While there are plenty of video editing tools built into smartphones, it can take some skill to pull off an edit that’s pleasing to the eye. But Google Photos looks set to change that.
By digging into an upcoming version of the Photos app, Android Authority contributor and code-diver Assemble Debug found a feature called “Enhance your videos”, and with a bit of work, got it up and running. As one would guess from the name, the feature is used to enhance videos accessed via the Photos app in a single tap.
Enhance your videos can automatically adjust brightness, contrast, color saturation and other visual parameters for a selected video in order to deliver an edited version that should look better than the original, at least in the eyes of Google.
While this feature isn’t official yet, it may be somewhat familiar to Google Photos users, as there’s already an option to enhance photos in the web and mobile versions of the service. In my experience, the enhance option works rather well, though it’s far from perfect and can overbake its enhancements.
But it makes sense for Google to extend this enhancement function to videos, especially in the TikTok era; do go and check out the TechRadar TikTok for news, views and reactions to the latest tech.
One neat thing about Enhance your video, according to Android Authority, is that all the processing happens on-device, thereby bypassing the need for an internet connection and cloud-based processing. Whether this will work on older phones without AI-centric chipsets remains to be seen.
Given that Assemble Debug got the Enhance your video feature up and running, it looks like it could be nearing an official rollout. We can expect to hear more about this and other upcoming Google features, as well as Android 15, at Google I/O 2024, which is set to kick off on May 14.
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I’ve been coveringhearing aids for WIRED for nearly three years now, and I regularly talk to users and prospects about them when I wear them in public. Regardless of what I’m testing, one brand name has consistently and repeatedly popped up during that time: Jabra.
The Danish brand has a long history making a variety of audio gear, but I’ve always associated it mostly with the Bluetooth headset craze of the aughts. The brand made an early entrance into the over-the-counter hearing aid market (via an acquisition), and it hasn’t let up since, releasing new OTC models at a steady clip.
The latest of these is the Jabra Enhance Select 300, the brand’s smallest and most advanced model yet. You wouldn’t really know it just from the look of the aids. These are fairly standard behind-the-ear models that, while quite small (2.64 grams each), don’t offer any obvious surprises. The demure gray chassis sits close to the back of the ear and snakes a silver cable to the ear canal. Each aid carries a single button on its reverse.
Photograph: Jabra Enhance
Jabra front-loads a lot of the purchase process to ensure your aids arrive preconfigured. You can take an online hearing test or, as I did, upload a professional audiogram; either option allows Jabra’s audiologists to tune the product appropriately before it is shipped. The company also asks you to take a lengthy medical questionnaire to rule out any hearing-related medical problems before sending out the product. Eventually, the digital chatter can get a little tiresome: During the shopping process, Jabra even asks about your credit rating and suggests a monthly payment plan for its lowest-priced product if you say your credit is trash. Once you do place an order, Jabra barrages you with introductory emails and invites you to schedule an orientation with an audiologist to walk you through the hardware and the app. Admittedly, some of this is helpful—especially the Zoom orientation—but Jabra could stand to pump the breaks on the auto-mailer a bit.
There’s plenty to explore once your hearing aids arrive. For example, if you aren’t sure which type of ear tips are best for you, you’ll have ample room to experiment, because the company sends seven different baggies of them to try out, including open, closed, and tulip-style tips in a multitude of sizes. I counted 70 different tips in total, and I have no doubt that Jabra would happily send more if I asked.
With tips installed (I usually test with open tips), I found that getting the aids situated on my ears was made a bit easier thanks to a pinging sound that plays—Jabra calls it Smart Start—while you are guiding the receivers into your ear canal. Controls are as basic as they come: the button on the right aid turns the volume up for both aids, the one on the left turns volume down, and either one cycles through the programs—four in total—if you hold it down for a couple of seconds.
