64-megapixel sensor for mobiles unveiled

Korean smartdevice manufacturer Samsung recently unveiled a new type of imaging sensor that paves the way for the coming of 64-megapixel camera phones.

Dubbed “ISOCELL Bright GW1,” the sensor is basically a larger imaging sensor compared to the brand’s current 48-megapixel sensor – which means that it can capture more light that results to better image quality outputs.

The “ISOCELL Bright GW1” is expected to go into mass production within the second half of the year. Industry analysts expect Samsung’s late 2019 smartphone lineup to come with the said sensor, and should things pan out as foreseen, models that come with the “ISOCELL Bright GW1” will be among the first to break 48-meapixel camera phone mark.

Epson unveils its newest augmented-reality glasses

Epson, a brand known for printers, projectors and document scanners, recently unveiled its newest augmented reality (AR) glasses – the Moverio BT-30C.

Essentially an update of the previously released BT-100 glasses, the BT-30C is a sleeker, more lightweight AR glasses kit that allows wearers to do a variety of tasks without using their hands on their smartphone or PC.

Positioned as a future-ready device, the kit connects to a phone or computer through a USB-C port. It supports a variety of functions, like projecting a web browser page at its center field of view, a word processor at its left and perhaps a streamed movie or TV show at its right.

Like most devices of its class, the Moverio BT-30C isn’t exactly positioned as a device for the mainstream electronics consumer market, given that the mainstream adoption of AR-integrated human input devices has been forecasted to go full swing in the next five or so years.

Currently, businesses are the major investors in devices like the Moverio, which mainly utilizes these as hands-free devices for employees.

The device’s unveiling, however, illustrates how Epson is pushing for the general development of the AR-glasses field, which a number of drone enthusiasts, movie theaters and museums have invested in.

More information on the glasses kit and developments in AR tech in general are hosted on Epson’s official online channels.

Google’s gender-fluid emojis

Over the weekend, Google rolled out 53 new gender-fluid emojis for Pixel-branded phones on beta.

The rollout stems from Google’s attempt to simplify the emoji keyboard with characters that are neither male nor female – to de-clutter the now-cluttered emoji options that have grown over the years.

Industry experts note that the number of emojis has grown to over 3000 from the 176 characters and symbols that were initially rolled out as emojis in 1999. The implementation of a gender-fluid emoji set is basically intended to de-burden emoji caches from surplus icons or characters.

To-date, the new gender-fluid emojis can only be accessed through Pixel-branded phones. The emoji set is expected to be included in the next version of Google’s Android mobile operating system (codenamed Android Q) which will be released later in the year.