Yes, the major public clouds offer a lot. But what you may not know are the limitations, and how open clouds make the difference. Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. When is a phone not a phone? When it’s a camera, of course. That’s where we’re at with most new-fangled smartphones — the phone functionality itself is a secondary consideration, while its various internet-connected apps and features are pretty much a given. In 2018, the quality of the camera is nearly always positioned as the main selling point and differentiator. When Samsung launched the Galaxy A9 last week, it touted the phone’s four-lens rear-facing camera, which includes telephoto, zoom, and depth features. A few months back, Light raised $121 million to bring DSLR-quality photos to mobile cameras through algorithmic imaging. Reviews these days also tend to focus on the quality of the camera, as with the recent iPhone launch and Huawei’s P20 Pro, which we called mind-blowingly awesome. With that in mind, Chinese smartphone giant Huawei today unveiled the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro and, again, the camera (both hardware and software) was a major focal point. The company showcased a new ultra wide-angle camera lens, for starters, but a couple of particularly interesting video camera effects stood out. You will have noticed that “bokeh” has become a buzzword in smartphone photography — due to improved depth-sensing capabilities that blur the background while keeping the subject firmly in focus. Well, the Huawei Mate 20 range can now do that with video so that when you follow a person around a room, the background is blurry while the subject remains crystal clear. But arguably the more interesting effect is what Huawei is marketing as “AI Cinema” mode, which is capable of rendering both color and black-and-white images in a single shot, similar to the color pop feature recently announced for Google Photos. Here’s how it works. AI Cinema In the device itself, Huawei actually calls the effect “AI Color,” and it sits just to the left of “background blur” — the bokeh video effect. Image Credit: Paul Sawers / VentureBeat When you activate the AI Color feature, the subject you are following remains in color while everything else is in black and white. This presumably works for pets too (we didn’t have any hamsters on hand), and we are told it can also work for inanimate subjects. Here’s a quick GIF we made of the effect in action. Image Credit: Paul Sawers / VentureBeat It is possible to recreate similar effects in professional video-editing software, but having something like this baked into a smartphone — and able to work in real time — is a notable advance not only for smartphone camera technology, but for the underlying AI-powered computer vision smarts that enable it. The ‘Sin City’ effect If you’ve seen the award-winning 2005 flick Sin City, you’ll know what Huawei is playing at. Sin City garnered critical acclaim for the way it mixed splashes of color into what was largely a black-and-white movie, allowing one character in a scene to be represented in color while everyone else remained monochrome or to appear in color against a black-and-white background. Some scenes were rendered with just a smidgen of color sprayed across an otherwise black-and-white screen. Huawei’s effort isn’t quite up to the standards of Sin City‘s color-processing prowess, but it shows how technologists are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with a tiny AI-infused pocket rocket. It also serves as yet another reminder of how big a marketing role the smartphone camera now plays. The fact that the Huawei Mate 20 / 20 Pro has ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack wasn’t mentioned throughout the announcement, and nobody really even asked the question. I briefly considered asking about its omission, but what’s the point — it’s pretty much assumed now that most flagship phones won’t come with a headphone jack. It’s a minor inconvenience, designers think, when all people really care about is the camera. **This article was updated 25/11/2019 to correct the device names to Huawei Mate 20 / 20 Pro.<doc-sep>Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Earlier this year, Huawei passed Apple to become the second largest smartphone maker in the world, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the company’s best phones like the P20 Pro aren’t officially sold in the U.S. And because of the current business climate, where largely going to miss out on Huawei’s next big flagship too. It’s a real shame these phones will be hard to find in the US, because it feels like Huawei is really going all out for its new Mate 20 duo. Advertisement Available in two flavors—the standard Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro—the components in Huawei’s new phones reads like a checklist filled with all the major smartphones trends. The standard Mate 20 sports a huge 6.5-inch FHD+ (2244 by 1080) LCD display with what Huawei is calling a “Dewdrop” cutout at the top for its 24-MP selfie cam (it’s a notch), while the Mate 20 Pro sports a more traditional notch that has a 3D face scanning dot projector (like the kind Apple uses for FaceID), a 6.39-inch QHD+ (3120 by 1440) OLED display, and an in-screen fingerprint reader. Mate 20 Pro on the left, standard Mate 20 on the right. