Along with JPEG and RAW files, users will get a new type of format called 10-bit HEIF (high efficiency image file), with more dynamic range and a wider color palette than JPEG. It's an option that's much more compact than RAW, but easier to edit than JPEG. On the connectivity side, it comes with WiFi, Bluetooth LE, GPS, a built-in ethernet connection and an optional wireless transmitter.
Canon also revealed that the 1D X Mark III will be the most video-capable EOS camera it has ever built, with 10-bit 4:2:2 footage at up to 4K 60p, with internal Canon Log recording. It didn't say whether 4K video would use the full width of the sensor and be supersampled, but the last model had a small 1.3 times crop factor.
As a pro model, it will have "phenomenal" weather-sealing and a very durable magnesium alloy body. Canon didn't reveal the sensor resolution, price and other important facts, as it's saving those for the official launch. As a reminder, though, the last model had a 20.2-megapixel sensor and $6,000 price tag.
In other Canon news, the company unveiled two new lenses that will complete its "holy trinity" full-frame EOS R RF-mount lineup. The $2,700 RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM is designed for sports, wildlife and event photography, but it's 27 percent shorter and 28 percent lighter than the EF version. The other model is the $3,000 RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS. It features a new Canon lens coating called Defocus Smoothing -- a vapor-deposited coating on a lens element that improves the look of bokeh. Both of these models showcase the strengths (and high prices) of Canon's RF mount system.
Just shy of two months after announcing the Exynos 980, Samsung has announced a new chipset, the Exynos 990. The new processor is built on Samsung’s 7nm process, and includes a Mali-G77 GPU that increases graphical performance or power efficiency compared to Samsung’s previous chip by up to 20 percent as well as an octa-core CPU that should be 20 percent faster.
While it seems strange to see two processors announced in such quick succession, the Exynos 990 seems to be targeted at a slightly different market. VentureBeat notes that it lacks the integrated 5G modem found in the 980, meaning it will be better suited to 4G devices. It’s the faster processor of the two, but Samsung would need to pair it with a separate modem — like the 5G Exynos Modem 5123 that it also announced today — if it wants to use it in a 5G device.
The Exynos 990 also features support for displays with up to a 120 Hz refresh rate, as well as up to six cameras with a maximum resolution of 108 megapixels, like the ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor Samsung announced back in August.
The 5G Exynos Modem 5123, meanwhile, is a new 5G modem that’s also built using a 7nm process. It supports both kinds of 5G, sub-6GHz and mmWave, the latter of which was missing when Samsung announced its previous Exynos 980 chip with an integrated 5G modem. When connected to a 5G network, Samsung says the Exynos Modem 5123 supports a maximum download speed of 5.1 Gbps on sub-6GHz, and 7.35 Gbps on mmWave.
Samsung doesn’t say which phones the new chips will come to first, but with mass production expected to begin later this year there’s speculation that they’ll find their way into some of Samsung’s Galaxy S11 devices early next year. However, based on past trends they’re unlikely to be found in Samsung’s devices in the US or China, which have historically used Qualcomm’s chips.
Canon has announced the development of the EOS 1D X Mark III, the successor to the 1D X Mark II and a flagship DSLR that has more power, more speed, and more durability.
“Ideal for sports and wildlife, the flagship DSLR is being engineered and designed using feedback from the worldwide community of EOS-1D X and EOS-1D X Mark II photographers,” Canon says.
Inside the 1D X Mark III are a brand new Canon-developed CMOS sensor and DIGIC processor that produces improved image quality across its ISO range.
The camera will be able to shoot 10-bit HEIF (High Efficiency Image File) photos, which has a wider dynamic range and color representation compared to JPEG files.
In the area of video, the camera will shoot 4K resolution at 60fps with 10-bit 4:2:2 Canon Log internal recording.
Autofocusing by the camera will be powered by a new algorithm that improves upon stability and tracking while shooting both through the optical viewfinder and using Live View. There’s also a subject tracking system that uses deep learning A.I. technology to help accurately track focus on every shot.
Compared to the 1D X Mark II, the 1D X Mark III will boast a new autofocus sensor that has 28 times the resolution in the center of the frame when using the optical viewfinder. Switch to Live View, and you’ll have 525 AF areas at your disposal that are powered by the Dual Pixel CMOS AF system that covers about 90% of the image sensor along one axis and 100% on the other.
When shooting in full-time AF and AE, photographers will enjoy blazing-fast frame rates starting at 16fps with the optical viewfinder and mechanical shutter up to 20fps with Live View (up from 14fps and 16fps, respectively).