Naturally you’ll get a lot more out of the hearing aids if you connect your set to a mobile app, and Jabra actually has two apps to choose from. The Enhance Pro app comes up first in the app store, but the Enhance Select app is newer. They work about the same way, but since the Enhance Select is more recent I’ll write mostly about it. Primarily you’ll use the app to move among the four modes—All Around, Restaurant, Music, and Outdoor—all of which are self-explanatory. Each mode has extra options associated with it; for most you can select between “noise filter” to mute ambient sounds or “speech clarity” to boost conversational volume. These can be further customized thanks to three equalizer sliders corresponding to bass, middle, and treble frequencies. Volume can be set globally or individually per ear in the app as well. Of special note: Any customizations you make to programs aside from the All Around mode are reset to defaults once the hearing aids are put back into the charging case.
In today’s digital-first environment children are being routinely exposed to harmful, age-restricted and even illegal content online. The continued proliferation of smart devices and easy, anywhere access to user-generated content (UGC) through social media and chat platforms is only exacerbating the issue.
At the tap of a button, individuals can now be exposed to more adult, extreme and illegal content than ever before. And in the UK it has been revealed that children themselves are now the biggest perpetrators of sexual abuse against children (52%).
The UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has directly correlated this trend with the ease of access young people have to the internet via smartphones. While the IWF has revealed that the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) will only exacerbate the creation, distribution and ease of access to illegal content such as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) further.
Safer Internet Day brings together thousands of young people, parents and organizations each year to raise awareness of how children can stay safe online. It provides an opportunity to bring the conversation and enforcement of safer practices to the mainstream, helping to protect children from inappropriate or illegal content and visiting the dark web.
This year it must also become a springboard for businesses to enhance their online age assurance and content moderation to ensure they are doing their utmost to protect the young and vulnerable.
Michal Karnibad
Ease of Access in an online world
While the internet’s easy accessibility has brought numerous benefits, the truth is that as a result of its rapid, and often unregulated development, children now have unprecedented access to age restricted and illegal online content.
This is naturally a leading concern for parents, with research from Ofcom revealing that 75% worry about their children seeing inappropriate content when online. 73% specified this as adult or sexual content.
Not only is the viewing of this content a horrific occurrence in itself, but it also leads to a detrimental impact on children’s longer-term wellbeing and mental health, as well as warping young people’s views on sex and appropriate behavior.
Many popular social media sites permit users to create accounts from just 13 years of age, despite the fact that age-restricted and illegal content can be accessed and shared. This, paired with the camera and video capabilities of modern smart devices, makes it all too easy for users to produce, upload and view inappropriate content quickly.
The digital world therefore needs to catch up with the offline world, where viewing an individual’s documentation and physical appearance is the norm, making it far easier and practical for authorities to restrict them from accessing age-restricted products and content.
Age assurance and content moderation
To overcome these challenges, organizations must rapidly deploy and enhance their age assurance and content moderation infrastructure. The advent of technologies such as AI has made it far easier and practical than ever before to identify and stamp out illegal content online at scale, accurately and at a low cost.
With regulatory guidance on online safety measures still forthcoming, organizations have historically had little business incentive to implement these technologies. But the wellbeing of our young people is at stake. Rather than pointing fingers now is the time to implement pragmatic solutions to solve the issue of how we best protect children online. Businesses should be engaging and partnering with subject matter experts in this area, including the regulators and safety tech providers. This way we can build an ecosystem of effective solutions that when implemented truly provide protection to young people when they go online.
With a plethora of age assurance solutions such as email address age estimation now out there, businesses have the tools at their disposal to verify the age of customers with minimal friction. At the same time, content moderation tools now enable the analysis of uploaded or live-streamed content in real-time, before it is published, providing instant solutions that flag or remove illegal material.
Furthermore the implementation of proactive solutions such as uploader and participant verification facilitate consent and reduce the risk of revenge porn, intimate image abuse, exploitation, slavery and sex trafficking.
Safety and privacy
Despite these available tools, work still needs to be done to protect children online and remove illegal content from sites. This challenge is often exacerbated by the ongoing safety and privacy debate, where technology companies and social media firms state the importance of encryption in keeping user data safe. The problem with encryption, however, is that it can be abused by bad actors to distribute and circulate age-restricted or illegal content online.
This is a debate which will only grow in prominence over the next few months, especially now that the UK’s Online Safety Act has come into law. Fortunately, as new privacy preserving authentication tools emerge, such as email address, organizations will be able to mitigate this concern. This is something which was specifically called out in recent guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the body that regulates both privacy (GDPR in the UK) and online content.
