Technology - Google News

The Galaxy S9's dual-aperture camera is great marketing
Ford is bringing its self-driving cars to Miami
Apple to Open 'AC Wellness' Medical Clinics for Employees

The Galaxy S9's dual-aperture camera is great marketing

Posted: 27 Feb 2018 05:48 AM PST

Samsung's Galaxy S9 launch event here at Mobile World Congress 2018 was a weird one. The company went through familiar motions, but the usual buzz and excitement for its new flagship phone weren't really there. Thanks to the toxic mixture of incremental upgrades relative to the existing Galaxy S8 and the usual pre-announcement cycle of leaks and revelations, there just wasn't much to get hyped about. Unless you liked those creepy AR Emoji.

The one source of solace for hardware geeks came in the form of Samsung's new dual-aperture camera system in the S9. Not since 2009's Nokia N86 has the world seen a phone with variable aperture, and Samsung's revival of that feature did stir up some interest. For me, it was the thing that salvaged the S9's launch, and the thing that protected this new device from even sterner critique from fans hoping to see more aggressive upgrades from Samsung.

So what is the dual-aperture system and why does it exist in the first place?

The aperture is the opening through which the camera sensor sees the outside world, and you typically want that to be as large as possible so as to soak up the most light. Samsung has moved to the widest aperture on a phone yet, with an f/1.5 aperture on the S9, but it's also decided to give users the option to step down to a narrower f/2.4 as well.

The answer to why that's desirable relates to the limitations of having an ultra wide aperture such as f/1.5. The bigger the opening for light to enter, the harder it is to keep the entire image looking crisp and sharp. With traditional DSLR lenses, you often see a drop-off in sharpness from the center to the edge of the image (and most lenses have their sweet spot of sharpness and light somewhere just below their max setting). If Samsung's lens behaves the same way, it's likely the f/1.5 setting on the S9 has soft detail around the edges of the image — an issue I've already experienced with the f/1.6 LG V30 and, to a lesser degree, f/1.7 HTC U11 — and that's what makes the f/2.4 option useful.

Samsung's cleverness is in recognizing that being the first to f/1.5 is a nice marketing claim to have, while also ameliorating the issues that such a lens would pose. Deploying the f/1.5 setting primarily for nighttime photos solves two problems simultaneously: the darker photo would typically disguise the soft periphery of the image, while the enlarged aperture helps soak up more light so the shot looks brighter.

The explanation from Samsung itself, which I find less convincing, is that the variable aperture is there to prevent overexposure of really bright scenes. Given the relatively small size of phone sensors and lenses, and the ability to have very fast electronic shutter speeds, most bright scenes can be adequately captured even with a wide aperture setting.

In any case, I did spend some time playing around with the Galaxy S9's new camera at MWC and I have a few impressions to share. Firstly, on auto mode, the different aperture settings are not exposed as an option and the phone automatically switches between them. In Pro mode, toggling between them is done with a tap. I took some shots in both states and didn't find any huge difference in the results, which is as it should be. Judging pixel-level detail will have to be left for another day, but from my quick set of samples, I still saw an aggressive amount of smoothening and sharpening going on in Samsung's image-processing software, which I wasn't a fan of. I can already say with a degree confidence that the S9's camera doesn't rise to the level of the HTC U11 and Google Pixel 2.

My strongest impression is that Samsung's probably gaining something on the imaging front from its new dual-aperture system, but it's far less substantial than the marketing advantage of the change. The company can now boast that it retains a technological edge, it can say that it's upgraded its camera, even while the actual results still appear less sterling than the best competition. I do like that the S9 camera's autofocus system is now speedier, and my testing showed no delay when trying to capture an image. But ultimately, for pixel peepers like myself, this upgrade seems like it's going to be a little underwhelming. Samsung looks like it's going to remain in the good phone camera category when we really wanted it to rise up and be one of the best again.

But all that being said, the dual-aperture system sure is impressive as a piece of mechanical engineering, and everyone at MWC was gawking and admiring it. So while it's a neat party trick for the phone's owner, and a smart marketing move for Samsung, it might not be the major upgrade that mobile photography enthusiasts were looking for from Samsung.

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Ford is bringing its self-driving cars to Miami

Posted: 27 Feb 2018 07:00 AM PST

Ford is bringing its fleet of self-driving cars to the neon-splashed streets of Miami to test out its future commercial plans for robot cars, which include ride-hailing and deliveries, the automaker announced today.

With a pipe organ-style suit of sensors on the roof and the Spanish word for "research" emblazoned below the grille, Ford says its self-driving cars bring the promise of safer streets and more efficient deliveries — and probably more than a few fender benders. The cars arrived last week, and testing is already underway.

Initially, Ford will test two types of autonomous cars in Miami: the aforementioned blue-and-white research vehicles with hardware and software technology by Argo, a self-driving startup backed by Ford; and self-driving delivery cars that Ford last deployed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in partnership with Domino's Pizza. Ford said it hoped to eventually have "thousands" of self-driving cars deployed in the city.

But for now, the company won't say exactly how many it has prowling the streets of North Beach and the surrounding communities. The Argo research cars are currently driving all over the city in autonomous mode while collecting high-definition mapping data. Meanwhile, the Domino's car (there is only one at the moment) is being operated by a human driver while the company studies how customers interact with an autonomous delivery vehicle. Safety drivers will remain behind the wheel of all of Ford's autonomous vehicles for the time being, although the company is currently building an AV without traditional controls like pedals and steering wheels, which it plans to release by 2021.