With dual CFexpress card slots, the 1D X Mark III will have a buffer five times the depth of its predecessor (which could shoot up to 170 RAW photos at full resolution and 14fps).
The 1D X Mark III is a connected camera that has built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Transferring files via the built-in Ethernet connection or optional wireless file transmitter (WFT-E9) — which had a simpler network set-up process — is over twice as fast as with the 1D X Mark II.
The Canon EOS 1D X Mark III with the optional WFT-E9 transmitter.
Build-wise, the 1D X Mark III features a magnesium alloy body that’s weather-sealed against wind, rain, and humidity. Certain buttons on the camera are now illuminated for ease of use in low-light environments.
Although the layout and ergonomics of the camera will be familiar to photographers who have previously used a 1D-line DSLR, Canon is introducing a new AF point selection control that’s built into the AF-ON button. This control will allow photographers to select their autofocus points quickly and easily.
Finally, the 1D X Mark III will have significantly better battery life compared to its predecessor using the same battery (LP-E19).
The full specs, pricing, and availability of the 1D X Mark III will be announced at a later date.
A Google quantum computer has far outpaced ordinary computing technology, an achievement called quantum supremacy that's an important milestone for a revolutionary way of processing data. Google disclosed the results in the journal Nature on Wednesday. It came after more than a decade of work at Google, including the use of its own quantum computing chip, called Sycamore.
"Our machine performed the target computation in 200 seconds, and from measurements in our experiment we determined that it would take the world's fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to produce a similar output," Google researchers said in a blog post about the work.
The achievement, which leaked into the limelight in September with a premature paper publication, doesn't mean the beginning of the end for classical computers, at least in the view of today's quantum computing experts. Quantum computers are expected to be good at some particular chores -- optimizing investment portfolios and developing new drugs at the molecular level, for example -- but not most of what we do today on computers.
Google's result does offer evidence, though, that quantum computers could break out of research labs and head toward mainstream computing.
A vast industry is devoted to improving classical computers, but a small number of expensive labs at companies such as Google, Intel, Microsoft, Honeywell, Rigetti Computing and IBM are pursuing general-purpose quantum computers, too. They're finicky devices, running just a hair's breadth above absolute zero to minimize the likelihood they'll be perturbed. Don't expect to find quantum computers are not the kind of thing you can expect to find on your desk.
Google's speed test has applications to computing work like artificial intelligence, materials science and random number generation, the paper said. "
However, physicist Jim Preskill, who came up with the term quantum supremacy in 2012, dashed some cold water on that idea. Google's chosen test was good for showing quantum computing speed but "not otherwise a problem of much practical interest," Preskill said in October after the paper's premature release.
Quantum vs. classical computers
Nearly every digital device so far, from ENIAC in 1945 to Apple's iPhone 11 in 2019, is called a classical computer. Their electronics rely on logic circuits to do things like add two numbers and memory cells to store the results.
Google quantum computer looks nothing like a conventional machine. When running, all this complexity is hidden away and refrigerated to near absolute zero.
Google
Quantum computers are entirely different, reliant instead on the mind-bending rules of physics that govern ultrasmall objects like atoms.
Where classical computers store and process data as individual bits, each a 1 or a 0, quantum computers use a different foundation called a qubit. Each qubit can store a combination of different states of 1 and 0 at the same time through a phenomenon called superposition. Told you it was weird.
Not only that, but multiple qubits can be ganged together through another quantum phenomenon called entanglement. That lets a quantum computer explore a vast number of possible solutions to a problem at the same time.
Exponential speedups
In principle, a quantum computer's performance grows exponentially: add one more qubit, and the number of solutions you can examine in one fell swoop doubles. For that reason, quantum computing engineers are working to increase the number of qubits in their machines.
"We expect that their computational power will continue to grow at a double-exponential rate," the Google researchers said in their paper. That's even faster than the single exponential improvement charted for classical computer chips by Moore's Law.
Google's machine had 54 qubits, though one wasn't working right, so only 53 were available. That happens to match the number in IBM's most powerful quantum computer.
But qubit count isn't everything. Unavoidable instabilities cause qubits to lose their data. To counteract that problem, researchers are also working on error-correction techniques to let a calculation sidestep those problems.
IBM challenges Google's quantum results
IBM is a major quantum computing fan, but it questioned Google's prematurely released results in a blog post Monday.
"We argue that an ideal simulation of the same task can be performed on a classical system in 2.5 days and with far greater fidelity," IBM researchers wrote. They suggested different algorithms and a different classical computer design in a preprint paper of their own.