It’s only logical therefore that while the regulators push out these new robust laws, and social media and technology firms adapt to the changes, businesses become responsible for their own actions. This means taking the lead on implementing age assurance and content moderation tools that drive meaningful change across their industries. Safer Internet Day provides the perfect opportunity to start doing this.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
In the fast-paced world of digital innovation, developers are constantly seeking ways to manage large volumes of data effectively. The recent integration of Pinecone, a service known for its scalable indexing capabilities, with the Semantic Router library, marks a significant advancement in AI data management technology. This powerful combination offers developers the tools they need to process and handle extensive datasets with both ease and accuracy.
For applications that demand the rapid processing of large datasets, such as voice assistants and recommendation systems, this integration is particularly beneficial. Pinecone’s ability to scale means that it can handle an enormous number of routes and utterances smoothly, ensuring that applications stay responsive and operate efficiently. Pinecone serverless lets you deliver remarkable GenAI applications faster, at up to 50x lower cost say it’s development team.
At the heart of this integration lies Pinecone’s indexing service, which provides persistent storage for route layers. This feature is essential for applications that require consistent and reliable performance over time, as it ensures that data remains secure and stable.
Combining Steerable AI with Pinecone and Semantic
One of the key advantages of integrating Pinecone with the Semantic Router is the ease with which route layers can be transferred. Developers can move data effortlessly between different sessions and environments, which simplifies the development process and reduces the time spent on managing data. The Semantic Router library complements Pinecone’s indexing service by offering advanced capabilities for breaking down documents and conversations into smaller, more manageable pieces. This process, known as chunking, makes it easier to sort and direct information efficiently. Watch the overview video below kindly created by James Briggs and the team at Aurelio AI.
Here are some other articles you may find of interest on the subject of using AI for data management :
To take advantage of this integration, developers use Hugging Face datasets and encoders. These tools are crucial for setting up route layers and converting datasets into a format that is compatible with Pinecone’s indexing. Proper preparation of data is vital for ensuring that routing and retrieval are both smooth and effective.
Ease of use is a central feature of this integration. Developers can create custom index names, which allows for better organization and quick access to route layers. The option to use pre-existing routes from Pinecone’s index also makes it easier to set up applications. The collaboration between Pinecone and the Semantic Router library provides developers with a sophisticated solution for managing large-scale data. This integration combines the strengths of Pinecone’s scalable indexing and durable storage with the Semantic Router’s advanced chunking capabilities. The result is a user-friendly and adaptable approach to data management that meets the evolving needs of today’s applications.
AI data management
This integration is not just about storing and retrieving data; it’s about doing so in a way that is both intelligent and efficient. The Semantic Router library’s chunking feature is particularly useful for developers working with complex datasets, such as those found in natural language processing or machine learning applications. By breaking down data into smaller segments, the library makes it easier to analyze and understand large volumes of information.
Moreover, the integration is designed to be flexible, accommodating the changing requirements of various applications. Whether you’re working on a small project or a large-scale enterprise application, the tools provided by Pinecone and the Semantic Router can scale to meet your needs.
The integration also emphasizes collaboration and sharing among developers. By using Hugging Face datasets and encoders, developers can tap into a community-driven ecosystem of tools that are constantly being refined and improved. This not only saves time but also ensures that applications are built on top of the latest advancements in data management technology.
Furthermore, the integration is built with the future in mind. As data continues to grow in both size and complexity, the need for robust and scalable data management solutions becomes more critical. Pinecone and the Semantic Router are poised to handle this growth, providing a foundation that can support the next generation of digital applications.
Developers looking to streamline their data management processes will find this integration particularly appealing. The combination of Pinecone’s indexing service with the Semantic Router’s chunking capabilities offers a level of control and precision that was previously difficult to achieve. This means that developers can spend less time worrying about data management and more time focusing on creating innovative applications.
Overall, the integration of Pinecone with the Semantic Router library is a significant development for anyone involved in managing large datasets. It offers a blend of power, flexibility, and ease of use that is well-suited for the demands of modern applications. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, tools like these will become increasingly important, helping developers to harness the full potential of their data.
