The Morning After: Friday, December 22nd 2017
Which smartphone has the best camera?
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
As we prepare for the holiday break, there's some surprising news from Google's parent company and our big smartphone camera head-to-head competition.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will step down as executive chairman at Alphabet
Since Google co-founder Larry Page took over for him as CEO in 2011, Eric Schmidt has served as executive chairman of the company and maintained that role through the formation of its parent company Alphabet. On Thursday Schmidt announced he's transitioning to become a "technical advisor on science and technology issues." He said, "Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet's evolution for this transition."
Tested: the best smartphone cameras compared
So which smartphone has the best camera? We put the iPhone X, Pixel 2, Note 8 and Mate 10 Pro to the test in scenarios that are particularly tricky for smartphone cameras and their small sensors: scenes with high contrast, backlighting or substantial vibration.
'Civilization VI' comes to the iPad for $30
If you have a relatively new and powerful iPad, then you can play Civilization -- yes, the full game, mods and all -- on it. Not sure the experience is worth $30? The first 60 turns are free.
Apple now requires that games disclose odds of 'loot box' rewards
Apple has added a new requirement for games that offer loot boxes with randomized rewards for purchase. If your game has them, you now have to disclose the odds of receiving the prizes promised.
Razer gives its phone a major camera update
Our review of the first Razer Phone showed it has plenty of power, a quad HD display and loud front-facing speakers, but the camera doesn't quite measure up. Now Razer has released an update that promises better colors, shadows and low-light performance. The tweaks won't stop there, either -- Razer says another update is incoming that will put its performance on par with the cameras found in other flagship phones.
But wait, there's more...
Google's '12 Days of Play' sale has $1 movie rentals, plus cheap games, books and apps
Future Apple Watch models could include EKG heart monitoring
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