Daily Authority: 🌕 Samsung's response to moon shenanigans

😴 Hey there! I woke up with a stiff neck for the first time in like six months. You know you’re getting older when you hurt yourself while sleeping. Anyway, there’s a lot to cover today in the Daily Authority.

Samsung’s moon photography malarkey

Samsung‘s moon photos were in the spotlight earlier this week, after a Redditor’s experiment revealed some fishy results. Now, Samsung has responded to the matter (kind of).

The experiment and its results

• Redditor ibreakphotos posted an experiment in which they displayed a blurry 170 x 170 image of the moon on their computer. 
• From here, they stood on the other side of their room and zoomed in to the blurry picture on their Galaxy phone.
• The phone recognized the blurry moon on the PC as the actual moon, and made some interesting adjustments (as seen in the image above).
• More specifically, Samsung’s phone seemed to actually add details such as a cratered lunar surface to the blurry photo. 
• The user even pasted a small grey square into the blurry moon snap, but the Samsung phone still added lunar details to the grey square.

What does that mean?

• This experiment called into question the accuracy of Samsung’s moon shots in the first place.
• The company previously said that it uses multi-frame processing in conjunction with an AI model trained on moon photos to help take these snaps.
• But this saga suggests that the phones are adding details that aren’t visible in the first place.
• After all, how do you get more details on a blurry low-resolution image of the moon?
• You can disable the AI-driven Scene Optimizer mode to get an accurate photo, but the experiment still raises questions.

Samsung’s response

• The Galaxy maker has since issued a translated version of a 2022 Korean blog post to explain how its moon photography functionality works.
• A lot of the info here isn’t new obviously, such as its use of super-resolution tech, multi-frame processing, and moon recognition via the Scene Optimizer.
• Samsung also reiterates that it uses an “AI detail enhancement engine to effectively eliminate remaining noise and enhance the image details even further.”
• There’s a big difference between enhancing details and adding new details to a deliberately blurred photo, though.
• But this translated post still acknowledges spoofed results.
• “Samsung continues to improve Scene Optimizer to reduce any potential confusion that may occur between the act of taking a picture of the real moon and an image of the moon,” the company concludes.
• The firm also issued a response to Tom’s Guide, asserting that it wasn’t using image overlays.
• But is this simply a case of semantics? It might not be overlaying images, but it was adding a mask or filter to the mix?
• Either way, we’re currently running a poll asking readers whether they care that their moon shots are generated by AI.
• There’s an interesting split here, suggesting that at least some of you just want a nice moon photo. 
• You can also check out our list of the best camera phones if you want great snaps in general.

Roundup

🛰️ Huawei’s Galaxy Z Fold rival with satellite connectivity is coming this month (Android Authority).

🎬 First ‘BlackBerry’ film trailer looks like ‘The Big Short’ but for smartphones (Android Authority).

📶 T-Mobile acquires Mint Mobile, keeps Ryan Reynolds in creative role (Android Authority).

🕹️ Why game archivists are dreading this month’s 3DS/Wii U eShop shutdown: Industry lobbying is making archiving and researching 3DS and Wii U titles a tough endeavor (Ars Technica).

🎧 Sony WF-1000XM5 leak reveals new design and what’s under the hood (Android Authority).

📡 Starlink’s global roaming option is now live for $200 a month (Engadget).

⚠️ PSA: Beware of these AI-generated YouTube videos that spread malware (Android Authority).

🧑‍🚀 Newly unveiled Artemis Moon Suit is a giant leap for NASA (Gizmodo).

🎮 The PlayStation Plus Extra additions for March are pretty solid: Immortals Fenyx Rising, Ghostwire Tokyo, and more (Polygon).

🍎 iPhone 15 Pro price could increase this year: Here’s what that could mean for Android (Android Authority).

Thursday Thing

How crazy is this? Polish Red Bull Air Race pilot Luke Czepiela has managed the crazy feat of landing atop a helipad on a 56-storey building in Dubai.

The pilot accomplished over 650 practice landings on a traditional landing strip, trying to land and come to a stop within a 27 meter diameter block that represented the helipad. It makes for some hair-raising stuff.

Have a great day!
Hadlee Simons, Editor