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OnePlus Is Teaming Up With Hasselblad to Announce the OnePlus 9 on March 23 - Gizmodo

Posted: 07 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PST

Illustration for article titled OnePlus Is Teaming Up With Hasselblad to Announce the OnePlus 9 on March 23 — Image: OnePlus

Rumors of a partnership between OnePlus and Hasselblad have been swirling for months, but now the two companies are making it official at the OnePlus 9 launch on March 23.

While OnePlus didn't go into specifics about its upcoming products, in a press release issued today, the company repeatedly used the phrase "OnePlus 9 series," implying that we're probably going to get a base model and fancier "Pro" model, similar to years past.

However, the bigger development is the new partnership between OnePlus and Hasselblad, which OnePlus says will see the company invest $150 million over the next three years to improve its camera experience. This is something OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau has hinted at before as a major goal for 2021, and it makes a lot of sense. Image quality has been one of the biggest shortcomings of OnePlus phones compared to handsets from Apple, Google, Samsung, and others.

Starting with the OnePlus 9 series, OnePlus will feature a new color calibration process called Natural Color Calibration developed with Hasselblad that OnePlus says will serve as its color accuracy and calibration standard going forward.

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On top of that, OnePlus is also adding a new Hasselblad Pro mode that should make it easier to edit and fine-tune photos, giving users more granular control over settings like ISO, focus, white balance, and more. OnePlus will even support 12-bit RAW photos that should deliver richer colors and better dynamic range.

As for hardware, OnePlus says it worked with Hasselblad to create a new free-form lens for the OnePlus 9 series that the company claims completely eliminates the typical distortion you get from ultra-wide camera lenses. OnePlus says that main sensor used in the OnePlus will be Sony's IMX789, which can also capture 4K video at 120 fps, or 8K video at 30 fps.

And looking forward even further, OnePlus says it's working on new tech for future phones, including a panoramic camera with a 140-degree field of view and T-lens technology, which is supposed to deliver faster focusing times for front-facing cameras.

Other expected features include support for 5G and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, but for more in-depth details about the various models and pricing, we're gonna have to wait until the official event, which kicks off at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT on March 23.

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Apple mixed-reality headset likely coming sometime in 2022, analyst predicts - The Verge

Posted: 07 Mar 2021 09:48 AM PST

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts in a new research note that Apple will release a "helmet-type" mixed reality headset next year, augmented reality glasses in mid-2025, and an AR contact lens product by 2030-2040, according to MacRumors.

"We foresee that the helmet product will provide AR and VR experiences, while glasses and contact lens types of products are more likely to focus on AR applications," Kuo writes in the note.

While several prototypes of Apple's mixed reality headset weigh between 200 and 300 grams, Kuo says, if Apple can solve some technical problems the headset could end up weighing between 100 and 200 grams, MacRumors reported. He added that the headset will likely be priced in the $1,000 range in the US.

The headset will be able to offer an immersive experience Kuo says will be "significantly better" than those on the market now, with Sony micro-OLED displays, and should be able to run independently of an iPhone, "more like a portable product" than a mobile one.

Kuo's note is mostly in line with other predictions of a headset hitting the market sometime in 2022, but with the price tag closer to $3,000. The Information reported last month that Apple was using a fabric mesh material to reduce the weight of the headset, and had a rendering based on "internal Apple images of a late-stage prototype" that showed what the headset might look like.