Camera megapixel war in smartphones: Picture perfect or just a gimmick?

Agencies
October 22, 2019

In 2012, Nokia, which was at the top of the mobile industry, brought 808 PureView, a Symbian operating system (OS)-based smartphone with an insane 41MP camera that created quite a buzz.

Since then, Android-based smartphones started gaining traction and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) began adding more megapixels to the cameras to lure the crowd.

Now Chinese smartphone makers have sounded the bugle for a megapixel war and the users are in for some sweet deals as camera sensors grow in specifications at affordable price points.

In India, Realme, which initially started off as a subsidiary of Chinese handset maker OPPO, became the first to introduce a 64MP camera smartphone -- Realme XT -- few weeks ago followed by Xiaomi, which has recently unveiled its Redmi Note 8 Pro with 64MP.

Samsung has even created a 108MP sensor for upcoming smartphones.

As many as 50 per cent of smartphones sold globally will have three or more camera sensors by the end of 2021, says Counterpoint Research.

According to industry experts, it is an attempt by the brands to differentiate themselves from competition and remain at the top of the consumers' mindshare.

"It should be seen as a marketing plank, which enables brands to showcase innovation for a feature which is important for smartphone consumers these days," Navkendar Singh, Research Director-Devices and Ecosystem, India & South Asia, International Data Corporation (IDC) told IANS.

These numbers indicate the availability of the sensor size at a cost that can let smartphone brands bring it in a model at affordable price points.

"In early 2020, we should expect launches with 92MP and 108MP in the market. Beyond a certain megapixel capability, a normal consumer cannot feel the difference in the photograph purely from a megapixel viewpoint," Singh noted.

According to Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi was at the second spot with a 17 per cent share in the Rs 15,001-Rs 20,000 price segment in India in Q2 2019, while Realme ranked sixth with 6 per cent share in the same period.

However, Realme inched up to the fourth position with 12 per cent market share, whereas Xiaomi slipped to the fifth spot with a share of 9 per cent in July-August.

"In Q2 2019, 14 per cent smartphones shipped with 48MP lens cameras and 70 per cent with two or more rear cameras.

"However, merely adding a bigger megapixel sensor does not determine higher picture quality," Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research told IANS.

There are multiple factors, such as the lens, the size of the aperture, Image Signal Processor (ISP), software algorithms, AI, etc. which come into play while determining the quality of the picture.

"The tech advancements, exemplified by Samsung eISOCELL Bright GW1', the 64MP image sensor, used by the likes of Realme and Xiaomi, are essentially pushing the envelope for better, low light HDR photography and brighter, detailed photographs mimicking very closely the human eye vision," Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, told media.

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Agencies
June 28,2020

The US space agency has thrown open a challenge to win over Rs 26 lakh, calling the global community to send novel design concepts for compact toilets that can operate in both microgravity and lunar gravity.

NASA is preparing for return to the Moon and innumerable activities to equip, shelter, and otherwise support future astronauts are underway.

The astronauts will be eating and drinking, and subsequently urinating and defecating in microgravity and lunar gravity.

NASA said that while astronauts are in the cabin and out of their spacesuits, they will need a toilet that has all the same capabilities as ones here on Earth.

The public designs for space toilet may be adapted for use in the Artemis lunar landers that take humans back to the Moon.

"Although space toilets already exist and are in use (at the International Space Station, for example), they are designed for microgravity only," the US space agency said in a statement.

NASA's Human Landing System Programme is looking for a next-generation device that is smaller, more efficient, and capable of working in both microgravity and lunar gravity.

The new NASA challenge includes a Technical category and Junior category and the last date to send designs is August 17.

NASA's Artemis Moon mission will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024.

The Artemis programme is part of America's broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which astronauts will explore the Moon and experience gained there to enable humanity's next giant leap, sending humans to Mars.

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Agencies
July 18,2020

New Delhi, Jul 18: India's national cybersecurity agency CERT-in, has warned people of credit card skimming spreading across the world through e-commerce platforms.

Attackers are typically targeting e-commerce sites because of their wide presence, popularity and the environment LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP), the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) said in a notice on Thursday.

Recently, attackers targeted sites which were hosted on Microsoft's IIS server running with the ASP.NET web application framework, it said.

Some of the sites affected by the attack were found to be running ASP.NET version 4.0.30319, which is no longer officially supported by Microsoft and may contain multiple vulnerabilities, CERT-In said.

The notice also included a list of best practices for website developers including the use of the latest version of ASP.NET web framework, IIS web server and database server.

The advisory is based on research by Malwarebytes which found that this skimming campaign likely began sometime in April this year.

Credit card skimming has become a popular activity for cybercriminals over the past few years, and the increase in online shopping during the pandemic means additional business for them, too, Malwarebytes said in a blog post, adding that attackers do not need to limit themselves to the most popular e-commerce platforms.

Researchers from global cybersecurity and anti-virus brand Kaspersky had warned in December last year that more cybercriminal groups will target online payment processing systems in 2020. 

It said that over the past couple of years, so-called JS-skimming (the method of stealing of payment card data from online stores), has gained immense popularity among attackers. 

Kaspersky researchers in their report said they are currently aware of at least 10 different actors involved in these type of attacks.

Their number will continue to grow during the next year, the report said, adding that the most dangerous attacks will be on companies that provide services such as e-commerce as-a-service, which will lead to the compromise of thousands of companies.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Washington D.C: One of the greatest spectacles of modern art is still thriving in the Australian outback as confirmed by satellite imagery of NASA. The Marree Man is a massive geoglyph depicting an aboriginal hunter, that spans over 2.6 miles in the Southern Australian region.

Discovered by a pilot in 1998, its origin still remains a mystery even to this date.

The Marree Man was given a new lease of life in 2016 when a group of people from the neighboring town of Marree plowed its lines to avert its fading due to erosion.

After NASA shared the image of the art-work that was taken in June, the efforts of the good samaritans turned out to be a total success, reported CNN Travel.

The restoration team believes that the refurbished Marree Man would last longer than its original version.

According to NASA, "They [the team] created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation. They hope that eventually, the man will turn green."

In a previous article, CNN reported that an entrepreneur by the name of Dick Smith took upon himself to unravel the geoglyph's mystery in 2016. His team combed through all the available evidence but couldn't find anything conclusive.

In 2018 he even offered a 5,000 Australian dollar reward for anyone who knows the identity of its creator.

Nobody turned up with an answer but it was speculated that unknown artist lives in Alice Springs or even might be an American.

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