I enjoyed watching the Apple Event live yesterday. There were some very impressive announcements. (And a few which were not so impressive – the Breathe app would get on my nerves really fast!)
One thing that I was very impressed by was the ability of the iPhone 7 Plus camera to create depth-of-field effects. Some of the photos demonstrated how the phone used machine learning to identify people in the shot and keep them in focus while blurring the background, creating a shallow depth of field. This causes the subjects in a photo to really stand out. The way we take photos is not the only thing that’s changing. There was a mention of machine learning being part of Apple’s QuickType keyboard, to help with “contextual prediction.”
This is only one product announcement, but it’s a reminder that we need to be constantly examining every part of the XPRTs. Recently, we talked a bit about how people will be using their devices in new ways in the coming months, and we need to be developing tests for these new applications. However, we must also stay focused on keeping existing tests fresh. People will keep taking photos, but today’s photo editing tests may not be relevant a year or two from now.
Were there any announcements yesterday that got you excited? Let us know!
Eric
