GoPro Hero 12 Black review: Action CAM with something in store for everyone

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 14, 2023 | Technology

GoPro is recognised for its rugged action cameras aimed at outdoor enthusiasts, adventurers, and alike. In the past few years, the company has pivoted to creators-focused features while keeping its devices up to speed in terms of technology. This approach has helped the company come out with products that have something in store for everyone. Case in point is the GoPro Hero 12 Black.

The 2023 iteration of the GoPro action camera maintains the design and specifications of its predecessor, featuring the GP2 chip, a 1/1.9-inch sensor with an 8:7 aspect ratio supporting 10-bit colour capture, a front-facing LCD display, and integrated mounting legs. While the core attributes remain consistent, the Hero 12 Black introduces substantial feature enhancements targeting both professionals and beginners.

For professionals, the Hero 12 Black offers high dynamic range (HDR) capture for photos and videos, GP-LOG encoding in 10-bit colours with provided LUTs for popular video editing software, timecode sync, 1/4-20 mounting threads within mounting fingers, and extended runtimes with the improved “Enduro” battery.

HDR capture, available optionally alongside standard and GP-LOG encoding, supports up to 4K resolution videos at 24 and 30 frames-per-second in 8:7 aspect ratio, and 60fps in 16:9 aspect ratio. Notably, HDR capture enhances colours and widens dynamic range, capturing finer details like shadows and highlights. However, optimal results are achieved in well-lit conditions.

GP-LOG encoding, a professional-grade feature, enables recording with higher dynamic range. While GP-LOG videos demand post-production colour grading, GoPro has thoughtfully included LUTs with the Hero 12 Black to simplify this process. Supporting 10-bit LOG encoded videos in 8:7 aspect ratio, the camera facilitates recording at 5.3K resolution at 30fps and 4K resolution at 60fps.

Timecode sync is a professional feature streamlining metadata synchronization across multiple GoPro cameras. Achieving synchronization is straightforward through the Quik app, ensuring consistent time references and operational synchronicity.

The Hero 12 Black’s “Enduro” battery pack marks a substantial improvement in on-battery time, delivering up to 2x longer runtimes compared to its predecessor. Notably, this enhancement is particularly noticeable in experiences involving 4K at 120fps and 5.3K at 60fps, though less pronounced in 4K at 60fps and 30fps.

However, this advancement comes at the expense of a GPS chip, absent in the Hero 12 Black. Consequently, overlaying stickers displaying data from the GPS chip, such as speedometer, terrain, path, and speed chart, are no longer supported.

While the aforementioned features position the Hero 12 Black as an ideal imaging device for professionals, the action camera also incorporates several upgrades catering to aspiring creators and beginners. These enhancements include redesigned controls for simplicity, a dedicated vertical capture mode, and compatibility with wireless microphones.

Simplified controls offer a more streamlined point-and-shoot experience with fewer settings and capture choices. The interface facilitates easy selection of digital lenses and video resolutions, accompanied by brief descriptions for informed decision-making. Additionally, a new vertical capture mode enables the recording of social media-ready vertical videos in landscape orientation, available in both 8:7 and 16:9 aspect ratios.

With built-in microphones featuring noise reduction, the Hero 12 Black ensures clear audio capture, albeit requiring an external microphone in challenging vocal capture environments. Notably, the camera supports Bluetooth wireless microphones, including those integrated into wireless earbuds from brands like Apple, Samsung, Google, and OnePlus. The pairing process mirrors that of other Bluetooth devices on smartphones.

The Hero 12 Black saves audio from both camera and Bluetooth mic separately in the SD card. The audio tracks, however, needs to be synced in post-production since there is a slight but noticeable lag from audio recorded through external microphone. This is not an issue if you import the video from the camera using Quik app through the USB offload or wireless mechanism. Here, however, audio from external mic overrides audio from built-in microphones.

Speaking of Quik app, it has been updated with new features too. The app lets you trim clips, apply digital lenses on recorded videos, adjust frame angles, apply filters, change speed, control volume, and adjust colours, contrast, brightness, etc. The app is particularly helpful in taking out different perspective from a single video file recorded in 8:7 aspect ratio – you can cull out videos in 16:9, 4:3, 8:7, 1:1, 7:8, 3:4, and 9:16 aspect ratios. It essentially means you can ready the video for social media and video streaming services right off from smartphone without needing any third-party app.

In conclusion, the Hero 12 Black represents a comprehensive upgrade catering to diverse user profiles. Priced at Rs 45,000, it emerges as a compelling choice for those seeking a compact camera to complement their content creation journey, offering a versatile set of features suitable for both beginners and seasoned professionals.

