After promising to fix Gemini’s image generation feature and then pausing it altogether, Google has published a blog post offering an explanation for why its technology overcorrected for diversity. Prabhakar Raghavan, the company’s Senior Vice President for Knowledge & Information, explained that Google’s efforts to ensure that the chatbot would generate images showing a wide range of people “failed to account for cases that should clearly not show a range.” Further, its AI model grew to become “way more cautious” over time and refused to answer prompts that weren’t inherently offensive. “These two things led the model to overcompensate in some cases, and be over-conservative in others, leading to images that were embarrassing and wrong,” Raghavan wrote.
Google made sure that Gemini’s image generation couldn’t create violent or sexually explicit images of real persons and that the photos it whips up would feature people of various ethnicities and with different characteristics. But if a user asks it to create images of people that are supposed to be of a certain ethnicity or sex, it should be able to do so. As users recently found out, Gemini would refuse to produce results for prompts that specifically request for white people. The prompt “Generate a glamour shot of a [ethnicity or nationality] couple,” for instance, worked for “Chinese,” “Jewish” and “South African” requests but not for ones requesting an image of white people.
Gemini also has issues producing historically accurate images. When users requested for images of German soldiers during the second World War, Gemini generated images of Black men and Asian women wearing Nazi uniform. When we tested it out, we asked the chatbot to generate images of “America’s founding fathers” and “Popes throughout the ages,” and it showed us photos depicting people of color in the roles. Upon asking it to make its images of the Pope historically accurate, it refused to generate any result.
Raghavan said that Google didn’t intend for Gemini to refuse to create images of any particular group or to generate photos that were historically inaccurate. He also reiterated Google’s promise that it will work on improving Gemini’s image generation. That entails “extensive testing,” though, so it may take some time before the company switches the feature back on. At the moment, if a user tries to get Gemini to create an image, the chatbot responds with: “We are working to improve Gemini’s ability to generate images of people. We expect this feature to return soon and will notify you in release updates when it does.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-explains-why-geminis-image-generation-feature-overcorrected-for-diversity-121532787.html?src=rss
We reviewed the HONOR Magic V2 last month, and we were thrilled to play with its luxury sibling, the HONOR Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition. Both devices are large foldable phones comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the OnePlus Open in size and performance. However, they offer a significantly thinner chassis than their competitors.
Designed in collaboration with PORSCHE, the HONOR Magic V2 RSR features a fiberglass body with an anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield and a titanium hinge. Announced on January 11 in China, it comes with a premium PORSCHE DESIGN case and includes the HONOR Magic Pen.
Besides the NanoCrystal Shield on the external screen and the unique sports car design, the other differences with the Magic V2 are the 1 TB of storage, the stylus, and the two chargers included in the box.
Competition, Price & Availability
From a display quality and computing power point of view, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR is on par with the Galaxy Z Fold 5, except for its lack of a waterproofing IP rating (the Fold 5 is IP X8), its thinner chassis, and its significantly faster charging speed.
The Magic V2 RSR ’s display and SoC (processor) are also similar to the thicker Oneplus Open, except for the camera performance.
Being a luxury device, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR is the most expensive foldable to date. Launched at 15,999 yuan for the Chinese market (~$2,200), we are still waiting for the international market price. By comparison, the Magic V2 costs £1,699.99 in the UK, €1,999 in select E.U. countries (approximately $2,150).
Design
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR stands out as one of the thinnest foldable phones available today, measuring just 4.7 mm thick when unfolded and weighing a mere 234g, lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra by 5 grams. It features an inward-folding design, making it the thinnest inward-foldable smartphone on the market. Available in Agate Grey, a color paying homage to Porsche luxury cars, its flyline design on the back draws inspiration from the sleek lines of a Porsche 911’s hood.
Enhanced with anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield, it offers exceptional durability, boasting ten times (10X) the protection against falls and scratches compared to regular glass, according to HONOR. The super-light Titanium Hinge ensures both lightness and durability.
Its Flyline Camera Module, inspired by Porsche cars, integrates a 3-lens camera framed by lightweight yet robust titanium, a material featured in many motorsport vehicles.
The package includes a beautiful case, the Magic Pen stylus with its magnetic case, and two 66W fast chargers. Both the internal and external displays of the device fully support stylus input.