Ford has also built a service center for its autonomous vehicles close to downtown Miami. The new terminal will serve as a home base for Ford's cars when they aren't out on the streets and a place where they can transfer data and have their sensors cleaned and calibrated.

Miami will also serve as a testbed for Ford's forthcoming Transportation Mobility Cloud, an open-sourced platform for cities and other transportation partners that it announced last month at CES. Companies that have announced partnerships with Ford, like Lyft and Postmates, will soon be able to provide ride-hailing trips and deliveries using Ford's self-driving cars, said Sherif Marakby, Ford's vice president for autonomous vehicles and electrification.

"We're really excited that we're doing this already," Marakby said in a call with reporters. "We're not announcing that we're going to the first city, we're announcing that we are in the first city. We have a depot. We're mapping the city. And we're operating a business. So we're very excited, and we feel that it does take all of these elements coming together and starting the development in parallel is absolutely the right thing to do, and we feel that differentiates Ford from the others."

The automaker has been lagging slightly in the race to develop self-driving cars — not necessarily for lack of effort, but because its competitors have moved much more aggressively in the last year. Waymo, the self-driving unit of Google parent Alphabet, is gearing up to launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix, while GM's Cruise has said it would launch its own robot taxi service in San Francisco. Uber has self-driving cars picking up passengers in Pittsburgh and Phoenix, and Lyft has teamed up with NuTonomy to launch a small ride-hailing pilot in Boston.

Last year was a challenging one for the Blue Oval, with stagnate sales numbers and awkwardly timed management shuffles. Jim Hackett replaced Mark Fields as CEO right after Ford announced a $1 billion investment in Argo. And last week, Ford president Raj Nair stepped down after admitting to "inappropriate behavior."

Ford has doubled down on its mobility investments, acquiring a handful of transportation software providers and launching its own Google X-style incubator for its research and development projects. At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford said it would more than double its investment in the production of electric vehicles, promising to spend $11 billion on the technology by 2022.

Miami presents a challenging environment for Ford's self-driving vehicles. The city was recently listed as the 10th most congested in the world, and the fifth most congested in the US, according to INRIX's global traffic scorecard. Miami drivers spend an average of 64 hours in congestion per year during peak travel time — or nearly 10 percent of their total drive time.

Of course, driverless vehicles are hardly a panacea for traffic headaches. Overly cautious in operation, autonomous cars often get in fender benders with human-driven vehicles. And ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft have been proven to congest cities, pulling riders off buses, subways, bicycles, and their own feet and putting them in cars instead. Self-driving cars need to reach a level of ubiquity and operational efficiency — platooning, for instance — before they can begin to have any sort of effect on a city's traffic problems.

Ford and Miami-Dade County are off to a "friendly" start, Marakby said, and the company has "strong partnership" with the county's mayor, Carlos Giménez. "I'm excited to be working with Ford," Giménez said in a statement. "We first met with the company over a year ago and discussed the possibility of mapping our community as we prepare for the arrival of autonomous vehicles. I'm a strong supporter of this emerging technology and know that Miami-Dade will continue to be at the forefront of technological advances that will improve mobility."

Indeed, Miami has been wooing self-driving car manufacturers for months now. City officials tried to lure Uber last year, to no avail, according to the Miami Herald. Last year, one of the newspaper's columnists made the case for bringing self-driving cars to Miami:

Miami is desperate for driverless cars because it is home to some of the world's worst human drivers. We're overloaded with tourists, people who drive according to the customs of their native countries, and elderly drivers. Unfamiliarity with our roads and laws exacerbates hostility already heightened by the heat and humidity, which is cruelly complicated by endless construction projects and horrid urban planning. The only thing good about being trapped in your car on I-95 or Brickell Avenue is that no one can hear you scream.

Have their prayers been answered? Will Ford's autonomous vehicles bring the relief so many Miami residents sorely need? Most would probably prefer a piña colada by the pool, but the self-driving cars are welcome to give it a shot.

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Apple to Open 'AC Wellness' Medical Clinics for Employees

Posted: 27 Feb 2018 07:29 AM PST

Amazon isn't the only US tech giant aiming to upend health care. Apple is now planning to launch its own independent medical clinics called AC Wellness, which will be "dedicated to delivering compassionate, effective healthcare" to its employees.

The iPhone maker is planning to open AC Wellness this spring in Santa Clara County, Calif., where it's headquartered, according to a new website for the initiative.

"AC Wellness Network believes that having trusting, accessible relationships with our patients, enabled by technology, promotes high-quality care and a unique patient experience," Apple wrote on its AC Wellness website. "The centers offer a unique concierge-like healthcare experience for employees and their dependents."

As it prepares to launch the new centers, Apple has a number of positions to fill. The company is seeking primary and acute care physicians, a nurse practitioner, nurse coordinator, clinical exercise coach, and medical professionals for several other roles.

CNBC reports that Apple will initially launch two AC Wellness clinics to serve its Santa Clara County employees. One of them will be located at the company's futuristic-looking new campus, known as Apple Park, the job listings note. That should be convenient for any employees who injure themselves by accidentally walking into the glass walls there.

News of Apple's new health care effort comes after Amazon late last month teamed with Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway and financial services giant JPMorgan Chase to form a new, not-for-profit organization aimed at serving the health care needs of their US-based employees. The organization will focus on creating "technology solutions that will provide US employees and their families with simplified, high-quality, and transparent health care at a reasonable cost."

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