Google Confirms Android 4.4.1 Coming Soon with Camera Improvements for Nexus 5

[dgstorm]

Just yesterday we shared a story suggesting that a new version of KitKat (Android 4.4.1) might be coming soon. This intel has now been confirmed by Google themselves. Folks from The Verge held an interview with Dave Burke, Google's Director of Engineering for Android in which he shared the details of the soon to be released Android 4.4.1 KitKat. It turns out that it is actually coming to the Nexus 5 first and its primary focus is to improve the camera experience on the device.

In the interview, Burke revealed that this new camera update will focus on five primary enhancements for the Nexus 5 camera. Here's a quote with more of the details,

The changes break down in five categories, Burke says, autofocus first among them. Mixing speed and image quality requires a fragile balance, particularly in low light, and Android 4.4 skewed too far toward image quality. "There’s a tendency to say, 'oh, we have this cool thing that stabilizes, so lets make the shutter time longer, reduce the gain even longer, and get better shots.'" But while the Nexus 5's optical image stabilization allowed it to get better-than-average shots in low light, in good lighting it just made for frustratingly slow shooting speeds. By speeding up the framerate and increasing how quickly the camera can read its surroundings and fire a picture, Burke and his team improved the autofocus, the exposure, and the white balance. "You fix the motion blur," he says, "and make everything faster."

Speed is a theme for the update, and the Nexus 5's camera really does feel faster across the board. The app launches a full second quicker than it did before the update, meaning you'll miss many fewer shots than before. There's also a new progress indicator in HDR+ mode, which makes the process, longer by necessity, feel a lot more straightforward. It's the first of what Burke says will be a series of interface changes, as Google tries to make Android cameras a little more controllable and obvious. Right now, nearly every setting is buried under layers of menus, and Burke says Google is working on undoing that.

Based upon their experience with it, the editors at The Verge are much happier with the camera on the Nexus 5 after this update. They indicated there is still room for improvement, but the changes inspire greater confidence in the camera. The update should start rolling out within the next few days/weeks. The above shot was taken with the new Android 4.4.1 camera improvements on the Nexus 5. Hit up the source link below for several more comparison pics.

Source: The Verge

 

[tgyberg]

Good cause I'm runnin the N5's camera with CM11. Hurry!

 

[xsylus]

It's so ironic that I own 3 Android devices and NONE of them are currently running KitKat :disappointed: I would at the very least expect my EVGA Tegra Note 7 to get the 4.4 update.

 

[tgyberg]

It's so ironic that I own 3 Android devices and NONE of them are currently running KitKat :disappointed: I would at the very least expect my EVGA Tegra Note 7 to get the 4.4 update.

I've gotcha covered, both of mine are!