The person behind the Google Pixel’s impressive cameras reportedly left the company in March — an enormous blow to the technology giant’s mobile efforts.
Marc Levoy worked at Google since 2014 as a distinguished engineer, and departed in March after Pixel general manager Mario Querio also left, according to The Information.
Levoy was responsible for the ground-breaking camera technology in Google Pixel phones such as Night Sight, 2× optical zoom, HDR+ mode, Portrait mode, computational photography, and more.
Google did not have a comment regarding Levoy’s departure or on who is now in charge of Google’s camera development.
The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL boast dual-lens cameras backed by Google’s image processing wizardry — thanks, in part, to Levoy.
The primary camera in the Pixel 4 is lightning-fast to focus, and it produces sharp photos in a wide range of settings using the 2x telephoto lens that works with Google’s Super Res Zoom to capture impressive detail.
Renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz praised the Google Pixel’s camera during last year’s Made By Google event. She said that as an experienced photographer, what’s great about the Pixel 4’s camera is that you can carry it in your pocket and that everyone can get creative with it.
The new Google Pixel 4a is set to debut later this year, and is most likely the last Pixel model Levoy had a hand in.
The Pixel 4a is rumored to come with a 12.2-megapixel camera sensor with optical image stabilization. The front-facing camera will clock in at 8 megapixels, and will still feature the same image processing on offer by other Pixel phones.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.