Category: Technology

After weeks of teases and leaks, Google formally took the wraps off its next flagship smartphone, the Pixel 8 Pro. Revealed during the company’s Made by Google event on Wednesday, the handset adds a host of new camera and AI features, a brighter OLED display, an improved Tensor G3 chip, seven years of software updates and, oddly, a built-in temperature sensor. It costs $100 more than its predecessor, however. For more on how all of this feels in practice, you can check out some early hands-on impressions from Engadget’s Deputy Reviews Editor, Cherlynn Low.

Here, though, we’ve broken down how the Pixel 8 Pro compares on paper to two other large, pricey and well-known flagships, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra. As always, raw specs won’t tell the whole story, but if you’re curious about how Google’s latest and greatest stacks up, here’s a quick overview. If you’re more interested in the smaller Pixel 8, meanwhile, we have a similar breakdown for that device too.

Google Pixel 8 Pro

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Pricing (MSRP)

From $999

From $1,199

From $1,200

Dimensions

6.4 x 3.0 x 0.3 inches

6.29 x 3.02 x 0.32 inches

6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 inches

Weight

7.5 ounces

7.81 ounces

8.25 ounces

Screen size

6.7 inches

6.7 inches

6.8 inches

Screen resolution

1,344 x 2,992

489 ppi

1,290 x 2,796

460 ppi

1,440 x 3,088

500 ppi

Screen type

LTPO OLED

Up to 120Hz (1-120Hz)

Up to 2,400 nits brightness

Gorilla Glass Victus 2

LTPO OLED

Up to 120Hz (1-120Hz)

Up to 2,000 nits brightness

Ceramic Shield

AMOLED

Up to 120Hz (1-120Hz)

Up to 1,750 nits brightness

Gorilla Glass Victus 2

SoC

Google Tensor G3

Apple A17 Pro

Hexa-core CPU (up to 3.78GHz)

6-core Apple GPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy

Octa-core CPU (up to 3.36GHz)

Adreno 740 GPU

RAM

12GB

8GB

8GB / 12GB

Battery

4,950mAh

“Beyond 24 hours”

“Up to 29 hours video playback”

5,000mAh

“Up to 26 hours of video playback”

Charging

USB Type-C 3.2

Up to 30W wired

Up to 23W wireless with Google Pixel Stand (2nd gen)

Qi wireless charging up to 12W

Reverse wireless charging

USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2)

“Up to 50 percent charge in around 30 minutes”

MagSafe wireless charging up to 15W

Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W

Reverse wired charging

USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1)

Up to 45W wired

Qi/WPC wireless charging up to 15W

Reverse wireless charging

Storage

128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB

256GB / 512GB / 1TB

256GB / 512GB / 1TB

Rear camera

Main: 50 MP, f/1.68

Ultrawide: 48 MP, f/1.95, 125.5 degree FOV

Telephoto: 48 MP, f/2.8, 5x optical zoom

Main: 48 MP, f/1.78

Ultrawide: 12 MP, f/2.2, 120 degree FOV

Telephoto: 12 MP, f/2.8, 5x optical zoom

Main: 200 MP, f/1.7

Ultrawide: 12 MP, f/2.2, 120 degree FOV

Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 3x optical zoom

Telephoto: 10 MP, f/4.9, 10x optical zoom

Front camera

10.5 MP, f/2.2

12 MP, f/1.9

12 MP, f/2.2

Video capture

Rear: 4K at 24/30/60 fps, 1080p at 24/30/60/120/240 fps

Front: 4K at 24/30/60 fps, 1080p at 30/60fps

Rear: 4K at 24/25/30/60 fps, 1080p at 25/30/60/120/240 fps

Front: 4K at 24/25/30/60 fps, 1080p at 25/30/60/120 fps

Rear: 8K at 24/30 fps, 4K at 30/60 fps, 1080p at 30/60/240/960 fps

Front: 4K at 30/60 fps, 1080p at 30 fps

Water and dust resistance

IP68

IP68

IP68

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 7

Wi-Fi 6E

Wi-Fi 6E

Bluetooth

v5.3

v5.3

v5.3

NFC

Yes

Yes

Yes

OS

Android 14

“Seven years of OS, security and Feature Drop updates”

iOS 17

Android 13, One UI 5.1

Four generations of OS updates, five years of security updates

Finishes

Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay

Polished aluminum frame

Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, Black Titanium

Titanium frame

Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, Graphite, Cream, Lime, Sky Blue, Red