Displays
Like the Magic V2, the Magic V2 RSR features an external 6.43-inch OLED display with 1060 x 2376 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits. Internally, it boasts a nearly square 7.92-inch display with 2156 x 2344 resolution, also with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a theoretical peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Both screens feature stylus support, so users can take notes or draw using the Magic Pen provided in the box.
HONOR emphasizes its 3840Hz PWM dimming tech, alleviating eye strain during prolonged phone use. In contrast to the Magic V2, the PORSCHE Edition features an anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield display, tested by the HONOR lab to be ten times more scratch-resistant than regular glass.
For the Magic V2 RSR, HONOR partnered with Gameloft to introduce a modified version of the popular game “Asphalt 9: Legends”, specifically tailored for large foldable screens. The collaboration brings 120 FPS gameplay at a higher resolution for the foldable form factor, promising a top-notch gaming experience.
Camera
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers the same typical triple rear camera as the Magic V2. The camera system a 50-megapixel main, a 20-megapixel telephoto with a 2.5x optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. There is a 16 MP punch-hole selfie camera on each screen, capable of shooting 4K video at 30 fps. The rear camera can shoot 4K video at 60 fps.
Watermark function
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers a Watermark function with two customizable options for users to show that their images originate from a limited-edition smartphone camera. Accessible in the settings, users can choose between two watermark styles. The default option displays “PORSCHE DESIGN I HONOR Magic V2 RSR” in the lower-left corner of the photos. The HONOR frame option adds additional data to the lower right corner, including focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO level, and date and time.
Motion Sensing Capture Technology
The Motion Sensing Capture Technology leverages AI trained on a dataset of over 270,000 images. It accurately identifies scenarios and key moments, aiding automatic shot capture. Ideal for live events, the feature detects facial expressions such as smiles and body postures such as jumping, improving startup, focus, shutter, and imaging speed for swift scene capture within milliseconds.
Hover Photography
Using the self-timer found in the camera settings, users can exploit the folding capabilities to capture photos akin to using a tripod. Simply fold the phone at a 90-degree angle and position it on a table or any suitable surface for stable shooting.
Camera Performance
Ultrawide camera
The Honor Magic V2 and Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition have an identical camera setup, and it shows. The PORSCHE Edition performs similarly to its twin, as highlighted in our Magic V2 Review. It is generally a good camera, but its performance is exceptional in relation to how thin the chassis is.
The thinner the chassis is, the harder it is to fit quality electro-optics components. That’s why the hardware quality of the Honor Magic V2 family is so impressive from a technology standpoint. The ultra-thin chassis is a huge design and overall usability advantage, but it’s also an obstacle to having powerful lenses.
Wide camera
This choice is more a matter of taste rather than quality, and most people have strong opinions one way or the other, so you’ll have to choose which you like better. That aside, the Magic V2 series photos are agreeable to share.
The 2.5X Zoom is appropriate for portrait photography, but not optimized for very long zoom “sniper” shots similar to what 10X optical zoom cameras can capture. And that makes sense since it is extremely difficult to include a periscope lens in this edgy design.
Telephoto camera with 2.5X optical zoom
Telephoto camera with ~10X digital zoom
At night, the rear camera does a good job of preserving the general mood of the scene, but other cameras can capture more details, such as material Textures (bricks, wood, asphalt, etc..).
Still, the Honor Magic V2 series (including this Porsche Edition) performs closest to the Google Pixel Fold. In most situations, the biggest difference people will see when compared to other high-end foldables is the photo aesthetic of the Honor camera, which is very bright (some would say over-exposed) and more saturated than what your eyes see.
Performance
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR houses last year’s Qualcomm flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage. In daily usage, including 3D gaming, performance remains fluid.
Measured performance
Since the hardware is the same, the Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition delivers the same performance as the Magic V2.
As you can see from the charts, despite its remarkable thinness, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR demonstrates excellent performance within the realm of foldable phones. This achievement is attributed mainly to HONOR’’s implementation of an advanced cooling system known as the Ultra-thin Bionic Cooling System. According to the company, this new cooling technology integrates an ultra-thin vapor chamber, ultra-high thermal conductivity graphite, thermal conductivity gel, and copper foil.