Google said it welcomes improvements to quantum computer simulation techniques but said its overall result is "prohibitively hard for even the world's fastest supercomputer, with more double exponential growth to come. We've already peeled away from classical computers, onto a totally different trajectory."
Intel didn't offer an opinion on Google's results, but did say quantum supremacy is "a strategic benchmark."
"We are committed to moving quantum from the lab to commercialization," said Jim Clarke, Intel Labs' director of quantum hardware, in a statement.
Cracking your encrypted communications? Not yet
One quantum computing ability, mathematically proved with an idea called Shor's algorithm, is cracking some of today's encryption technology.
However, that will require vastly larger quantum computers and new technology breakthroughs to deal with error correction.
"Realizing the full promise of quantum computing (using Shor's algorithm for factoring, for example) still requires technical leaps," the researchers said in their paper.
And at the same time, the US government and others are working on "post-quantum" cryptography methods to withstand quantum computing cracking abilities.
So for now at least, quantum computing, while radically different, isn't blowing up the tech industry.
First published Oct. 23, 2:15 a.m. PT.
Update, 3:09 a.m. PT: Adds more detail and comment from Google CEO.
Google added 90Hz OLED displays to both of its Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL handsets to enable a smoother Android experience. Unfortunately, the company has also tied this refresh rate to the brightness level of the display on the Pixel 4. Reddit users have discovered that the Pixel 4 will drop to a 60Hz refresh rate once the display brightness dips below 75 percent. The Verge has confirmed this on a Pixel 4 review unit, and it means that you’re only getting the full 90Hz display rate when the brightness level is high.
This is fine for outdoors use, but the majority of indoor use will mean the brightness level will likely be 75 percent or lower. It’s not clear why Google has chosen the 75 percent mark, but droidlife has discovered you can head into the developer settings and force the 90Hz setting to always be enabled regardless of brightness levels. This will likely impact the battery life, which is something you’ll want to consider before forcing the 90Hz display to always-on.
Other 90Hz OLED Android phones like the OnePlus 7T keep the display running at its max 90Hz all of the time, but Google has stated it will automatically switch the display refresh rate on the Pixel 4 “for some content.” We’ve reached out to Google for more information on how and why it limits the Pixel 4 display refresh rate, and we’ll update you accordingly.
Huawei’s much-delayed folding phone, the Mate X, is finally going on sale next month. The company announced the news at a launch event today attended and reported on by Sina Digital.
The Mate X is a 5G phone with Huawei’s Kirin 980 processor and Barong 5000 modem, and it has a dual-cell 4,500mAh battery that can reportedly be filled to 85 percent in half an hour with 55W fast charging. When unfolded, the screen is 8 inches diagonal, and when it’s closed it’s like having a phone with a 6.6-inch screen on the front and a 6.38-inch panel on the back.
Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, which opens up like a book, the Mate X’s screen wraps around the outside of the clamshell device. This should make it more usable as a conventional phone than the Galaxy Fold, but the plastic-covered screen faces an even greater durability challenge since it’s constantly exposed.
We’ll have to see how the Mate X holds up, because it is not a cheap device. It’ll start shipping in China on November 15th for 16,999 yuan, or about $2,400, which gets you a model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
As for an international release, Huawei tells The Verge in a statement that “Our strategy is based on carriers’ 5G roll out in different regions. So far, Huawei has made the Huawei Mate X available in the China market on November 15. A global launch plan is under review.”
Meanwhile, Huawei also announced that it’s shipped 200 million smartphones already in 2019, having reached that milestone 64 days earlier than it did last year. The real proof of the company’s resilience, however, will come once we have year-on-year results that factor in Google-less phones like the Mate 30 Pro.
Smart speakers' frequent under-the-radar updates are usually convenient, but they're creating a lot of headaches for some Google device owners. Google has confirmed that it's fixing a problem with firmware updates that have bricked Home and Home Mini speakers. Some people have had success by temporarily unplugging the power cable or performing a factory reset, but others haven't been so lucky -- numerous owners have reported that their devices are completely unusable. If you're affected, you'll see the speaker's four lights stay lit.
It's not clear when there might be a fix. However, it's a serious problem for those unfortunate owners affected by the glitch. While it's a relatively minor hassle to get a speaker replaced under warranty, many Home and Home Mini devices are out of warranty. You might be forced to pay for a replacement even though Google is responsible for knocking your speaker out of commission.
The good news is, Google is replacing affected devices regardless of whether they're in and out of warranty until the fix is issued.
Update (at 11:48 p.m. ET on 10/22/2019): This post was edited to clarify that Google will be replacing affected devices regardless of whether they're under warranty.
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