Armor aluminum frame (advertised)

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-8-pro-vs-the-competition-from-tensor-to-temperature-sensor-151016002.html?src=rss 

Google officially announced the Pixel 2 on Wednesday during its ‘Made by Google Event.’ Perhaps, the most exciting change is that the wearable will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip and use a Cortex M33 co-processor. That new coprocessor specifically should be able to handle less demanding tasks, like driving the always on display (AOD) more efficiently. The Pixel 2 can hold more charge at 306 mAh, up from the first Pixel watch’s 294 mAh charge capacity. This slight bump in battery capacity, combined with more efficient processors should extend the time between charges. While the official Pixel Watch 2 specs list the battery life at 24 hours, the same as the original Pixel Watch, that is with the AOD enabled.

Another welcome change? Improved durability. Aside from the Gorilla Glass crystal encasing on the face, the watch has an IP68 rating now, meaning it can survive dust and being dunked in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. The new Pixel’s casing is also completely made of recycled aluminum, making the wearable slightly lighter. But, in tandem with the thinner domed glass cover on the face, the new wearable boasts a sleeker design.

In the landscape of smartwatches that have a wealth of tracking capabilities, the Pixel 2 is running up against Apple’s latest Watch Series 9 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. While specs aren’t the only way to discern which watch is right for you, it helps to know how they compare on things like battery life and screen size. So, don’t base your purchasing decision purely on the table below, but here’s how the Google Pixel 2’s hardware stacks up.

Google Pixel 2

Apple Watch Series 9

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

Pricing (MSRP)

$349 for Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

$399 for 4G LTE model

41mm Aluminum: $399
45mm Aluminum: $429
41mm Stainless steel: $699
45mm Stainless steel: $749

40mm: $299.99
44mm: $329.99

Dimensions

41mm: 12.3mm height

41mm: 1.61 x 1.38 x 0.42 inches
45mm: 1.77 x 1.50 x 0.42 inches

40mm: 1.53 x 1.59 x 0.35 inches
44mm: 1.69 x 1.75 x 0.35 inches

Weight (approx.)

41mm: 1.09 ounces (without the band)

41mm Aluminum: 1.13 ounces
45mm Aluminum: 1.37 ounces
41mm Stainless steel: 1.49 ounces
45mm Stainless steel: 1.82 ounces

40mm: 1.02 ounces
44mm: 1.16 ounces

Case material

Aluminum

Aluminum or Stainless steel

Aluminum (Stainless steel on Galaxy Watch 6 Classic)

Display Size

41mm: 1.2 inches

41mm: 1.69 inches
45mm: 1.9 inches

40mm: 1.31 inches
44mm: 1.47 inches

Display resolution / pixel density

320 ppi

41mm: 430 x 352, 326 ppi
45mm: 484 x 396, 326 ppi

40mm: 432 x 432, 330 ppi
44mm: 480 x 480, 327 ppi

Display Type

AMOLED display with DCI-P3 color
Custom 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5

LTPO OLED
Aluminum: Ion-X glass
Stainless steel: Sapphire crystal glass

Super AMOLED
Sapphire crystal glass

Display brightness

Up to 1,000 nits

Up to 2,000 nits

Up to 2,000 nits

Chipset

Qualcomm SW5100
Cortex M33 co-processor

Apple S9 (dual-core)

Exynos W930 (dual-core, 5 nm)

Storage

32 GB eMMC flash72 GB SDRAM

64GB

16GB

Battery life (claimed)

24 hours with always-on display
306 mAh

Up to 18 hours / up to 36 hours in Low Power Mode

Up to 40 hours with always-on display (AOD) off / up to 30 hours with AOD on
40mm: 300mAh
44mm: 425mAh

Wireless charging

No

Yes, via proprietary standard

Yes, via WPC-based chargers
10W

Water resistance

IP68, 5 ATM

Up to 50 meters, IP6X dust resistance

IP68, 5 ATM

GPS

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo

Health features

Multi-path heart rate sensor, red and infrared sensors for oxygen saturation (SpO2), ECG app, skin conductance (cEDA) for stress tracking, skin temperature sensor, sleep tracking, irregular heart rhythm notifications