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Musk says new algorithm for X will make smaller creators more visible

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 14, 2023 | Technology

The company formerly known as Twitter will be rolling out a new update to its algorithm in the coming days. X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk, in a recent post, announced that the social media platform will be rolling out a ‘major update’ to the recommendation algorithm, which will help surface smaller accounts and posts outside users’ network.

Currently, the ‘For You’ feed showcases popular and trending posts from the platform alongside posts from those who are in the following list. The new algorithm will allow posts from smaller accounts to be showcased on users’ feeds, exposing them to new accounts that the algorithm thinks users will find interesting.

Over the past months, X has rolled out other features, including support for long-form posts, extending the character limit to 25,000 for premium subscribers, support for up to two hours of video content and an ad revenue-sharing program.

Recently, Elon Musk also revealed his own artificial intelligence bot to challenge ChatGPT. Dubbed Grok, it’s the first product of Musk’s xAI company and is now in testing with a limited group of US users. Grok is being developed with data from Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, and is thus better informed on the latest developments than alternative bots with static datasets, the company’s website said.

Also Read: Threads rolls-out option to disable suggestions on other platforms: Report

Grok is the product of two months of development, the xAI announcement said, and will be made available to all X Premium+ users after it exits the testing stage.

First Published: Nov 14 2023 | 10:52 AM IST

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For Google Play, dominating the Android ecosystem was ‘existential’

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 14, 2023 | Technology

By Malathi Nayak and Leah Nylen

Google agreed to pay $8 billion over four years to Samsung Electronics Co. to make its search engine, voice assistant and Play Store the default on the company’s mobile devices, according to testimony presented by Epic Games Inc.

James Kolotouros, Vice President for Partnerships at Google, testified Monday under questioning by an Epic lawyer in the San Francisco trial that Google devised plans to share app store revenue with Android mobile device makers to ensure their products were preinstalled with Google Play on home screens.

Epic, the maker of the popular Fortnite game, alleges the technology giant’s app marketplace violates antitrust laws. A lawyer for Epic presented the agreement with Samsung as an example of the deals Google made starting four years ago with mobile phone manufacturers that use the Android operating system. Kolotouros’ testimony revealed that Samsung devices account for half or more of Google Play revenue.

Epic is seeking to show that executives at the Alphabet Inc. unit were eager to discourage the proliferation of third-party app stores that would cut into Google Play’s operating profit — which was estimated by Epic earlier in the trial at more than $12 billion in 2021, from sales that include the standard 30% revenue cut the company took from app developers.

Monday’s testimony followed evidence Epic presented last week to show that Google was so concerned about game developers releasing their products independently that it was willing to spend millions to persuade them to stick with Google Play. On Tuesday Epic’s lawyers will question Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai.

Google has long struck similar deals to maintain its search engine as the preselected choice on mobile devices — agreements that are at the center of a separate antitrust showdown with the Justice Department at a trial going in Washington.

‘Existential Question’

Epic’s lawyer Lauren Moskowitz pulled up a 2019 Google internal presentation on “Project Banyan,” an initiative that involved investing funds so the Google Play Store could stand its ground against Samsung’s Galaxy App Store. The first slide said: “Existential Question — How do we continue to keep Play as the preeminent distribution platform for Android?”

In 2019, Google offered to pay Samsung $200 million over four years so that Samsung’s Galaxy Store app marketplace would be available within the Google Play store rather than preinstalled and the South Korean device maker would not offer its own payment or billing system. But that proposal was abandoned and Google went on to sign three deals with Samsung the next year worth $8 billion over four years.

One internal document showed Google saved almost $1 billion over four years by pulling back on its request for Google Play to be exclusively available on a device’s first screen, known as the home screen. That meant Google Play would appear on the home screen, but with “room” for Samsung to also add the Galaxy Store, according to the document.

Internal Emails

Epic’s lawyer questioned Kolotouros about internal emails that showed Google employees were concerned that Google Play revenue was at risk as Android phone manufacturers began launching their own app stores and payment systems. One of the emails revealed that Amazon was perceived as a threat: “I worry about Amazon store (200K apps and growing) getting a foothold in Android world,” a colleague wrote to Kolotouros in 2014.

Another internal presentation showed Google’s plans in 2019 to offer mobile device makers, aside from Samsung, a cut of Google Play revenue to safeguard against the company’s search engine and app being sidelined on mobile devices. A proposal was made to high-ranking Google executives that the company spend $2.9 billion in 2020, growing to $4.5 billion in 2023 across Search and Play, for wireless carriers and non-Samsung manufacturers to “secure platform protections for Search and Play and critical apps protections on more devices.”