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Yep, that’s right, outside of handful of concepts and special limited edition devices, the Mate 20 Pro will be one of the fast mass-market phones to feature tech that so many companies kept promising, but never actually delivered. But that’s just the start, because around back, both Mate 20's sport rather nice looking square camera modules with triple Leica cams. On the Mate 20 Pro, that setup is comprised of a 40-MP main cam, a 20-MP ultra wide-angle cam, and an 8-MP telephoto camera with a 3x zoom that offers even more reach than the zoom lenses in an iPhone XS or Galaxy Note 9. Meanwhile, the standard Mate 20 offers slightly less ambitious camera specs including a main 16-MP cam, a 12-MP ultra-wide cam, and a 8-MP telephoto cam with just a 2x zoom. This is one way to put a lot of cameras on a phone without making it look messy. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Inside, the fun continues because the Mate 20 is also Huawei’s first phone to feature the company’s new homegrown Kirin 980 chipset that boasts a claimed 20-percent better performance and 40-percent increased energy efficiency, while also doubling down on the whole AI and machine learning hype with not one, but two built-in neural processing units (NPUs). Advertisement Those NPUs, Huawei claims, gives the phone the ability to try out new AI-powered camera tricks like predictive auto-focus which uses the NPU to help better anticipate the movement of your subject, or selective color mode which uses the NPU to detect people and automatically change the pictures background to black-and-white while keeping the person in full color, all in real-time. In my brief time with the devices, both new camera features worked as advertised, even in the cramped and awkwardly lit demo room, though it’s still a bit too early to say Huawei nailed it just yet. Here’s an example of Mate 20's real-time selective color mode. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Advertisement And in terms of pure specs, the Mate 20 Pro is pushing battery capacity even further with a huge 4,200 mAh power pack, along with a healthy 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, microSD card slot, and a blazing 40-watt fast charge system. That’s more than twice the speed of the typical 18-watt fast charging found is most Android phones. And with all the extra battery, Huawei even included reverse wireless charging that can be used to fill up other devices using the Mate 20. The Mate 20 even includes wireless screen mirroring to nearby TVs and monitors via Miracast, and an IR blaster, which has become a rarity even among flagship devices nowadays. Annoyingly, only the standard Mate 20 offers a headphone jack. Advertisement If you look close, you can see the faint pattern of the Mate 20's textured glass back. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) However, what’s most interesting to me is that the actual design of the Mate 20. In the past, Huawei has often cribbed aspects of iPhone aesthetics, but this time, it seems Huawei was inspired by Samsung, because aside from their notches Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro look and feel quite similar to a Galaxy S9. Advertisement The back of the phone even features a subtle micro-texture that looks smooth, but actually feels like the ridges on a vinyl record. And in keeping with the gorgeous color options on the P20 Pro, the Mate 20 comes in a bunch of lovely hues and shades including emerald green, midnight blue, black, and pink gold. There’s even a new twilight gradient. Mate 20 Pro (left) and the Mate 20 (right). Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Contrasting colors on the power button is becoming a thing now too. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Here’s a look at the twilight gradient on a standard Mate 20. From the back, you can tell the two Mate 20's apart due to the Mate 20's rear fingerprint sensor. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Advertisement You can skip ad after 1 second You can go to the next slide after 1 second Continue Top sides of the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, the only other port is a USB-C jack on bottom. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) 1 / 5 Advertisement On the Mate 20 Pro, Huawei is really is throwing everything it can into its new phone, which is interesting, because it’s almost the exact opposite strategy Google took on the Pixel 3, which has largely side-stepped the traditional specs arms race in favor of focusing on the phone’s software. Now here comes the bad part, because while the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will be available for purchase in the U.S. through select online retailers, the models we’ll get are the standard unlocked international versions. That means no support for CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint, and at this time, unknown compatibility for advanced 4GLTE features like carrier aggregation on GSM networks. So even