News
Experiment exposes truth about Samsung’s moon photos
Is it real or fake?
How much do you value moon photography in your smartphone? For a few brands, touting a super-zoom camera that can take photos of the moon is the name of the game. However, an experiment last weekend revealed some truths about Samsung and its Space Zoom.
For a few years, Samsung has touted its incredibly capable camera. Named the Space Zoom, the camera can take unbelievably clear photos of the moon. Though the moon isn’t always a priority for users, a tremendous zoom is always a must for smartphone cameras.
If you think a zoom that can capture the moon is too good to be true, it is… a bit. Soon after the introduction of the feature, pundits (and Samsung itself) has confirmed that the feature is using some AI magic to make the moon as clear as it looks on Galaxy phones.
Over the weekend, the conversation was rekindled once again. A Reddit thread, created by u/ibreakphotos, experimented with the feature even more. Rather than taking photos of the moon directly, the experiment took photos of a screen showing artificially blurred photos of the moon. By using Gaussian blur, the user eliminated most of the detail and, therefore, taking out anything that the camera might recover.
Regardless of the quality of the photo, the Galaxy device still put out an incredibly clear shot of the moon, producing it from seemingly nowhere. It’s clear that the AI is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
To hammer this point further, the user eliminated more detail by erasing craters and partially cropping parts of the moon. This threw the AI for a loop. Despite what it did previously, the photo remained blurred in the final output.
Since the moon looks the same everywhere, it’s easy for the AI to upscale even the blurriest of photos. However, tricking it is easy by obscuring the more telling details of the moon.
Now, knowing about this shouldn’t knock Samsung down drastically. After all, the brand already advertises its AI as a primary force for its camera. Plus, the zoom is impressive in its own right, upscaling powers aside. The main takeaway should be how AI remains important to today’s technology.
SEE ALSO: Buyer’s Guide: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Despite the ease that the technology promises, artificial intelligence still isn’t the most reliable thing you can depend on. Today’s models can still flub answers. Now, the pitfalls of AI are abundantly clear with a few mishaps on X. Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson was just “accused” of a vandalism spree involving bricks.
Late Tuesday night, X presented an AI-generated news snippet. The article, posted soon after the Warriors’ play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings, reads: “Klay Thompson Accused in Bizarre Brick-Vandalism Spree.”
The snippet hilariously described an incident where Thompson supposedly vandalized houses in Sacramento with bricks. Thankfully, according to the snippet, no one was hurt. It even had a few sources for its claims below the news summary.
First off… I am ok.
My house was vandalized by bricks 🧱
After my hands stopped shaking, I managed to call the Sheriff…They were quick to respond🚨
My window was gone and the police asked if I knew who did it👮♂️
I said yes, it was Klay Thompson
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 17, 2024
The sources, however, are just joke posts stemming from the recently concluded game. In that do-or-die game, Thompson put up a staggering 0 points on ten shot attempts, the most misses without a make by a Warrior since the ’68 season. Naturally, everyone joked that the Warriors guard just threw bricks all over Sacramento.
Now, X is currently experimenting with a new AI feature called Grok. The model collates trending topics and creates snippets of what’s happening for X users. However, it’s not exactly the smartest in determining real news from satiric ones. The feature notes as much, carrying a fine-print caveat warning users to “verify its outputs” because it’s an early feature and can make mistakes.
SEE ALSO: New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply
New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.
Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.
As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.
SPECULATION: X might be expanding its policy to charge new users before they reply/like/bookmark a post https://t.co/odqeyeiHBx pic.twitter.com/EU71qlwQ0D
— X Daily News (@xDaily) April 15, 2024
The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.
Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.
Since its big reinvention, the Google Pixel flagship series subsisted on two main entries: a regular model and a Pro. Last year added a Pixel Fold to the list but kept it away from the main line, launching in May instead. Now, there’s a possibility that the Pixel family, starting with the Pixel 9 series, is growing both in number and closer to each other.
According to Android Authority, Google might launch four different models of the Pixel 9 series later this year. Besides the two traditional entries to the family, there will be two new ones coming this year.
The first new model you might see is the Pixel 9 Pro XL (what a mouthful). Despite the name, the model itself isn’t exactly new. The model is reportedly a successor to the Pixel 8 Pro but with a different name.
Which means that the new model is actually the Pixel 9 Pro. Yes, it’s confusing, but let’s break it down. Similar to Apple, Google might separate its lineup into a regular duo and a premium duo. That said, the Pixel 9 Pro will offer only a bite-sized upgrade to the regular Pixel 9. It’ll be the same size, too.
Since the Pixel 9 Pro XL will be the start of the Pro lineup, what model will it pair with? Well, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, of course. The Pixel Fold is apparently dead in name. Google might repackage the foldable as an official part of the Pixel 9 series and will launch alongside the main lineup later this fall.
SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 8 Pro Review: Making Magic
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