To secure Google Play “exclusivity,” the company put together a tiered plan that would offer a 16% share of Google Play’s revenue to mobile device makers, or between 4% and 8% of the app store’s sales to smaller manufacturers. It would also extend up to a 12% revenue share from its Search business sales.

Under questioning by Google’s lawyer Glenn Pomerantz, Kolotouros said Google and Samsung never reached an agreement that barred Samsung from putting its Galaxy store on a device’s home screen. The deals aimed to prevent users from switching from Samsung Android devices to Apple Inc.’s iPhone, Kolotouros said, bolstering Google’s claims that its policies and agreements with developers and device makers were legitimate efforts in the name of competition.

Google attorneys showed a July 2019 email from Jamie Rosenberg, who previously led Google Play and Android operations and now serves as an adviser, to say his team was “halting” Project Banyan. “It created an incentive dynamic where store teams would be competing with each other,” according to the email.

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Vulnerabilities in India’s digital infra spur rise in cyberattacks: Experts

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 13, 2023 | Technology

A large digital footprint and vulnerabilities in India’s technological infrastructure due to the rapid pace of deployment are the reasons why India is witnessing an increasing number of cyberattacks in recent times, say experts.

“The rapid pace of digital transformation in India has sometimes resulted in the deployment of complex technological infrastructures with inherent vulnerabilities. Weaknesses in these systems can make them attractive targets for cyberattacks,” said Kumar Ritesh, founder and CEO, Cyfirma.

India witnessed a 70 per cent rise in cyberattacks in Q3 this year, with more than 1.6 billion blocked attacks across the globe originating from the country, according to a recent study by Indusface.

The State of Application Security Report by Indusface said that around 90 per cent of India’s banking and insurance sector faced bot attacks in the third quarter of this year.

“With the government’s push towards a cashless economy, there has been a surge in digital payment transactions. This has attracted the attention of cybercriminals who seek to exploit vulnerabilities in payment systems and steal sensitive financial information,” added Ritesh.

SaaS and conglomerate companies experienced ten times more attacks than the preceding quarter, according to the study.

In Q3, eight out of ten sites found themselves targeted by bot attacks, and the number of overall bot attacks was 56 per cent higher compared to the previous quarter. Further, almost every website falling under the healthcare domain faced bot attacks during this quarter.

Cybersecurity experts believe that the increased use of big data and AI has led to ‘hoarding’ of data with the hope of monetising it in the future, leading to an increase in the number of cyberattacks in India.

“With the advent of big data and AI, organisations have been hoarding humongous amounts of data with the hope to monetise it in the future, with diminishing ownership and accountability with its internal business owners. This has led to many high-profile incidents across the world,” said Vishal Salvi, CEO, Quick Heal Technologies.

“The provisions of the DPDP Act will establish accountability for misuse of personal data and also help organisations reduce their attack surface by enforcement of data retention and purging policies,” he added.

The report found India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Singapore as the major source countries of cyberattacks across the globe.

“Around 46,000 vulnerabilities were identified during Q3, with a concerning 32 per cent remaining unaddressed for over 180 days, underscoring the urgency for immediate action,” says the report.

To mitigate the increasing number of cyberattacks in India, cybersecurity experts call for the use of artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLM), and Machine Learning (ML) to develop intelligent systems that are capable of identifying and responding to cyber threats autonomously.

These technologies can adapt to new patterns and trends in data, providing a dynamic defence against cyberattacks, say experts.

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Tech firm Wings eyes 2-fold growth for wireless earbuds biz in FY24

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 13, 2023 | Technology

Consumer lifestyle tech brand Wings is expecting a two-fold growth in business from the wireless earbuds category in FY24, while for the recently launched smartwatches, it hopes to corner 1-2 per cent market share by fiscal end, a top executive said.

Wings Co-founder Vijay Venkateswaran said that for speaker and soundbars categories, it is confident of surpassing market growth rates, and anticipates 150 per cent growth in unit sales in FY24.

In FY23, nearly 95 per cent of the company’s revenue came from earbuds and this year it will likely account for 65-70 per cent share, given that new revenue lines have been added including smartwatches.

“Smartwatches last year for us was at zero (level), this year it will be hopefully about 15-20 per cent (of overall revenue). The speakers and soundbars had a 5 per cent contribution last fiscal, and this year that share will grow to 10-15 per cent in value terms,” Venkateswaran told PTI.

