance of the network is bound to be bad. So keep your Wi-Fi in a place where you don’t have to worry about its network being interfered with.

Trick 5:

If it has been time your Wi-Fi was not restarted and internet is slow, one of the best ways to fix Wi-Fi is to simply restart it. It works well for a lot of users. Your network needs to be refreshed from time to time. Thus restarting the router becomes necessary sometimes when your Wi-Fi connection is acting strange.

Trick 6:

The last thing that you can do is connect to the right channel. The new generation routers give users the option to connect with multiple channels. Make sure the one you are connected to is the right one depending on the kind of distance you have from your router. Generally, the 5 GHz channel works better when you are close to the router and the 2.4 GHz channel works better when you are a little away.

These are some the tricks which you can easily set up at home in a DIY (Do it Yourself) way. Please leave a comment below if you know some more ways to do it, so that it will be helpful for others.

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Google Pay Taken Down from Apple App Store Temporarily

Google Pay, one of the popular payments app, is currently unavailable on the Apple App Store. The app can't be seen in App Store when we search for Google Pay, instead, the search results shows competing apps like PhonePe and Paytm etc.

Payment failures can be observed for some users and can not be downloaded from App Store now until further update from Google.

According to Google, the app, previously known as Google Tez, has been taken down temporarily to fix an issue. An update will be issued soon with a fix.

If you need any support from Google Pay, follow these steps:

• Tap on your profile photo on the top right.
• Now tap on the Help & feedback option.
• Scroll down and tap on "Fix problems with a transaction" and follow the instructions on the screen.

"Meanwhile, affected users can reach out to Google Pay support through the app for help. We apologise for the inconvenience to our users. The Google Pay iOS app will be briefly unavailable on the App Store; users will be able to see the new app update reappear shortly." the statement further added.

Not the first time that Google Pay has become unavailable

This is not the first time that the Google Pay app has become unavailable for download.

Earlier in August, the Google Pay app vanished from the Play Store. A fix was issued in a few hours, allowing users to download the app again. Source

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PUBG Corp hiring in India: Is PUBG Mobile getting unbanned?

PUBG Corporation has floated a job posting in India for its India operations. Does that mean PUBG Mobile is coming back?

It has been long since the Indian government banned PUBG Mobile’s distribution in India. Loyal players have since then longed to see it back on the Play Store with the latest updates. While there’s no development on that front, PUBG Corp is currently hiring new people for its India office. A LinkedIn job posting suggests that the publisher is looking for a Corporate Development Division Manager.

Owner Krafton is hiring personnel for its Delhi office in, seeking the person to jointly develop overall M&A and investment strategy for the gaming and related sectors (tech, media, entertainment, and etc.) mainly with the India market context. The person should also support the setup process for PUBG India with guidance from Krafton Inc. The job posting does not mention any relation to the mobile game.

Is PUBG Mobile coming back then?

As some websites would like you to believe, the job listing does not mention PUBG Mobile anywhere. Hence, there’s no guarantee of this being a sign of things returning to the normal for mobile players. PUBG Corporation still continues to support the PC version of the game in India. You can either play PUBG on Steam, PS4 and Xbox, or get the free version of the game online, called PUBG Lite.

However, PUBG Corporation has taken away the licence to distribute PUBG Mobile from Tencent Games. The move came after the Indian government banned 119 apps, including both the mobile games. A few weeks ago, there were reports of Reliance getting talks with PUBG Corporation to distribute the game in India. However, there’s no update on that front.

That said, if you still want to enjoy the latest of PUBG Mobile, there’s a way to do that. While the game has gone from the Play Store and App Store, players on Android have a way to claim Chicken Dinners. Players can head over to the official website and download the latest APK file. Once installed manually, the game will automatically pull the updates from the servers.

Just before the ban in India, PUBG Mobile got to see the massive Erangel 2.0 update. The Erangel 2.0 update was flagged as a new era for the game. Players downloading the update experienced improved graphics quality with better textures than before. source: BGR

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Mass Production of Apple Cable and Connectors in India Soon

Taiwan-based cable and connector maker, Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., will start mass production for Apple Inc. later this year from its new plant in India, according to a person familiar with the matter, the latest sign of the U.S. company’s increasing presence in the South Asian country.

Apple’s major assembly partners, Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, Pegatron Corp. and Wistron Corp., have all set up either a subsidiary or an iPhone assembly plant in India.

India is trying to attract manufacturing for Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and other major smartphone brands with an incentive program, as political tensions between the U.S. and China escalate. The global coronavirus pandemic has added pressure on companies to review supply chains.

