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News: Analysis
things such as people, sky, sand, and so
on. The system can be trained to recognise
different things, even a type of food. To do
this, it uses the Zeroth neural processing
platform and the heterogeneous cores.
The fact that it can detect different image
types and scenes means the photos can be
automatically organised into those different
categories, making your life a bit easier.
Snapdragon Low Light Vision
Low light is where everyone is striving
to make improvements and Qualcomm’s
answer is adaptive brightness and noise
reduction. It says the Low Light Vision
system can compensate for HDR scene and
motion artefacts usually created by camera
or subject movement. The firm promises
DSLR‐like results, without needing kit like
a ‘proper’ lens. Bold claims, then.
Imaging
Intelligent camcorder
Also related to Scene Detect, the Intelligent
Camcorder has the ability to recognise
and track multiple objects using ‘computer
vision’. Qualcomm even says it will be able
to pick out your child in order to focus
on them instead of anyone else, even
across a football field full of kids.
Immersive Audio
Audio is an area often overlooked, but
the Snapdragon 820 aims to offer a
better experience producing what it calls
a “centre of sound that’s faithfully sharp
and immersive, unmatched on other audio
platforms”. Immersive 3D sound is also
touted for when you’re wearing headphones.
Smart Protect
This looks for bad behaviour in software
to stop malware before a security vendor
has identified it. Qualcomm has taught the
Snapdragon 820 what to look out for. J
Google+ updates aim to breathe new
life into ailing social network
Google whittled down its Google+ platform to the bone as part of a new redesign that highlights
groups and topics. But does the latest batch of changes represent a new beginning for the
struggling social network, or the beginning of the end? Matt Kapko reports
C
ompanies that build social networks
do not have an infinite number of
chances to get things right before
users lose interest and flee. Google likely ran
out of time to achieve its original goal with
Google+ (to become the end‐all, be‐all social
network), but the company recently made a
significant move to salvage what remains of
its once grandiose vision for social.
Google+ has been redesigned, or
“reimagined” as the company put it, to
focus on the four‐year‐old social network’s
strengths. Communities, Google’s new
take on its former Groups feature, and
Collections, the platform’s new format for
organising posts by topic, are now the most
prominent elements of Google+.
An average of 1.2 million users join new
Communities each day, according to Google,
and Collections is growing even faster. The
search giant has slowly retreated from its
grand social experiment for years, but the
fate of Google+ became even less clear
last summer when the company formally
abandoned its strategy to shoehorn the
platform into other major Google products.
Today’s Google+ a
shadow of its former self
Google’s Photos, Hangouts chat and other
features that were once core to Google+
were stripped out and released as standalone
products. The remaining pieces of Google+,
along with this latest redesign, suggest
Google is no longer interested in building
an all‐inclusive social platform.
Forrester Research analyst Erna Alfred‐
Liousas said many of today’s successful
social networks are designed for specific
activities or pursuits. “If Google+ is going
to be reinvigorated, focusing on what
people enjoy is a good start,” she added.
“This isn't about competition right now. It is
about making sure what they're offering is
actually what people want.”
Google streamlined the service to focus
on what it does best, with a new design
that aims to deliver a consistent experience
across desktop, Android and iOS devices.
You can opt in to the preview of the new
Google+ on the web by clicking the ‘Let’s
go’ prompt the next time they log in. Google
says updated apps for Android and iOS will
be released in the coming days.
Google+ may be on the ropes, but
Alfred‐Liousas doesn’t believe the platform
is down for the count. “Though [Google's]
first foray into social provided less than
stellar results, there are learnings for
them,” he revealed. “They now have a
better understanding of what is necessary
to maintain the audience it developed, as
well as potentially attract new people.”
While Google is positioning these latest
changes as a new beginning, it will have
to battle a growing market perception that
the company has missed its window to
regain lost momentum. J
February 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news 17