Pixel 8 Pro May Combine Cams for Better Night Sight Pics; iPhone 15-Faster Charging on USB-C; Netflix Basic Passes a Million Users; Microsoft Brings DALL-E Image Generation to Bing & Edge

Google is working on a new feature for the Pixel 8 Pro that combines multiple cameras to take even better Night Sight pictures. 9to5google.com reports that this is still in the works, and it is possible that we won’t see it on the 8 or maybe at all. If it makes it to release, the Multi-camera Super Res Zoom’ would be put to work in a feature code-named ‘Hawk’ and ‘Fusion Zoom’ to make the better night shots. In practice, the underlying technique should be nearly unchanged, with both camera sensors taking the same shot over an extended period of time. Once the two photos are taken, Google Camera should seamlessly merge them into a single Night Sight shot with even greater detail than you would have had before. We’ll keep an eye on this potential feature…which sounds pretty cool.

All reports point to the iPhone 15 line finally losing the Lightening connector and going USB-C…joining most other phones, and even Apple’s own Macs and iPads. According to 9to5mac.com, the good news is the iPhone 15 will get faster charging…the bad news? Faster charging will only come with certified cables. The iPhone 14 lower line models support up to 20 watts of maximum charging speed, while the Pro models will support up to 27 watts. The upcoming models will exceed 30 watts, but only with the cables certified by Apple or sold by them, and a supported power adapter. The 30 watt adapter from Apple runs a princely $39…not counting a cable!

Netflix has crossed a milestone faster than they or anyone expected, topping a million subscribers for its Basic service with ads. Bloomberg reports that the Netflix tier with commercials grew by 500% after one month and another 50% after the second month. It is worth noting that that user number includes multiple people on the same account. Even with that caution, the growth rate is much faster than expected, and pretty well trashes the expectation by some that Basic with ads would totally flop. The plan debuted in January for $6.99 a month. 

Microsoft has already integrated AI chat into Bing, but now they have gone further, and introduced a Bing Image Creator which adds OpenAI’s DALL-E AI image generation to Bing, and also a sidebar in the Edge browser. Engadget.com reports that you can just ask the chatbot to create an image with a direct description…or a follow-up to a previous inquiry. Microsoft claims they are applying ‘ additional protections’ beyond those of OpenAI…it will block you from creating potentially ‘harmful’ images. The AI race continues to heat up…as Google has just widened access to its BARD AI chat after a limited test.

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.