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Google Maps Is Adding a 3D 'Immersive View' That's Like Flying a Drone From Afar
Google Maps Is Adding a 3D 'Immersive View' That's Like Flying a Drone From Afar
At the Google I/O 2022 keynote, CEO Sundar Pichai debuted a new feature coming to Google Maps that gives users a drone-level aerial view of cities, offering a helpful middle ground between satellite and street views.
Immersive View, as the new mode is called, uses "billions of photos" to model buildings and trees in 3D using machine learning. The new view lets users understand a city's topography, rotate their perspective to look between buildings, and see traffic and weather conditions at different times of day.
Immersive View also gives 3D looks into nearby restaurants, allowing users to scan around and rotate their view to get a get a better look at the layout, which may be important for those still cautious about eating indoors.
Immersive View is created from neural rendering based on photos alone and is streamed from Google Cloud, so it will run on any smartphone or device. The new view will start rolling out in Google Maps for Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo later this year with more cities added soon, per an official blog post.
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3 Things Samsung Can Learn From the Huawei P50 Pocket
3 Things Samsung Can Learn From the Huawei P50 Pocket
The Huawei P50 Pocket is the sort of phone that will turn heads. Not only is it a foldable flip phone, but its unique patterned finish makes it feel part tech gadget, part fashion accessory. It has a different appeal that makes it stand out among other foldable phones out today. Huawei might not be able to sell the P50 Pocket in the US due to ongoing government restrictions, but it has several features that could be adopted by other flip phones we can buy.
I've been using the P50 Pocket for the past month with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 to see what the next generation of flip phones like the Flip 4 could take on board. The P50 Pocket starts at 1,299 euros (equivalent to $1,400, £1,080 and AU$1,910) but the premium gold finish on the model I've been using costs an eye-watering 1,599 euros. There's a joke here about needing deep pockets, but I'll let that one slide for now.
It's important to note that Huawei's phones can't use Google apps and services, which means no Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube or the Play Store. This puts it at an immediate disadvantage compared to other Android flip phones available today, including Samsung's phones and the Motorola Razr. Instead, it runs Huawei's EMUI 12 operating system, which is based on an open-source version of Android. There's also no 5G connectivity, a huge downside for a phone released in 2022 -- especially at this price.
It would be remiss to not mention how visually appealing this phone is, particularly in the gold etched edition.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
The P50 Pocket screen reduces the crease… and glare
Huawei's phone has a seamless hinge, the same design Motorola used on the 2020 Razr, so there's no gap between the screen when you snap it shut. There's less room for dust and debris to settle in the gap. The crease is also less prominent than on Samsung's phone, both to the eye and to the touch. When scrolling apps or web pages, I've noticed it gets under my thumb far less than the crease on the Z Flip 3. To be fair, after a few days I definitely don't notice the crease as much on the Z Flip 3, but in certain lighting conditions and when watching videos or movies, it suddenly pops back into view.
The P50 Pocket's screen is also less reflective than the Z Flip and that's something I hope Samsung really does take into consideration in the design of its next flip phone. The P50 Pocket is easier to see outside, not because of its maximum screen brightness, but because there's not as much glare thanks to the anti-reflective coating.
The P50 Pocket is easier to see outside.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
There are, of course, compromises with the hinge on the P50 Pocket as it doesn't stay open as easily as the Z Flip 3. Most native apps also aren't optimized for split screen mode either, unlike Samsung's phone.
It would be remiss to not mention how visually appealing this phone is, particularly in the gold etched edition. It's ostentatious in all the right ways and really nice to see a manufacturer taking risks with a finish like this. I also love the aesthetics of the circular display, especially how its size mirrors that of the camera module. Sometimes I look at the phone and see two googly eyes staring back, which is just fun and something I can't say about the Z Flip 3's display. Sure it's more practical for reading text notifications, but just doesn't have the same wow factor.
Googly eyes sorta included.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
You don't sacrifice camera quality on this flip phone
Camera features we take for granted today, like ultra-wide lenses, larger image sensors and low light performance, owe a lot to earlier Huawei phones like the P20 Pro and P30 Pro. Even though the P50 Pocket's cameras lack the headline-grabbing features its predecessors had, they do show that you don't need to compromise on image quality when choosing a flip phone.
The P50 Pro's main wide-angle camera has better dynamic range than the Z Flip 3. I noticed it most when taking landscapes as you can see it retains more detail in highlight areas, like the sky in the image comparison below. It also performs better for low-light shots and for video recording on the main camera at 4K/60fps.
Even at a reduced resolution you can see the P50 Pocket has better dynamic range in this shot as less detail is lost in the highlight areas in the sky.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Colors on the P50 Pocket also look more natural than the Z Flip 3, which tends to over-saturate images on default settings. That's more of a personal preference than anything, but I generally preferred the images straight out of the Huawei phone. There's also a macro mode that really lets you get up close on the P50 Pocket and the ultra-wide camera has autofocus, which the Z Flip 3 lacks.
Also, the 40-megapixel sensor on the P50 Pocket lets you want to take even higher resolution images if you choose. That said, these photos don't look as good or as sharp as its 10-megapixel shots.