Cheng Uei said in a statement on Friday that a company engineer was caught on internal surveillance video this month damaging automation equipment at the new Indian plant near Chennai. The suspect is a Chinese national, and the incident was reported to local police and Chinese authorities, it said. –Bloomberg

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Samsung Galaxy J5, Galaxy J7 2016 Edition Smartphones to be Launched in India Today

Samsung is most likely to launch its two new smartphones at an event today – Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 2016 editions – in the Indian market.

Last year, Samsung launched the 2015 models of the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 in India at Rs 11,999 and Rs 14,999 respectively. Going by the prices for 2016 models revealed for the China market, J5 is priced at KRW 290,000 (approximately Rs 17,000), while the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) has been priced at KRW 363,000 (approximately Rs 21,000).

Both smartphones pack in some interesting hardware and also a new design that features a metal frame. The bigger Galaxy J7 (2016) packs in a 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display sporting a pixel density of 402ppi. The same is powered by an octa-core processor (make not specified in the listing) and clocked at 1.6GHz with 3GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The smartphone supports microSD cards of up to 128GB in capacity.

Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 Specifications

The Galaxy J7 (2016) packs a larger 5.5-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, a faster 1.6 Ghz Quad Core SoC, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera with LED flash, 16GB of on-board storage, a larger 3,300 mAh battery, and will ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It, too, will include NFC for mobile transactions using Samsung Pay.

There is a 13MP camera on the back and a 5MP front-facing camera. Both cameras feature an f/1.9 aperture lens and an LED flash. Coming to connectivity, we get 4G LTE bands, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth V4.1. The smartphone weighs in at 170 grams and packs in a 3300mAh battery.

Coming to the smaller Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016), it sports a 5.2-inch HD Super AMOLED display and comes powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. There is a 13MP camera on the back and a 5MP camera up front. The phone weighs 159 grams and packs in a 3,100 mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 Specifications

The Galaxy J5 (2016) packs a 5.2-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, a 1.2 Ghz Quad Core SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera with LED flash, a 3,100 mAh battery, and will ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It also includes NFC for support with Samsung Pay.

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Delhi Travel Guide and Tourist Attractions

Delhi is the capital of the world’s largest democratic country India. A rich cultural history blends with the modern metropolitan activities. After the decenniums since the invention of New Delhi as the capital of India for British Colonial, the city has abided many changes.

Delhi Travel Guide

Delhi is one of the ancient existing places of the world, and it is positioned over the west bank of river Yamuna. It was the city of dignified kings with enlightening culture.

Legendary Red Fort exists as an effective memorial of the mighty Mughals, who ruled India. Framed with red sandstones, Red Fort evidences the splendid architecture of Mughals. Wander around the old city downtown Delhi to cover the historic places of the city.

Jama Masjid is also a famous religious place for Islamic people constructed by the Mughals in the city. Roam around the Chandni Chowk , a main street of the old city and one of the busiest markets in the country. Humayun Tomb and Lodi Gardens are also worth visiting.

Also read: Kolkata Travel Guide and Attractions

Climb up of Qutub Minar, the tallest brick spire in the world to capture the panoramic views of the city from the top of the minaret. Circulate around the city to visit the famous attractions like Gandhi Smriti, India gate, Garden of Five Senses, Bahai Temple, Connaught Place, Akshardham and National Museum.

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Find Time for Goals with Google Calendar

Whether it’s reading more books, learning a new language or working out regularly, achieving your goals can be really hard. One day it's "I got called into a last-minute meeting." The next day it's "I have a friend in town." And before you know it, your goals are delayed or forgotten. In fact, with all the things you need to do in a given week, it’s probably harder than ever to find the time—even when your goal really matters to you.

That’s why starting today, we’re introducing Goals in Google Calendar. Just add a personal goal—like “run 3 times a week”—and Calendar will help you find the time and stick to it.

Goals are easy to set up

To set a goal (like “Work out more”), simply answer a few questions (like “How often?” and “Best time?”), and you’re all set. From there Calendar will look at your schedule and find the best windows to pencil in time for that goal.

Goals adjust to your busy life

Goals aren't easy—especially when the unexpected comes up—but Calendar can help you adjust in a number of important ways. For example, Calendar will automatically reschedule if you add another event that's a direct conflict with a goal.

You can also defer a goal at any time, and Calendar will make time for it later.

Finally, Calendar actually gets better at scheduling the more you use it—just defer, edit or complete your goals like normal, and Calendar will choose even better times in the future.

Calendars should help you make the most of your time—not just be tools to track events. So as Google Calendar turns 10 today (🎉), we're excited to invest in more updates like Goals, and to help you find time for everything that matters—from your daily must-dos, to exercising more, to just a little "me time."

To get started, download the Google Calendar app for Android or iPhone, and set your first goal.

Also read: Google Flight Search Service Usage

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