if you can get your hands on a Mate 20 in the States, its wireless speeds might be handicapped in comparison to other handsets, despite having what should be a super fast CAT 21 gigabit modem. Advertisement Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) The Mate 20 and Mate Pro should be available sometime later year, and while we don’t have an official price or release date yet, if the Mate 10 and P20 are any indication, they won’t be cheap. Advertisement [Update: 10 AM ET] Here are the official European prices for the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro. The Mate 20 starts at 800 euros (around $925) for the 4GB/128GB model , while the Mate 20 Pro starts at 1050 euros (around $1,215) for the 6GB/128GB version . And as Huawei has done in past, there’s also an even more expensive Porsche Design version of the Mate 20 Pro with a leather back, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for a whopping 1,700 euros, which converts to just shy of $2,000. Yikes.<doc-sep>At a London event today, Huawei officially unveiled its latest Android smartphones. The Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro are the latest from the Chinese brand and introduce a slew of new features which make them a worthy successor to the P20 Pro. Let’s take a look at what’s new. A core feature of recent Huawei flagships has been the stellar camera performance. Partnering again with Leica, the Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will have undoubted camera prowess. The standard Mate 20 has a 16MP main sensor, 12MP wide-angle lens, and 8MP 2x telephoto lens. The Mate 20 Pro, on the other hand, has a 40MP primary sensor, 20MP secondary wide-angle lens, and an 8MP 3x telephoto lens. Both devices claim superior low-light performance, with Super HDR Technology also improving performance in difficult lighting conditions. Specs-wise the Huawei Mate 20 is a huge teardrop-notched 6.53-inch device, whilst the Huawei Mate 20 Pro includes a 6.39-inch display. Both devices include an Octa-core Kirin 980 CPU, 6GB of RAM and comes with 128GB of storage with other tiers available. That storage is expandable via an industry first Nano-Memory card which is roughly the size of a SIM card. The OLED display on the Mate 20 measures in at 2244 x 1080 pixels in an 18.7:9 aspect ratio. Whilst the Mate 20 Pro has a 3120 X 1440 pixel display in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Both displays are HDR10 compliant, so expect an exceptional HDR video viewing experience. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro also includes an IP68 rating while the Mate 20 has an IP53 rating. The Mate 20 Pro also has a larger notch thanks to including some new facial recognition tech. There’s a 24MP camera up front which is backed up by a dot project, flood illuminator, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, and an IR camera. Huawei has also added 3D Live Emoji which can react to your facial expressions. The Mate 20 trades away this functionality for a smaller notch size, but the same 24MP camera. This latest Mate model also includes an in-display fingerprint reader — much like the touted OnePlus 6T — which means no rear-mounted fingerprint reader. Wireless charging is included, as is the ability to use the Mate 20 Pro to charge other Qi devices with “reverse” wireless charging. Battery life could potentially be best in class, as the Mate 20 Pro packs in a mammoth 4200mAh battery and is capable of being wirelessly charged. As mentioned, the device can wirelessly charge other devices simply by pressing or laying on the back of the device. Whilst with the including 40W USB Type-C fast charger is capable of charging 70% battery in just 30 minutes. The Mate 20 offers up a smaller 4,000 mAh battery and unfortunately doesn’t offer wireless charging. Audiophiles will be disappointed to hear that the Mate 20 Pro does not include a headphone jack, but luckily does include a USB Type-C headphone jack adapter in the box to aid the transition. Stereo speakers are included for a better audio experience, with the downward-facing speaker audio coming from the USB Type-C port and then working in tandem with the earpiece speaker for improved device audio. The Mate 20, though, does offer a 3.5mm jack. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro comes with EMUI on-top of Android 9.0 Pie — with the latest version of EMUI adding plenty of software alterations that even includes the ability to wireless desktop projection system. This allows you to connect a mouse, keyboard and other devices to a monitor — something akin to the Samsung DeX system available on S9 and Note 9 devices. You will be able to get the device in Emerald Green, Midnight Blue, Pink Gold, Black and signature Twilight color variants. The Huawei Mate 20 in a 4GB RAM + 128GB storage configuration will sell for 799 Euros (approx. $925), with the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage configuration coming in at 849 Euros (approx. $980). All Mate 20 options are available from today (16 October). The Huawei Mate 20X also arrived at this event, delivering a massive OLED display at 7.2-inches. Just like the other Mate 20 devices, it has very