Essential Phone’s Camera App Updated with 60FPS Monochrome Video Support

The Essential Phone has been a device plagued with problems since its release, and one of its largest criticisms above all else has been its camera. The phone delivered a poor camera experience ranging from the camera stability to the actual quality of the photos it takes, and these issues were simply unacceptable at the original price of the phone. Thankfully, it was discovered that using the Google Camera HDR+ Port actually resolves a lot of the camera issues that users of the device had.

Essential, to their credit, have been working on improving their camera. This has come in the form of many stability and quality centred updates for their camera application through the Play Store, where more credit is due for modularising the camera and being able to upgrade the camera quality without upgrading the whole system. This is the standard method of upgrading system applications outside of OTAs usually, but sometimes camera processing software may be stored separately from the actual camera application.

The latest update brings a number of changes, with the changelog below.

Mono video recording now supports 60 FPS

Improved OTA flow for 360 Camera updates

Minor UI improvements

Stability fixes

The update is said to fix a number of crashes across the camera and gallery applications, and also adds monochrome video in 60FPS. This will allow for you to take black and white video in 60FPS natively using just the monochromatic camera sensor, rather than applying processing to the full-colour sensor. There are also some small UI and icon changes.

While still not able to reach levels that it should be able to achieve, the camera has greatly improved since launch and each update pushes it closer to its real potential. If you have the Essential phone, check out the camera application on the Google Play Store down below to see if you've updated yet.

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Source: Essential Phone's Camera App Updated with 60FPS Monochrome Video Support

Essential Phone Camera update (version 83) brings Mono video recording at 60FPS, UI improvements and more

An update to Essential Phone's Camera app is one of the most anticipated among Essential Phone users as there is a room for lot of improvement. The Essential Team itself has been very vocal about it and actively discusses with users about the issues present in their Camera app, along with promises to improve the app with regular updates.

The latest update to Essential Phone Camera app comes with version 0.1.083, and it brings with it a few new features such as Mono video recording at 60FPS, improved OTA flow for 360 Camera updates, Minor UI improvements and stability fixes. Like always, the update is available to download through Play Store.

While these new features and changes in the Camera app update are welcoming, one thing that most users want is uncompressed pictures, and it still hasn't been delivered even when a member of Essential Team confirmed that version 83 (today's release) will feature decreased compression for images taken with Essential Phone Camera app. Check out his full statement below:

For file size we have decreased compression in our internal builds and are currently testing. This will increase the file size of the images. We should be able to release in our followup to camera version 83 (releasing very soon).

In case you aren't aware, the pictures taken with Essential Phone camera app are compressed to only about 1.5MB in size, while other smartphones take images of at-least 4MB in size for the same resolution.

That said, Essential team is also working on bringing Portrait mode to their Camera app which will help take amazing portrait pictures with nice background blur. The team has plans to release Portrait mode before the Holiday's (by year end).

Source: Essential Phone Camera update (version 83) brings Mono video recording at 60FPS, UI improvements and more

Essential Phone’s Camera App Updated with 60FPS Monochrome Video Support

The Essential Phone has been a device plagued with problems since its release, and one of its largest criticisms above all else has been its camera. The phone delivered a poor camera experience ranging from the camera stability to the actual quality of the photos it takes, and these issues were simply unacceptable at the original price of the phone. Thankfully, it was discovered that using the Google Camera HDR+ Port actually resolves a lot of the camera issues that users of the device had.

Essential, to their credit, have been working on improving their camera. This has come in the form of many stability and quality centred updates for their camera application through the Play Store, where more credit is due for modularising the camera and being able to upgrade the camera quality without upgrading the whole system. This is the standard method of upgrading system applications outside of OTAs usually, but sometimes camera processing software may be stored separately from the actual camera application.

The latest update brings a number of changes, with the changelog below.

Mono video recording now supports 60 FPS

Improved OTA flow for 360 Camera updates

Minor UI improvements

Stability fixes

The update is said to fix a number of crashes across the camera and gallery applications, and also adds monochrome video in 60FPS. This will allow for you to take black and white video in 60FPS natively using just the monochromatic camera sensor, rather than applying processing to the full-colour sensor. There are also some small UI and icon changes.

While still not able to reach levels that it should be able to achieve, the camera has greatly improved since launch and each update pushes it closer to its real potential. If you have the Essential phone, check out the camera application on the Google Play Store down below to see if you've updated yet.

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Source: Essential Phone's Camera App Updated with 60FPS Monochrome Video Support

How Does an iPhone X App Reveal DSLR-Like Photo Powers? We Asked Its Maker

A new app that reveals the hidden potential of the iPhone X is causing a storm. Focos, a free app released last week, takes the information from the two camera lenses and uses it to recreate the level of quality normally found on high-end DSLR cameras.

"All users believe that Focos is more useful and professional than the stock Camera app," Patrick Wang, developer of the app, tells Inverse.

The built-in camera app normally uses the information from the two lenses to judge distance and blur the background of subjects, in a feature called Portrait Mode. Focos takes this to a new level by allowing users to move the focus after the picture has been taken, as well as edits to the "bokeh" blur effect itself. Instead of carrying a bag full of equipment around, Focos enables users to take impressive pictures using the smartphone in their pocket.

Focos in action.