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Even with the leaps in technology from Stable Diffusion, OpenAI and Midjourney AI artistry is still in its infancy. Artists can use AI prompts to inspire their creativity and imagination. With the AI art generator using machine learning algorithms to generate unique and creative art pieces from the provided prompts. These Midjourney prompt styles range from simple to complex, mundane to abstract, and can be used in various AI image generators like Leonardo AI, Midjourney and others, offering different looks and styles. Although OpenAI’s new DallE 3 provides a more textual approach allowing you to simply describe exactly what you would like DallE 3 to create.
Using any method of prompting can be enhanced by knowing exactly which words to use to describe your final artwork This guide aims to inspire artists to explore the potential of AI in new directions and to experiment with new and varied prompts to take your AI art to a new level and more interesting directions.
Vintage Cyanotype Photography
This prompt infuses the time-honored cyanotype photographic printing process with contemporary visual elements. It generates a unique blend of old and new by overlaying modern subjects or scenery onto a cyan blue print, much like traditional architectural blueprints. The final product offers a rich, layered aesthetic that marries the nostalgic charm of vintage photography with modern-day appeal, making it perfect for a chic wall poster or art piece.
Vintage Trading Cards
This prompt explores the realm of vintage trading cards but with a humorous and slightly grotesque twist. It not only captures the essence of collectible trading cards but also adds a layer of distressed texture to evoke a sense of nostalgia. The cards create a narrative experience, featuring off-kilter characters or subjects, making them ideal for collectors who appreciate the eccentric.
Modern Whimsical Floral Scenes
Designed to create a visually captivating setting, this prompt merges elements of fantasy with realistic floral arrangements. It allows for personalization of subjects and color schemes, enabling you to tailor-make a scene that feels whimsically real. The resulting compositions evoke the beauty of nature while infusing it with a touch of fantasy, offering a refreshing twist on traditional floral art.
Fashion Portrait in Slim Aarons Style
This prompt is inspired by the iconic work of American photographer Slim Aarons. It blends elements of magic realism with mid-century chic to create fashion portraits that are both timeless and fantastical. The prompt allows for adjustments in fashion styles and background elements, making it possible to create a portrait that resonates with various eras and themes.
Interior Design Layouts
For those fascinated by interior design, this prompt delivers stunningly realistic room layouts that could seamlessly fit into any design magazine. The generated images offer a comprehensive view of a decorated room, showcasing furniture arrangements, color schemes, and even room accessories. This prompt is a boon for design enthusiasts looking to visualize different decor styles before making real-world decisions.
Artistic this
if you are looking for inspiration on how you can use Midjourney and other AI art generator is to create more exciting visual images. I highly recommend subscribing to the Making the Photo: AI Edition YouTube channel for inspiration, tips and tricks. check out the video below to learn more about how you can prompt Midjourney to create some truly amazing AI art.
Surreal Landscapes
This prompt allows you to venture into the realm of surrealism while maintaining a foundation of realistic elements. Whether it’s a dreamy sky or bizarre land formations, the resulting scenes are anchored by real-world components, providing a fascinating juxtaposition that challenges the viewer’s perception of reality.
Fantasy Abstract Cloudscapes
For those who find solace in the skies, this prompt creates mesmerizing cloudscapes featuring swirling vortexes and organic forms. The compositions evoke ethereal landscapes that may include realistic or fantasy elements. It’s a perfect choice for those looking to create wallpapers or large-scale prints that have both visual depth and emotional resonance.
How to get the best results from your Midjourney prompts
Other articles you may find of interest on the subject of Midjourney prompts :
Retro Futurism Illustrations
This style combines elements from the past and visions of the future to create artwork that feels both nostalgic and forward-looking. It’s ideal for those who appreciate the aesthetics of yesteryears but are fascinated by the possibilities of tomorrow.
Knolling Photography
Organizing objects at 90-degree angles on a flat surface, this style is perfect for instructional or product photography. It offers a visually pleasing way to display various components, tools, or objects.