Optical heart rate sensor, blood oxygen measurements, temperature sensor, ECG app, sleep tracking, irregular heart rhythm notifications

Optical heart rate sensor, blood oxygen measurements, temperature sensor, ECG app, sleep tracking, irregular heart rhythm notifications, bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n

802.11 b/g/n

802.11 a/b/g/n

Bluetooth

v5.0

v5.3

v5.3

NFC

Yes

Yes

Yes

OS

Wear OS 4

watchOS 10

Wear OS 4, One UI 5 Watch

Case colors

Matte Black, Polished Silver, Champagne Gold

Aluminum: Pink, Starlight, Midnight, Silver, Product Red
Stainless steel: Gold, Silver, Graphite

Graphite, Gold

Other features

Always-on display, 4G LTE, altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, fall detection, emergency SOS, 6 months of Fitbit Premium included

Always-on display, ultra-wideband chip, fall detection, crash detection, emergency SOS, optional 4G LTE (standard with stainless steel model), altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope

Always-on display, fall detection, emergency SOS, optional 4G LTE, altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-pixel-watch-2-versus-the-competition-a-more-robust-wearable-152810881.html?src=rss 

Google’s hardware event has been chock full of information on new devices, like the Pixel 8 smartphone, but camera software has also gotten some TLC. The company announced a ton of Pixel 8 features exclusive for shutterbugs and video editors.

The new Best Take feature solves the issue of, uh, one person looking really gross in group photos. When enabled, the software takes a series of photos in quick succession and you can actually mix and match faces to create the perfect group shot, sort of a face-based riff on the pre-existing Magic Editor tech. Grab a face from one photo and slap it on the next. If you have a friend who truly relishes ruining group shots, they likely won’t be able to.

Speaking of Magic Editor, it’s getting a boost thanks to the power of generative AI. The new version now allows you to circle objects to reposition them in the shot and pinch to resize them. There are also a number of background presets that are accessible via a single tap. This technology’s advancing quickly and it won’t be long before you have absolute and total control over every aspect of your photos after the fact. 

The Guided Frame feature has been enhanced and now operates via both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras. This tool is great for capturing centered shots of important subjects, like faces, pets, dinners and documents. It works rather simply, with the phone emitting a series of vibrations to let you know when an object is perfectly in frame, even if you aren’t looking at the display. 

Magic Eraser is dipping its toes into the world of video. The new Audio Magic Eraser helps you delete unwanted sounds from videos. It looks to work as quickly and simply as its image-based cousin, splitting a video’s audio track into layers and allowing you to delete individual sounds. For instance, if there’s an ambulance blaring in the background at your kid’s birthday party, just get rid of that ambulance. We were impressed by this feature, though we noted that it didn’t entirely eliminate unwanted audio artifacts, instead significantly reducing them in volume.

Finally, there’s a new feature called Video Boost that upscales footage using HDR technology. Basically, it sends the entire footage to Google’s servers where it’s split into individual frames. Each frame gets the HDR treatment before being recombined into a video and sent back to your phone. This won’t be available until a software update launches in December.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-8-gets-more-nifty-ai-powered-editing-tools-for-photo-and-video-153528797.html?src=rss 

A Cruise autonomous vehicle (AV) was reportedly involved in a horrific accident in San Francisco on Monday evening. A pedestrian crossing a street was hit by a car, which sped off. However, the hit-and-run hurled her in front of a Cruise driverless taxi, which stopped on top of her leg as she screamed in pain. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the woman was still in critical condition at 9:30AM ET on Tuesday.

The pedestrian was reportedly walking in a crosswalk at Market and Fifth in San Francisco when she was hit by a green car, which fled the scene. A witness allegedly told investigators that he watched the first car strike the woman, causing her to roll off its side and into the path of the Cruise car. As the autonomous taxi proceeded through the green light, it ran over her and came to a complete stop, pinning her leg under its rear axle and tire. Cruise says there weren’t any passengers in the AV, which was in autonomous mode.