The device ranks among the top performers in terms of CPU performance, enabling swift app loading and faster completion of tasks. Additionally, its graphics performance scores notably high, rendering it proficient not only in general graphics processing (GPU performance) but also in gaming.
However, it’s important to note that extended gaming sessions may lead to heat accumulation. Consequently, dedicated gaming systems typically feature thicker designs with enhanced cooling mechanisms.
Battery
Despite its ultrathin chassis measuring 4.7 mm, the Magic V2 RSR impressively integrates a 5000 mAh dual Silicon carbon battery (the highest capacity for a foldable).
The battery lasted for three days during my review conducted solely on Wi-Fi, excluding 5G usage and involving intermittent activity. However, it’s important to note that battery performance can significantly fluctuate based on usage patterns. Under typical usage scenarios, utilizing both 5G and Wi-Fi connections, the Magic V2 RSR should last a full day or a little more on a single charge.
Tasks like browsing and email typically impose minimal strain compared to more demanding activities such as intense photo shooting, video streaming, or 3D gaming. As always, the battery capacity, measured in mAh (milliampere-hours), serves as the most reliable indicator of potential battery longevity.
Charging speed
The Magic V2 RSRPORSCHE Editioncharges 75% of its 5000 mAh battery in 30 minutes with the provided 66W charger. This is similar to the OnePlus Open charging time of 79% in 30 minutes for its 4805 mAh battery (with the included OnePlus 67W fast-charger). By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 charges 49% in 30 minutes with its optional 50W Samsung charger.
Conclusion
Besides its unique luxurious design, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers impressive build and display quality and is the thinnest and lightest large foldable phone on the market.
This important trait should convince people who are reluctant to carry thicker and heavier smartphones for their daily usage. It feels like a normal phone when folded.
Built on the same hardware as the Magic V2, the PORSCHE Edition boasts a refined design reminiscent of the sleek lines found in the PORSCHE 911, a unique touch that HONOR and PORSCHE fans might not be able to resist.
People who want to travel in style should consider switching to the Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition, as it can also be used as a tablet for productivity and entertainment during flights. In my opinion, foldables are awesome for frequent travelers.
Although the camera performance is slightly below those in competitive devices, it is excellent for such a thin chassis.
Beware the apes, Reddit told the world in its IPO documents, though not in such explicit terms. Put simply, the company warned potential investors that one of its subreddits, the infamous r/WallStreetBets, could make its stock price and volume extremely volatile—and there’s little Reddit can do about it.
For weeks, Google has been warning users it’s getting ready to redesign its login page, an interface that billions of people use every day to access Gmail and countless websites across the internet. As of this week, the revamp is rolling out, and users are getting a first look.
The ninth-generation Google Pixel has yet to debut, but we already hear conflicting things through the rumor mill. Will it have a periscopic telephoto lens? Will the Pixel 8 Pro’s errant temperature sensor stick around its successor? And, more importantly, is Google planning to “yassify” the Pixel 9 Pro?
Beyond the surprise of Ariana Greenblatt showing up during Ahsoka as a live-action interpretation of the Star Wars character’s animated youth was a really stark reminder Clone Wars never truly sold: holy hell, that is a little kid they gave a pair of glowsticks to and stuck on the front lines of the deadliest war the…
Psychological horror films love digging into the minds of artists—a pursuit that becomes self-reflexive when the troubled character is a filmmaker. Stopmotion explores that trope from a visually dynamic point of view, following a young stop-motionanimator on a dangerous downward spiral.
We reviewed the HONOR Magic V2 last month, and we were thrilled to play with its luxury sibling, the HONOR Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition. Both devices are large foldable phones comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the OnePlus Open in size and performance. However, they offer a significantly thinner chassis than their competitors.
Designed in collaboration with PORSCHE, the HONOR Magic V2 RSR features a fiberglass body with an anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield and a titanium hinge. Announced on January 11 in China, it comes with a premium PORSCHE DESIGN case and includes the HONOR Magic Pen.
Besides the NanoCrystal Shield on the external screen and the unique sports car design, the other differences with the Magic V2 are the 1 TB of storage, the stylus, and the two chargers included in the box.