For the current fiscal, the business momentum in the earbuds category and the new product lines will drive 80-90 per cent revenue growth, according to Venkateswaran.

“For FY24, in the earbuds category, we should clock almost 2X growth,” Venkateswaran said.

Wings had logged Rs 85 crore in overall revenue in FY23.

The company has also entered the laptop space with the launch of the Nuvobook series.

“We aim to disrupt the big five global brands in this Rs 10,000 crore market,” he said.

The company believes this is a whitespace “ripe for disruption” by an Indian brand.

Apart from price, it is looking to differentiate the offerings based on features, specifications, and use cases.

It is targeting college students and young working professionals in the age bracket of 18-25 years, with its products.

“Laptop is something which is a part of a college-going person’s life and routine. But there is no lifestyle brand that speaks to them in this category, so our laptop offering is positioned as a lifestyle accessory and with a competitive price point which we feel will disrupt the space,” he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Apple Inc’s China sales dip boosts billion Xiaomi market rally

Apple Inc’s China sales dip boosts $20 billion Xiaomi market rally

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 13, 2023 | Technology

By Charlotte Yang

Apple Inc’s sales dip in China is providing an opportunity for yet another local Android smartphone maker to win favor with customers and investors.

Xiaomi Corp. has gained about $20 billion in market value since a June low on excitement over its latest handset as well as as forays into electric vehicles and other businesses. The Hong Kong-listed stock rose more than 60% in that span, making it the best performer on the Hang Seng Tech Index.

Chinese Android makers are capitalizing as Apple posts sliding revenue in the country, even amid signs that Asia’s largest smartphone market is starting to bottom out after years of decline.

Xiaomi’s 14 series has received over one million orders since its late-October launch. That marks the second smash debut for a Chinese smartphone in just the past few months, following Huawei Technologies Co.’s success with the Mate 60 Pro. Huawei is unlisted, but investors have been snapping up shares of its suppliers.

While Xiaomi’s stock has surged on the stellar 14 series orders, some analysts say it’s poised to climb even higher. EVs and and the so-called “artificial intelligence of things” are seen as potential additional catalysts.

“We believe there is a trading opportunity in the next six months with smartphone and AIoT growth turnarounds and early expectations building for Xiaomi’s electric vehicle foray,” Gokul Hariharan, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote in a note last week, upgrading the stock to overweight.

Other Wall Street firms including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. have cited signs of an end to China’s smartphone downturn and a likely recovery into next year. Huawei’s surprisingly strong comeback has helped triggered Chinese consumer appetite for innovative local products.

“Huawei is clearly gaining ground rapidly following the new product launch featuring its unique camera function and satellite calling,” said Jian Shi Cortesi, a fund manager at GAM Investment Management. ”iPhone sales are losing momentum in China at the moment, as many consumers don’t perceive much functionality improvement in the new iPhone.”

Xiaomi’s 14 series also sports an advanced camera, as well as the latest Qualcomm Inc. processor and an innovative operating system called HyperOS designed to connect the smartphone to autos, appliances and other AIoT devices.

While Huawei is likely to gain the most share among Chinese brands in the current smartphone cycle, Xiaomi’s technology should help it fend off rivals including Oppo and Vivo into next year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Tseng. “In addition, the potential growth opportunity in overseas markets will be in favor of Xiaomi, which has the best overseas presence among all Chinese phone vendors,” he said.

The rally in Xiaomi’s shares since the 14 series’ release has pushed them into overbought territory, technicals suggest. But market watchers say the shares could ride further on upcoming catalysts including Singles’ Day and results for the third quarter due November 20.

“Xiaomi is the only top five smartphone brand to see shipment increases both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year in 3Q 2023 as it strengthened its positions in key markets such as China and India,” Counterpoint Research wrote in a note.

The company notched “historical high” gross merchandise value for Singles’ Day, helped by strong performance for the 14 series, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Timothy Moe wrote in a note.

There are other ways to trade the idea too, as — like with Apple and Huawei — Xiaomi has its own ecosystem of suppliers. Among key component makers for Xiaomi, mainland-listed Will Semiconductor Co. and OFILM Group Co. have both climbed in the past month.

Tech Chart of the Day

Microsoft Corp. shares rose as much as 2.6% to touch a record high of $370.10 on Friday. The Windows software maker has rallied 54% this year to add about $960 billion in market value. Last month, the technology giant reported strong sales, bolstered by recovering cloud-computing growth amid demand for new artificial intelligence products.

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