A bigger battery will last you the entire day
The P50 Pocket comes with a 4,000-mAh battery, a higher capacity than the dual 3,300-mAh batteries on the Z Flip 3. In my colleague Patrick Holland's review, he noted that the Z Flip 3's battery life was one of the more significant downsides. With three or four hours of screen-on time using the 120Hz display, he needed to charge the phone after 11 hours.
So the P50 Pocket's bigger battery will let you go a bit longer between charges and the phone also supports 40-watt wired charging. You do need to have the Huawei SuperCharge charger to take advantage, but even with my regular 25-watt adapter I was able to juice up the P50 Pocket from flat to full in a little over an hour. I found myself really missing this faster charging when I switched back to the Z Flip 3 that maxes out at 15 watts.
The P50 Pocket also has the option of expandable storage up to 256GB via nano memory card, which is a huge advantage for people like me who like to take lots of photos and videos.
But the P50 Pocket isn't a slam dunk… yet
Apart from the obvious issues around availability and its incredibly high price, there are several things the P50 Pocket doesn't do as well as Samsung's flip phone. The Z Flip 3 is rated IPX8 which means you can dunk it in up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water for up to 30 minutes. Naturally I had to test this claim for myself and spoiler alert: the phone survived. Even eight months later, I'm still using the Z Flip 3 I submerged in both fresh and chlorinated water, with no issues to report.
With the P50 Pocket, there isn't a water resistance or durability rating whatsoever. I only used the phone for a month and have been pretty careful with it during that time, but there's no way to tell how it will fare long-term -- or if I end up dropping or dunking it accidentally.
Then there's connectivity. The P50 Pocket only supports 4G LTE which is one of the biggest issues considering its price. If you're thinking of holding on to your phone for several years this could be more of a downside than you might think, especially as 5G connectivity continues to roll out across the world. Huawei's EMUI also has a significantly higher learning curve than I'd like, particularly when it comes to its aggressive battery management.
The race to build AR glasses is heating up, and Samsung is surprisingly quiet
The race to build AR glasses is heating up, and Samsung is surprisingly quiet
It's only January, but 2022 is already shaping up to be a big year for augmented and virtual reality. It was one of the most prevalent themes at CES, which featured AR and VR announcements from Sony, Microsoft and Qualcomm (among others). Apple is also rumored to finally make its anticipated move into the smart headset space this or next year.
Yet, one company has been unusually quiet on the AR and VR front in recent years: Samsung.
The South Korean tech giant made a name for itself early on primarily through its line of Gear VR smartphone-based headsets, which launched in 2014. But companies like Meta, Microsoft and Snap have made bigger strides in the past couple of years.
Samsung has a reputation for experimenting with new technologies early and often, typically before other major competitors like Apple. Its decision to enter the Android smartphone market early -- more than a decade ago -- also helped it become the world's largest mobile device maker in terms of market share. That makes Samsung's relative absence from the smart glasses discourse all the more puzzling.
Smart glasses and VR are moving forward... without Samsung
Although it will likely be a long time before smart glasses become useful enough to earn a place in our everyday lives, the industry seems eager to get there. This year kicked off with a slew of announcements at CES, which included a partnership between Microsoft and Qualcomm to make custom chips for AR glasses and a glasses concept from TCL that look like an evolved version of Google Glass. Sony also teased the second-generation PlayStation VR, although it didn't reveal a price or launch date.
We also saw some pretty significant developments in the AR and VR space throughout 2021, perhaps the biggest of which was Facebook's rebranding as Meta. The change reflects its larger goal to expand beyond social networking and focus on building the "metaverse," a blanket term for digital communities which also encompasses AR and VR.
Meta is also currently leading the VR market thanks to its popular Oculus VR line. The company accounts for almost 75% of the market for AR and VR headsets, according to the International Data Corporation.
Snapchat parent Snap also debuted in 2021 its first wireless AR spectacles, which can display 3D effects over real surroundings and track hand movements. These glasses aren't available for the general public without an application and are primarily aimed at developers. But Snap has already released three generations of its photo-taking Snapchat Spectacles, a signal that it's serious about wearable tech.
Microsoft, meanwhile, was one of the early players in the AR and VR market with its first HoloLens AR headset back in 2015. It launched the second-generation model in 2019 and added 5G support in 2020.
Apple hasn't released VR or AR eyewear yet, but rumors that it could launch a headset this year are already making waves. The iPhone maker is expected to announce an AR and VR-capable headset mostly geared towards developers in 2022, which could lay the groundwork for a more ambitious pair of consumer-friendly AR glasses in the future, according to Bloomberg. But Apple may delay the headset's debut by several months because of development issues, possibly pushing it to 2023, according to a more recent Bloomberg report.
While we don't know when or if we'll ever see an Apple AR headset, CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about his enthusiasm for augmented reality. He told journalist Kara Swisher in April 2021 that he's seeing AR "take off" when used with phones and that the technology is critical to the company's future. The company has long offered tools for developers to build better AR apps for the iPhone in its ARKit platform, but it recently started building depth-sensing Lidar sensors into certain iPhone and iPad Pro models, too.