Competition, Price & Availability
From a display quality and computing power point of view, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR is on par with the Galaxy Z Fold 5, except for its lack of a waterproofing IP rating (the Fold 5 is IP X8), its thinner chassis, and its significantly faster charging speed.
The Magic V2 RSR ’s display and SoC (processor) are also similar to the thicker Oneplus Open, except for the camera performance.
Being a luxury device, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR is the most expensive foldable to date. Launched at 15,999 yuan for the Chinese market (~$2,200), we are still waiting for the international market price. By comparison, the Magic V2 costs £1,699.99 in the UK, €1,999 in select E.U. countries (approximately $2,150).
Design
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR stands out as one of the thinnest foldable phones available today, measuring just 4.7 mm thick when unfolded and weighing a mere 234g, lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra by 5 grams. It features an inward-folding design, making it the thinnest inward-foldable smartphone on the market. Available in Agate Grey, a color paying homage to Porsche luxury cars, its flyline design on the back draws inspiration from the sleek lines of a Porsche 911’s hood.
Enhanced with anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield, it offers exceptional durability, boasting ten times (10X) the protection against falls and scratches compared to regular glass, according to HONOR. The super-light Titanium Hinge ensures both lightness and durability.
Its Flyline Camera Module, inspired by Porsche cars, integrates a 3-lens camera framed by lightweight yet robust titanium, a material featured in many motorsport vehicles.
The package includes a beautiful case, the Magic Pen stylus with its magnetic case, and two 66W fast chargers. Both the internal and external displays of the device fully support stylus input.
Displays
Like the Magic V2, the Magic V2 RSR features an external 6.43-inch OLED display with 1060 x 2376 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits. Internally, it boasts a nearly square 7.92-inch display with 2156 x 2344 resolution, also with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a theoretical peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Both screens feature stylus support, so users can take notes or draw using the Magic Pen provided in the box.
HONOR emphasizes its 3840Hz PWM dimming tech, alleviating eye strain during prolonged phone use. In contrast to the Magic V2, the PORSCHE Edition features an anti-scratch NanoCrystal Shield display, tested by the HONOR lab to be ten times more scratch-resistant than regular glass.
For the Magic V2 RSR, HONOR partnered with Gameloft to introduce a modified version of the popular game “Asphalt 9: Legends”, specifically tailored for large foldable screens. The collaboration brings 120 FPS gameplay at a higher resolution for the foldable form factor, promising a top-notch gaming experience.
Camera
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers the same typical triple rear camera as the Magic V2. The camera system a 50-megapixel main, a 20-megapixel telephoto with a 2.5x optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. There is a 16 MP punch-hole selfie camera on each screen, capable of shooting 4K video at 30 fps. The rear camera can shoot 4K video at 60 fps.
Watermark function
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers a Watermark function with two customizable options for users to show that their images originate from a limited-edition smartphone camera. Accessible in the settings, users can choose between two watermark styles. The default option displays “PORSCHE DESIGN I HONOR Magic V2 RSR” in the lower-left corner of the photos. The HONOR frame option adds additional data to the lower right corner, including focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO level, and date and time.
Motion Sensing Capture Technology
The Motion Sensing Capture Technology leverages AI trained on a dataset of over 270,000 images. It accurately identifies scenarios and key moments, aiding automatic shot capture. Ideal for live events, the feature detects facial expressions such as smiles and body postures such as jumping, improving startup, focus, shutter, and imaging speed for swift scene capture within milliseconds.
Hover Photography
Using the self-timer found in the camera settings, users can exploit the folding capabilities to capture photos akin to using a tripod. Simply fold the phone at a 90-degree angle and position it on a table or any suitable surface for stable shooting.
Camera Performance
Ultrawide camera
The Honor Magic V2 and Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition have an identical camera setup, and it shows. The PORSCHE Edition performs similarly to its twin, as highlighted in our Magic V2 Review. It is generally a good camera, but its performance is exceptional in relation to how thin the chassis is.
The thinner the chassis is, the harder it is to fit quality electro-optics components. That’s why the hardware quality of the Honor Magic V2 family is so impressive from a technology standpoint. The ultra-thin chassis is a huge design and overall usability advantage, but it’s also an obstacle to having powerful lenses.