The SF Chronicle says that it viewed a video recording of the incident provided by Cruise to confirm the sequence of events. The company offered to make the video available to Engadget, but we declined.

A bicycle delivery person reportedly tried to reassure the woman that an ambulance was coming and that it would be okay. “She was just screaming,” the cyclist reportedly told the SF Chronicle. City firefighters arrived and used the jaws of life to lift the car off the woman, who was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with “multiple traumatic injuries,” according to fire captain Justin Schorr. He said the car appeared programmed to stop and turn on its hazard lights after sensing an obstruction (in this case, a human being) beneath it.

“At approximately 9:30 pm on October 2, a human-driven vehicle struck a pedestrian while traveling in the lane immediately to the left of a Cruise AV,” Cruise communications manager Hannah Lindow wrote in a statement to Engadget. “The initial impact was severe and launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV. The AV then braked aggressively to minimize the impact. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, and at the request of the police the AV was kept in place. Our heartfelt concern and focus is the wellbeing of the person who was injured and we are actively working with police to help identify the responsible driver.”

The nightmarish incident occurred as driverless taxis have expanded their reach in the city. Cruise and Waymo got approval from California regulators this year to operate and charge fares for fully autonomous cars in San Francisco at any time of the day. However, the state’s DMV asked the company in August to reduce its fleet of driverless taxis by half, pending an investigation into crashes involving the AVs. Cruise agreed to operate no more than 50 autonomous taxis during the day and no more than 150 of them at night.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-pedestrian-was-pinned-under-a-cruise-robotaxi-after-another-cars-hit-and-run-180404816.html?src=rss 

Meta’s Oversight Board is set to take on a new high-profile case ahead of next year’s presidential election. The board said it planned to announce a case involving a user appeal related to an “altered” video of President Joe Biden. The board didn’t disclose specifics of the case, which it said would be announced formally “in the coming days,” but suggested it will touch on policies that could have far-reaching implications for Meta.

“In the coming days the Oversight Board will announce a new case regarding a user-appeal to remove an altered video of President Joe Biden on Facebook,” the Oversight Board said in a statement. “This case will examine issues related to manipulated media on Meta’s platforms and the company’s policies on misinformation, especially around elections.”

While neither Meta or the Oversight Board has shared details about the video in question, the case could further shape the social network’s policies around AI-generated or otherwise manipulated media. Even before the rise of generative AI tools that make it easier than ever to create fake videos of public figures, Meta has taken heat over its response to suggestively edited videos of politicians. In 2019, the company declined to remove an edited clip that falsely claimed then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was “drunk.”

The incident prompted the company’s current policy that bars AI-generated deepfakes, but allows some other types of edited videos to remain up. Over the last year, fact checkers have regularly debunked deceptively-edited videos of Joe Biden that often spread widely on Facebook and Instagram.

It’s not the first time the Oversight Board has weighed in on a case involving a head of state, The board previously got involved in Meta’s suspension of Donald Trump, and recently recommended Meta suspend the former prime minister of Cambodia (Meta ultimately declined to do so). When the Oversight Board agrees to a case, Meta is only required to implement the board’s decision for the specific Facebook or Instagram post in question. The board also makes a number of policy suggestions, which Meta is free to ignore, though it must provide written responses.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-oversight-board-will-weigh-in-on-altered-facebook-video-of-joe-biden-181008196.html?src=rss 

Another day, another streaming service price hike. Those who sign up for the ad-free Discovery+ plan starting today will now pay $9 per month, up from $7. The ad-supported plan isn’t changing in the US, though, as it will still cost $5.

There’s a similar price hike in Canada, as the ad-free plan is going up from $7 CAD to $9 CAD. Those north of the border will need to pay extra for the ad-lite plan too — that’s increasing from $5 to $6 per month.

Existing subscribers will still pay their existing rate for another month. The price increase will be applied to their account on their next billing cycle on or after November 2.

It’s the first time that Discovery+ has increased prices on monthly plans in the US and Canada since the service debuted in the countries in January 2021. The price hike “will allow us to continue to provide can’t miss-stories in the food, home, relationships, true crime, paranormal genres — plus so much more,” Discovery+ said in a press release and an email to users.