Snapchat's AR Spectacles are compact, but they're entirely developer-focused and have a very short battery life.
Scott Stein/CNET
Samsung, meanwhile, hasn't released a new version of its Gear VR headset since 2017. But that doesn't mean it's been completely quiet; the company is seemingly focusing on different executions of AR. At CES 2022, for example, one Samsung concept showed how AR could be incorporated into a car's windshield to display the weather, tire pressure levels, maps and other information. The company also worked with the 3D avatar and social app Zepeto to create a virtual home filled with its products during CES, an effort to prove it's paying attention to the metaverse hype.
Meanwhile, an older Samsung concept from CES 2020 involved pairing AR glasses with an exoskeleton to provide virtual workout experiences. And back in 2017, it showcased a computer glasses concept called Monitorless at Mobile World Congress.
Still, it's been a while since Samsung has made announcements around concrete AR or VR products, while companies like Meta and Snap are moving full steam ahead. But that doesn't mean Samsung isn't thinking about it. Two leaked videos from 2021 suggested Samsung is working on a pair of AR glasses that could project a giant screen before your eyes or place 3D virtual objects in your surroundings.
Samsung said its research team "continues to develop related core technologies for smart devices including AR glasses, next-generation wearables and more" when CNET asked about its plans for AR and VR products. The company also pointed to the website for Samsung's research division, which mentions AR glasses specifically and discusses the technology's potential benefits and industrywide challenges.
"AR glasses are expected by many experts as a next-generation IT device because they have the advantages of large-screen immersiveness compared to smartphones, unfettered freedom of not having to hold it, immediacy of not having to take it out of one's pocket, and a truly private display," Samsung Research's website reads.
Being early has worked to Samsung's advantage
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 has nearly all the refinements you could ask for but still feel like it's missing a purpose.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Samsung isn't usually one to sit on the sidelines when it comes to emerging technologies. It launched its first modern smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, back in 2013 when the industry was still new and wearables were scarce. Apple didn't launch the first-generation Apple Watch until 2015, by comparison.
The story is similar for other technologies like curved screens and foldable smartphones. Samsung announced the Galaxy Round in 2013, which had dramatic curves along its sides, long before it integrated rounded edges into its more recent Galaxy phones.
Samsung was also among the first major companies to release a smartphone with a foldable screen in 2019 with the Galaxy Z Fold, a phone that's already on its third generation. Years before we had the Galaxy Z Fold or Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung also showcased its flexible display technology prototypes during events. It's still cranking out new concepts, as we saw at CES 2022.
The rest of the industry hasn't quite caught up with Samsung when it comes to foldable phones. Motorola, for example, has launched two versions of its foldable Razr, the last of which debuted in 2020, while Samsung has already released several foldables. Huawei, another early front-runner in the foldable space, only sells its flexible Mate X2 phone in China. Samsung, meanwhile, said it sold four times as many foldable phones in 2021 as it did in 2020.
Being early is a strategy that's paid off for Samsung in the broader smartphone space beyond foldables and in the smartwatch market. Samsung is the global leader in smartphone shipments, according to Counterpoint Research, and the second-largest player in the wearable device market, says the International Data Corporation.
Showing up early has also given Samsung the flexibility to experiment, see what customers respond to and incorporate that feedback into future products. Take the Galaxy Round, Samsung's curved screen phone from 2013, as an example. That phone never caught on, but maybe it wasn't supposed to.
Instead, the Galaxy Round helped pave the way for Samsung's later phone designs with more subtle curves, like the Galaxy S10 series. Samsung's early bet on larger-screened smartphones with the original Galaxy Note in 2011 not only influenced its own direction, but also helped usher in an industry-wide shift to bigger phones. And who knows if we would have the Galaxy Watch 4 without the original Galaxy Gear, which was deemed clunky and expensive nearly 10 years ago.
Smart glasses still face many challenges
Amazon is also trying its hand at smart glasses with the Echo Frames, which provide hands-free Alexa access.
James Martin/CNET
That we haven't heard much from Samsung on the smart glasses front makes me wonder if it'll skip that experimental phase and keep its earlier iterations behind closed doors. Of course, that's if Samsung is working on smart glasses at all, which is a big assumption.
And more broadly, smart glasses face challenges that must be solved before they can become as mainstream as smartphones or smartwatches. Those include improving battery life, phone compatibility and working easily with eyeglass prescriptions.
Does Samsung want to risk entering the market early, or wait out what could be a years-long process? Or could they launch simpler glasses in the meantime, similar to audio glasses from Amazon and Bose? Samsung is clearly thinking about some of these questions, as it says on its research website. What we don't know is when those efforts will materialize into a real product, if at all.
Who knows how long Samsung can afford to wait when companies like Meta and Microsoft are pushing forward. Those tech giants missed out on the smartphone boom for the most part and are seemingly determined to prevent the smart glasses market from becoming yet another two-horse race between Apple and Samsung. But the AR glasses landscape is still conspicuously missing some of the biggest players in the consumer tech space -- Samsung being one of them -- and that absence looms large.