slim bezels and it also has a slim notch as well. Packed inside there’s a 5,000mAh battery and a graphene-based cooling system. There’s also an “M-Pen” included which can be used to write on the large display. Easily one of the largest smartphones on the market, the device seems clearly aimed at the growing mobile gaming market, with Huawei directly comparing the device against Nintendo’s own Switch console. The 1080p panel is said to be capable of up to 6 hours of continuous gaming, comparatively longer than the Switch — that said, whilst the battery life is superior, the game selection is decidedly less pronounced. UK and European pricing for the Mate 20 equates to 899 Euros for the 6GB RAM + 128Gb storage variant (approx. $1040) and is set for release on October 26 to select European markets. Developing… Ben Schoon contributed to this report. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<doc-sep>
Huawei unveiled the Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20 today. The Pro model sets a benchmark in camera and charging technologies, but even the base Mate 20 enjoys the power of Android’s first 7nm chipset and a revamped Leica camera. Huawei Mate 20 Pro The Huawei Mate 20 Pro stands apart from its sibling with a more advanced screen and camera. We start with the 6.39” curved OLED display with 1,440p resolution and HDR support. The triple camera here is descended from the P20 Pro camera. It combines a 40MP Quad Bayer sensor with f/1.8 wide-angle lens, a 20MP sensor with f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and an 8MP 80mm f/2.2 telephoto camera. The Mate 20 Pro can do macro shots from just 2.5cm / 1in. Video gets a helping hand from AI Cinema Mode, which can adjust the color tint, saturation and brightness of a clip to enhance the mood. Selective desaturation can render people in full color upon a black & white background. Speaking of AI, Huawei’s new chipset (more on it in a bit) is powerful enough to bypass the cloud. It can, for example, detect similar videos and extract sections of them to make a 10-second highlights reel. Back to the camera department, the front features a 24MP selfie camera (f/2.0) and a 3D face scanner. Additionally, there’s an in-display fingerprint reader that’s also pressure sensitive. The Pro is the first Huawei to feature the new SuperCharge tech. It pushes a whopping 40W of power and can fill 70% of the 4,200mAh battery in just half an hour (that’s about 2,940mAh). TUV Rheinland has certified that the tech is safe. Then there’s 15W Wireless Quick Charge, which gets the battery from 0% to 30% in half an hour (1,300mAh). And here’s a unique trick - Wireless Reverse Charging can share the phone’s juice with other devices. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro boasts stereo speakers with an interesting design choice – there’s no grille on the bottom, instead the hole for the USB-C port is used. We don’t know if this helped or not, but the Pro now has IP68 waterproofing (the P20 Pro had IP67). Interesting tidbits from the connectivity section include Dual band GPS and Dual VoLTE. But wait until you hear about the memory card (spoiler: it’s not microSD). Huawei Mate 20 The Huawei Mate 20 has a very different screen – a 6.53” flat LCD with 1080p resolution. Another change is the triple camera. It’s still ultra-wide, wide and tele, but with different sensors and lenses. The main shooter has a 12MP sensor behind an f/1.8 lens. It’s joined by a 16MP camera with an f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and an 8MP 52mm f/2.4 telephoto cam. The 2.5cm / 1in macro mode and the AI features are available here as well. The 24MP selfie camera lives in a teardrop notch, but that one has no room for the advanced 3D face scanner. The fingerprint reader is on the back, below the triple camera. The Mate 20 has a 4,000mAh battery and uses the older 22.5W SuperCharge. There’s no wireless charging here in either direction. Charging is done over USB-C and, unlike the Pro, there’s a classic 3.5mm headphone jack. Also unlike the Pro, there are no stereo speakers here and no waterproofing. Kirin 980 Huawei’s new flagships are introducing the Kirin 980 chipset. It’s the first 7nm chip for Android phones and also the first to use ARM’s new Cortex-A76 cores. All together, the new chipset is made up of 6.9 billion transistors, 60% more than its predecessor. Part of the increase is due to the larger A76 cores. They promise a 75% boost in performance and 58% improved power efficiency over the A73 cores in the Kirin 970. The CPU in the Kirin 980 is a three tier design – two A76 as the big cores, two more A76 as medium cores and, finally, four small A55 cores. The new phones will run EMUI 9.0 out of the box, which is based on Android 9.0 Pie. The chipset features a dual NPU for all the AI tasks, part of which are memory optimizations to ensure a smooth performance. Storage and RAM The Huawei Mate 20 is available today with 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage. The Mate 20 Pro comes only in 6/128GB configuration. You can find more about the pricing and availability of Mate 20 phones here. Huawei partnered with Toshiba to introduce a new nano memory card format.