Wide camera
This choice is more a matter of taste rather than quality, and most people have strong opinions one way or the other, so you’ll have to choose which you like better. That aside, the Magic V2 series photos are agreeable to share.
The 2.5X Zoom is appropriate for portrait photography, but not optimized for very long zoom “sniper” shots similar to what 10X optical zoom cameras can capture. And that makes sense since it is extremely difficult to include a periscope lens in this edgy design.
Telephoto camera with 2.5X optical zoom
Telephoto camera with ~10X digital zoom
At night, the rear camera does a good job of preserving the general mood of the scene, but other cameras can capture more details, such as material Textures (bricks, wood, asphalt, etc..).
Still, the Honor Magic V2 series (including this Porsche Edition) performs closest to the Google Pixel Fold. In most situations, the biggest difference people will see when compared to other high-end foldables is the photo aesthetic of the Honor camera, which is very bright (some would say over-exposed) and more saturated than what your eyes see.
Performance
The PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR houses last year’s Qualcomm flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage. In daily usage, including 3D gaming, performance remains fluid.
Measured performance
Since the hardware is the same, the Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition delivers the same performance as the Magic V2.
As you can see from the charts, despite its remarkable thinness, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR demonstrates excellent performance within the realm of foldable phones. This achievement is attributed mainly to HONOR’’s implementation of an advanced cooling system known as the Ultra-thin Bionic Cooling System. According to the company, this new cooling technology integrates an ultra-thin vapor chamber, ultra-high thermal conductivity graphite, thermal conductivity gel, and copper foil.
The device ranks among the top performers in terms of CPU performance, enabling swift app loading and faster completion of tasks. Additionally, its graphics performance scores notably high, rendering it proficient not only in general graphics processing (GPU performance) but also in gaming.
However, it’s important to note that extended gaming sessions may lead to heat accumulation. Consequently, dedicated gaming systems typically feature thicker designs with enhanced cooling mechanisms.
Battery
Despite its ultrathin chassis measuring 4.7 mm, the Magic V2 RSR impressively integrates a 5000 mAh dual Silicon carbon battery (the highest capacity for a foldable).
The battery lasted for three days during my review conducted solely on Wi-Fi, excluding 5G usage and involving intermittent activity. However, it’s important to note that battery performance can significantly fluctuate based on usage patterns. Under typical usage scenarios, utilizing both 5G and Wi-Fi connections, the Magic V2 RSR should last a full day or a little more on a single charge.
Tasks like browsing and email typically impose minimal strain compared to more demanding activities such as intense photo shooting, video streaming, or 3D gaming. As always, the battery capacity, measured in mAh (milliampere-hours), serves as the most reliable indicator of potential battery longevity.
Charging speed
The Magic V2 RSRPORSCHE Editioncharges 75% of its 5000 mAh battery in 30 minutes with the provided 66W charger. This is similar to the OnePlus Open charging time of 79% in 30 minutes for its 4805 mAh battery (with the included OnePlus 67W fast-charger). By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 charges 49% in 30 minutes with its optional 50W Samsung charger.
Conclusion
Besides its unique luxurious design, the PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic V2 RSR offers impressive build and display quality and is the thinnest and lightest large foldable phone on the market.
This important trait should convince people who are reluctant to carry thicker and heavier smartphones for their daily usage. It feels like a normal phone when folded.
Built on the same hardware as the Magic V2, the PORSCHE Edition boasts a refined design reminiscent of the sleek lines found in the PORSCHE 911, a unique touch that HONOR and PORSCHE fans might not be able to resist.
People who want to travel in style should consider switching to the Magic V2 RSR PORSCHE Edition, as it can also be used as a tablet for productivity and entertainment during flights. In my opinion, foldables are awesome for frequent travelers.
Although the camera performance is slightly below those in competitive devices, it is excellent for such a thin chassis.
Charlotte the mysteriously pregnant stingray may already be my favorite animal of 2024. Charlotte’s handlers at a North Carolina aquarium recently revealed that she was carrying several pups, despite her only male company being a pair of sharks. While there was early speculation of some interspecies mingling being to…
The “News” tab has been a staple of Google Search for over 20 years, so when it disappeared on Wednesday, you can imagine how confused some users were. It turns out, Google was testing out a version of Search that did not include a “News” filter. The unannounced test caught many by surprise.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