Cinematic Storyboards
These prompts allow for the creation of sequential art that outlines scenes for filmmaking. They are perfect for visualizing the narrative flow of a movie or video project, capturing the essence of each scene in a simplified form.
Collage Art
This style prompts the AI to merge various visual elements, whether they are photographs, illustrations, or text, into a single composite image. The result is a layered artwork that tells a story or creates a thematic or aesthetic unity.
Geometric Abstraction
Focused on the use of geometric shapes and forms, this style is great for creating abstract art that plays with symmetry, balance, and color interaction.
Colorful Graphic Illustration
This prompt encourages a playful merging of neopop and rizograph styles to produce vibrant graphic illustrations. It allows for the incorporation of emojis and other modern communicative symbols, resulting in artwork that is both visually striking and culturally relevant.
Stenciled Tattoo Design
Geared towards body art enthusiasts, this prompt generates graphic, print-like designs well-suited for tattoos or even t-shirt prints. The resulting images carry a retro vibe, incorporating large blocks of color and bold outlines, offering a stylized look that can be adapted to various subjects and themes.
Caricature Sketch
This prompt delivers offbeat, intricate, and endearing caricature drawings. It utilizes a combination of style words to produce intricate sketches that capture the essence of a subject while exaggerating certain features for comedic or dramatic effect. The final sketches are not just visually intriguing but also emotionally engaging.
Stylized Sketch in Soggy Rain
Ideal for those who appreciate the emotional weight of a scene, this prompt produces detailed and somewhat melancholic sketches set against a backdrop of rain. The generated artwork captures the subdued mood and atmospheric elements, creating a sense of longing or contemplation that resonates with the viewer.
Iconic Art Inspired by the Masters
This prompt leverages the AI’s understanding of classic artworks to generate new pieces inspired by iconic masters like Vermeer. It allows for subject changes and thematic adjustments, letting you create a modern-day rendition of classics like ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring.’
Artist Combination Scenes
Designed for those who enjoy a fusion of styles, this prompt merges different artistic approaches to create something fresh and exciting. Whether it’s blending Impressionism with Cubism or any other combination, the resulting artwork is a unique intersection of artistic philosophies.
Pop Culture Mashups
This prompt offers a cultural smorgasbord by allowing the blending of various pop culture elements, from Salvador Dali to The Simpsons. It’s an excellent choice for those looking to create artwork that makes a contemporary cultural statement.
Sci-fi Meets Baroque
A feast for lovers of complex art, this prompt combines the intricate details of Baroque art with the futuristic elements of science fiction. The resulting scene is dark, detailed, and unsettling, often featuring a mix of organic and mechanical elements.
Emotionally-Charged Themes
This prompt allows the incorporation of specific emotional undertones, from fear to joy. By explicitly stating the desired emotion, you can guide the AI to generate artwork that not only visually captivates but also emotionally engages the viewer.
Faded Tonal Tint
Ideal for those seeking a more subdued aesthetic, this prompt employs mesotint techniques to produce faded images with slight color tints. The result is a piece of art that feels gentle yet impactful, suitable for a variety of decorative settings.
Tech-Infused Pixel Art
Perfect for the tech-savvy, this prompt merges infographic styles with 8-bit graphics to create pixelated works of art. It allows you to set background colors and incorporate various subjects, resulting in a piece that feels both retro and modern.
Pattern Creation
Geared towards lovers of geometrical and repetitive designs, this prompt facilitates the creation of intricate patterns. Whether you opt for fractals or mosaics, the resulting artwork offers visual depth through its complex layering and shading.
Poetic and Interpretative
This prompt is less about visual specifics and more about thematic vibes. It allows you to guide the AI in a general emotional or thematic direction, resulting in artwork that feels poetic, interpretative, and open to viewer engagement.
These prompts not only serve as a starting point to expand your AI art but also offer a great reference for creative exploration and personalization, allowing you to push the prompts even further. Midjourney can be used to create a diverse range of art styles, from vintage to modern, surreal to iconic, and everything in between. The prompts provided in this guide are not just for copying but to open up your creative imagination and let your artistic ideas take off. So keep exploring, trying new things, and sharing your creations.
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