The app, which also runs on the iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus' dual camera setups, also allows for a 3D visualization of the depth information captured by the sensors. Gurnam Bedi, co-founder of developer Primoko, shared a video of the app in action with his 7,000 followers on Tuesday.

The demonstration was quickly passed around the Apple development community, with several followers commenting on the app's surprising abilities.

"This is so freaking cool," said Twitter user Marius Gardelli.

Wang was able to make the app thanks to a new application programming interface unveiled at the annual Worldwide Developers' Conference in June. Wang started work right away, but he noticed that the speed of image processing with the app is rather slow.

"I think that's why Apple didn't do the same thing like I did," Wang says. "They like the faster system and camera experience."

Apple has left it up to developers to come up with experimental ways to use the camera, but it's also rolled out some ideas of its own. Portrait Lighting, a new feature found on the 8 Plus and X that launched this year, uses the depth information to change the lighting effects around subjects. Apple is also using the front-facing face scanning system found on the iPhone X to enable these same effects for selfies.

The iPhone 8 Plus.

The iPhone is not the only phone to try and recreate these effects. The OnePlus 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 also employ dual cameras for new effects. The Google Pixel 2 offers the same background blurring, but its single lens design means it has less data to work with than the other devices.

It's an exciting moment in smartphone photography, but Wang is already thinking about what comes next. In the future, he plans to add more aperture options, with the end goal of making the camera seem more like a traditional lens.

"I'll make new crazy features in the future updates," he said.

Source: How Does an iPhone X App Reveal DSLR-Like Photo Powers? We Asked Its Maker

Nokia 3 much needed camera app update finally available for download

In the past few weeks, we have seen and heard several consumers complaining about the performance of Nokia 3 camera app. While there was a need to address this issue quickly Nokia has now released a new and much-needed update that brings camera improvements to the said device.

The update was first spotted by GSMArena. In any case, it is good news. Nokia has updated its Camera app in the Play store with the caption "New Camera release for Nokia 3". However, the details of the new update have not been published fully but the update will seemingly address the latest complaints from users. If you own a Nokia 3 then you can head over to the Play Store and update your camera app.

According to the short description found in the Play Store, the camera app has been moved to a new version with numbers 6.0090.07. The app works with Android 7.0 Nougat operating system and above.

Meanwhile, Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer of HDM Global, has recently stated that the company is also working on introducing the Lumia camera app UI to its range of Nokia Android smartphones. But we haven't heard anything new around that for some time now.

All in all, HMD is working on bringing back the Nokia charm among the consumers and is looking to provide the best possible experience for its users. That being said, just to recall, the company launched Nokia 3 in India in the month of June 2017 and it comes with a price tag of Rs. 9,499. The smartphone is available in Black and Blue color options and comes with a polycarbonate back along with an aluminum frame.

As for specifications, the Nokia 3 comes with a 5-inch HD display (720 x 1280 pixel resolution) and is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek 6737 processor. The smartphone comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable up to 128GB via microSD card.

As for the cameras the handset sports an 8MP camera on both at the front and the rear. Both the cameras also support autofocus with f/2.0 aperture. The handset is backed by a 2650 mAh Li-ion battery and it runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat). Further, the smartphone measures 143.4x71.4x8.4mm and comes with Google Assistant built-in.

Source: Nokia 3 much needed camera app update finally available for download

The Nokia 3 gets a much needed camera update

Nokia has updated its Camera app in the Play store citing a "New Camera release for Nokia 3" which should address the latter's poor performance, although Nokia doesn't share specifics.

We found the Nokia 3 camera had decent detail levels but otherwise it disappointed with corner softness, noise and severe autofocus inconsistency.

So if you own a Nokia 3, go and update the Camera app and leave us a line down in the comments if you notice an improvement.

Thanks for the tip!

App

Source: The Nokia 3 gets a much needed camera update

Pick up Pawbo’s Wi-Fi 720p Pet Camera w/ 2-way audio for $110 shipped (Reg. $150+)

Today only, as part of its Countdown to Black Friday, Pawbo (97% positive in the last 12 months from 190 ratings) via Amazon is offering its Life Wi-Fi Pet Camera with 720p HD Vide and 2-Way Audio for $109.99 shipped. That's between $40 and $50 below the usual listing, the lowest we have tracked on Amazon and the best we can find. Rated 3.9/5 stars from over 170 Amazon customers.

Pawbo Life Wi-Fi Pet Camera:

Pawbo Life camera (PPC-21CL) w/ 720p HD live video, 130° wide-angle lens, and 4x digital room, capture and record every precious moments from your mobile device.

Built-in microphone/speaker/laser/treat dispenser let you listen, talk and reward your pet's favorite snack or play & interact with your pet anytime, anywhere.

Instant social sharing: snap photos and share your pet and family's adorable images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Remote Pawbo Theme Park accessories / control multiple Pawbo cameras / connect up to 8 users simultaneously.

Easy set up Pawbo Life app: support iOS 8 or later (iPhone, iPad and iPod) and Android 4.0.3 or later version. Wi-Fi environment required 802.11b/g/n(2.4GHz) connectivity with WPA2-AES encryption. Pawbo support team via service.usa pawbo.com

Source: Pick up Pawbo's Wi-Fi 720p Pet Camera w/ 2-way audio for $110 shipped (Reg. $150+)