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1. P30 and P30 Pro launch
Huawei’s P30 launch in Paris was more than just a P30 launch, but a continuation of its play to be the leader in smartphone cameras.
A quick run-down, before we explore what it all means with the help of some direct comments, just for readers.
The details:
- The P30 and P30 Pro went off according to the leaks.
- The two models are differentiated by size and specs, with the Pro packing all the camera bells and whistles.
- The Huawei P30 offers a smaller, flat display at 6.1 inches, the Pro with a curved 6.47-inch display, both OLED with Full HD+ resolution.
- More specs here.
- Huawei P30 has three cameras, with the Pro toting four, and which includes the new periscope optical zoom camera.
- Both use a new 40MP “SuperSpectrum sensor”, that switches from a traditional RGB filter to RYB for more light capture, paired up with a wide-angle lens too.
- And, there’s 5x optical zoom.
The camera works, too:
- All of Huawei’s camera efforts were cemented by a new peak DxOMark score of 112 (review here), topping the ranks of all smartphone cameras.
- The Pro’s photo score was 119, with a video score of 97.
- The next best devices, on a score of 109, include the Samsung S10 Plus, and Huawei’s other best performing cameras, the Mate 20 and P20 on 109.
- Here are some fun comparisons between the new P30 Pro and the old king, the P20 Pro.
P stands for photography, or is that periscope?
- It’s all about photography from these devices, as Huawei’s Richard Yu showed at length during the presentation.
- I had a confidential hands-on with both phones back in February, before MWC, at a special event in Berlin.
- The big feature (that the media couldn’t directly tell anyone about until the launch yesterday) was the periscope camera on the P30 Pro.
- The third lens on the P30 Pro looked like a square prism, and although Huawei at that stage wasn’t saying anything, quick hands-on testing showed that it offered 5x optical zoom.
- This happens via what’s called periscope-style technology, which involves no moving parts and a fixed 5x optical zoom distance, and 10x “hybrid” zoom.
- Samsung purchased a company offering this kind of technology earlier this year. OEM Oppo has worked with the company in the past.
- Expect flagships in late-2019 and beyond to offer this optical zoom.
Bogdan Petrovan, Android Authority’s Managing Editor (and occasionally at the wheel of the DGiT Daily!) attended the event in Paris, and offered these thoughts for you:
- “I go to a lot of tech launch events, and they run the gamut. Some are snooze-fests, some (a few precious ones) are genuinely exciting.
- “The Huawei P30 Pro launch event was way too long and predictable, but it did get people in the audience to clamor, even for color options (!).
- “The highlights were the camera comparisons, which literally painted Samsung’s and Apple’s devices in the worst possible light.
- “It’s all marketing, but people in the room lapped it up.
- “On a global scale, Huawei has successfully painted itself as the hot new thing. In a settled, bored market, that’s priceless.
- “What the P30 Pro has going for it is a clear focus on the camera. Whereas generalist flagships can offer incremental changes across the board, its singular focus on photography gives the P30 Pro a strong selling point and headline-making ability.
- “It definitely helps that Samsung appears to have stumbled with the Galaxy S10’s camera.
- “Having played with the phone, the cameras seem pretty…normal – definitely less mind-blowing than the demos Huawei showed on stage.
- “Perhaps I used the P30 Pro wrong?”
Detailed reviews of the camera will follow over the days and weeks – stay tuned!
2. ITC judge recommends import ban on iPhones after latest Apple vs. Qualcomm verdict – still pending further review (The Verge).
3. Samsung Galaxy A30 review: “Why does this phone exist?” (AA). (Samsung’s own A50 or the M30, beat this perfectly average device)
4. BBC pulls podcasts from Google Podcasts, Assistant, Search, but why? (AA).
5. Possibly related: Google is auto transcribing podcasts and using that for in-episode search (Android Police)
6. Also, Google has announced dynamic email support in Gmail, allowing actions within email itself. Which is useful and a new security risk and challenge (Google blog).
7. The battle for 5G is making carriers absurdly petty (Gizmodo).
8. Microsoft to hold Surface Hub 2 event on April 17th (The Verge). Looks more work than play.
9. Synthetic alcohol: “All the joy of booze – without the dangers?” (The Guardian).
10. The EU Parliament voted to approve the various and disastrous internet laws. EFF explains: what happens now, and what happens next?
11. Also, Swedish MPs accidentally pressed the wrong voting button and legalized Article 13 (Boing Boing). There is no recourse.
12. NASA now aims to return astronauts to the moon within 5 years (CNET).
13. Cool gif: Jupiter ‘shepherds’ the asteroid belt, preventing the asteroids from falling into the sun or accreting into a new planet (r/educationalgifs).
14. What game is easy to learn but also very satisfying to play? (r/askreddit)
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