Along with generating more revenue from subscribers, Warner Bros Discovery may be using the price increase to push customers to switch to a Max subscription instead. Max includes all of the Discovery+ content and much more. It’s a pricier affair, though, with the base ad-supported plan costing $10 per month.

We’ve seen many streaming services increase prices in recent months, including various music services. The Disney+ premium and Hulu ad-free plans will become significantly more expensive next week. Netflix, meanwhile, looks set to increase prices again after the actors’ strike ends, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-discovery-ad-free-plan-now-costs-an-extra-2-per-month-155507156.html?src=rss 

Back in my day (puts on old man glasses) digital amp modelers were a bunch of hooey. They sounded like mold groaning. Things have come a long way and in 2023 you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between a digital recreation and the real thing. Fender’s new Tone Master Pro workstation continues this relatively recent tradition, allowing access to over 100 effects and amp models right out of the box.

The Tone Master Pro is a standalone device that connects to your guitar to process incoming audio. Once you dial in a cool sound by combining amp models, impulse responses and effects, send it to your favorite amp, DAW, loudspeaker or just about anywhere else. The 8-core processor ensures a latency-free experience and seamless transitions between presets. The CPU also lets you load up large multi-amp and effects signal chains to go beyond classic retro sounds to make something unique.

Fender says the “tone, feel, responsiveness and character” of each available amp model will be “virtually indistinguishable” from the real thing, and that’s before making wacky combinations or throwing on layers of effects. Additionally, Fender included more than 6,000 custom-created impulse responses that recreate the tone of specific cabinet and microphone combinations.

There’s more to come on this front, as the device will support impulse responses from third-parties. This includes other companies, sure, but also garden variety users. The associated Mac/PC app lets you browse from a near-endless collection of IRs and presets from other players and Fender-approved artists.

There are four effects loops for integrating pedals from your own collection, instrument inputs and XLR inputs, making this a versatile unit. It also has plenty of specific features for playing live. There’s a 7” color touchscreen that’s bright and easy to read, a 60 second stereo looper and a brand-new song and setlist mode that lets you attach different presets to each track you’re set to play.

Fender promises regular firmware updates via USB. These updates will provide bug fixes, new amps, new effects and other goodies. The first update hits in approximately 90 days and the second one releases in around six months. The Tone Master Pro is available now with one major caveat. It costs $1,700. On the plus side, that’s only $17 per amp model and effect!

This isn’t the company’s first foray into digital amp modeling. The Tone Master Pro is just the latest release in the Tone Master series, though the previous entries are actual amp cabinets with the addition of digital amp modeling. Fender’s also toyed with the idea via its entry-level Mustang GT amplifiers and the USB-esque effects stick Mustang Micro.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fenders-tone-master-pro-digital-workstation-emulates-over-100-effects-and-amps-161413163.html?src=rss 

The FCC hit Dish Network with a $150,000 fine for failing to properly dispose of a defunct satellite after its mission ended. It’s the first such penalty the agency has enforced as it attempts to crack down on the growing problem of space junk in low Earth orbit (LEO). Decommissioned satellites and other objects pose a collision risk for other instruments operating in these lower altitudes. In LEO, debris travels at thousands of miles per hour, meaning even a millimeter-sized scrap can pose a serious threat.

While Dish and the FCC had an agreed-upon deorbit plan for the company’s EchoStar-7 satellite, which launched in 2002 and was scheduled to be retired in May 2022, it started running out of fuel earlier than expected. Dish was supposed to maneuver the satellite into the designated graveyard orbit about 186 miles above where it had operated. But, EchoStar-7 only made it about 76 miles up. The company realized in February 2022 that its propellant was too low to carry out the plan, and the satellite was abandoned there.

The FCC is calling the penalty a “breakthrough settlement” after Dish admitted fault and agreed to pay a fine. At $150,000, the fine is merely a slap on the wrist, but it could serve as a warning as the number of commercial satellites in LEO continues to rise rapidly. There’s already close to 10,000 tons of junk orbiting Earth as of last year, and as companies like SpaceX vie to pump thousands more satellites into space, it’s only getting more cluttered by the day.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-has-begun-fining-companies-over-their-dead-satellites-153516781.html?src=rss