Month: December 2021

Oppo introduces a retractable smartphone camera

Chinese phone maker Oppo has developed a retractable smartphone camera that allowed the company to squeeze a high-quality telephoto camera into a slim phone with only a modest camera bump when you’re not snapping photos (and a rather sizeable one when you are). Oppo says the camera provides 2X optical zoom when extended, with an […]

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Chinese phone maker Oppo has developed a retractable smartphone camera that allowed the company to squeeze a high-quality telephoto camera into a slim phone with only a modest camera bump when you’re not snapping photos (and a rather sizeable one when you are).

Oppo says the camera provides 2X optical zoom when extended, with an equivalent focal length of 50mm. But it can fully retract in 0.6 seconds so that it’s flush with the rest of the camera module, which offers protection if you drop the phone.

While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a smartphone with a retractable camera, Oppo’s solution is a lot more compact than Samsung’s old Galaxy Zoom phones, and it also offers the benefit of splash and dust resistance.

Oppo says the camera features a Sony IMX766 1/1.56″ CMOS image sensor, an f/2.4 aperture, and support for optical image stabilization, auto-focus, and natural bokeh. The phone also supports automatic drop detection, so the camera should retract before it hits the floor.

Oppo showcased its new retractable smartphone camera at its Oppo Inno Day event in China, after sharing a brief teaser video last week. While the official video the company released today isn’t much longer than the initial teaser, some hands-on videos shared to social media give us a slightly better look at the new camera system in action.


Oppo may not be the only phone maker looking to give retractable cameras another try. Rival Xiaomi also recently teased its own telescopic/retractable smartphone camera solution.

This article was originally published December 7, 2021 and last updated December 14, 2021.

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Traffic bounces back in year two of the pandemic, minus the commuters

COVID continues to kill congestion from commuters, but that effect is waning.

This became a more common sight in 2021 as drivers returned to the roads.

Enlarge / This became a more common sight in 2021 as drivers returned to the roads. (credit: Getty Images)

As we head toward the end of the second year of a global pandemic, the effect of COVID-19 on road traffic around the world is clear. Congestion has begun to return, though not everywhere, and not to 2019 levels. Traffic patterns have changed, too, with more traffic popping up in the middle of the day as commuters continue to stay away from the office. That's according to the 2021 Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard, an annual report prepared by the traffic analytics company.

Here in the US, Chicago and New York are the worst cities for traffic, with their drivers giving up 104 hours and 102 hours of their lives respectively to congestion in 2021. Inrix actually ranks New York as number one in the country due to the higher costs traffic imposes on the city, despite the fact that Chicagoans spent an extra couple of hours behind the wheel. However, traffic in both cities remains almost 30 percent down from pre-pandemic levels.

Other cities have yet to show as much recovery. Washington DC stands out, with traffic still 65 percent lower than in 2019, which translates to 80 fewer hours in traffic per person.

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Asus launches ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED high-performance laptop with Intel or AMD

The Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED is a high-performance laptop with a 16 inch pixel OLED display, a rotary dial below the keyboard for use with Adobe apps and other creative tools. It has discrete graphics, plenty of ports, and a choice of Intel or AMD processors. First introduced in September, the ProArt StudioBook 16 […]

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The Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED is a high-performance laptop with a 16 inch pixel OLED display, a rotary dial below the keyboard for use with Adobe apps and other creative tools. It has discrete graphics, plenty of ports, and a choice of Intel or AMD processors.

First introduced in September, the ProArt StudioBook 16 OLED goes on sale starting this month with prices ranging from $1600 to $5000.

Each model measures 14.25′ x 10.39″ x 08.4″ and weighs 5.29 pounds with a 90 Wh battery and each comes with a 240W AC power adapter.

Other common features include:

  • 2 x DDR4 SODIMM slots (for up to 654GB of RAM)
  • 2 x M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0×4 slots for storage
  • 1 x HDMI 2.1 port
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet ack
  • 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
  • 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports
  • 1 x SD card reader

Models with Intel processors also have a Thunderbolt 4 port and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, while AMD versions have two of the USB-C ports.

Now for some of the differences between models:

Asus ProPart StudioBook 16 OLED
Model W5600 W7600 H5600 H7600
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX Intel Xeon W-11955M AMD Ryzen 7 5800H or Ryzen 9 5900HX Intel Core i7-11800H
Graphics NVIDIA RTX A2000 NVIDIA RTX A5000 Up to NVIDIA RTRX 3070 NVIDIA RTX 3060
Display 3840 x 2400
550 nits peak brightness		 3840 x 2160
550 nits peak brightness		 2560 x 1600
120 Hz
500 nits peak brightness		 3840 x 2400
550 nits peak brightness
RAM 32GB 64GB 16GB or 32GB 32GB
Storage 2 TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe 4TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe 2TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe
Price TBA $5000 $1600 $2000

Asus says the W5600 model will be available in the first quarter of 2022, while the others should hit the streets soon.

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For the empire: Please take the grand Ars Technica 2021 Reader Survey

Weigh in to help us understand our audience so we can serve y’all better!

For the empire: Please take the grand Ars Technica 2021 Reader Survey

(credit: Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock)

It's that time of year again—holiday decorations festoon the lampposts and store windows, the smell of pumpkin spice lattes pervades the air, and the chill of winter has settled in (unless you live in Houston, where it's going to be in the mid-80s this week because this city is a miserable swamp). As we wrap up 2021 and gird our loins for whatever fresh hell 2022 is preparing to fling at us, the Ars crew could really use your help with something: if you have a few minutes, would you please fill out the Ars Technica 2021 Reader Survey?

It's been a couple of years since we last did one of these, and they're incredibly useful for helping us to understand how you all interact with Ars and what you'd like for us to do better. In fact, as Ars Editor-in-Chief Ken Fisher has mentioned in surveys past, out of all the ways we have to get feedback from our readers, surveys like this are the most important—it's typically the hardest of hard-core Ars readers who take them, and that means we know the responses you give come directly from our most engaged and informed audience. And you're exactly who we want to hear from.

This year's survey should take maybe 10 minutes to fill out. We have several free-form questions this time (all of which are optional) that give y'all the opportunity to weigh in on what your favorite or least favorite stories have been over the past year or two, as well as asking what kind of coverage you'd like to see more of. The responses gathered will only be examined in aggregate, with no personally identifying information attached, and we will never sell or share this data with anyone else.

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Wasserstoff-Forschungszentrum: Gute Gründe für Vier-Standorte-Lösung

Chemnitz hätte das Wasserstoff-Forschungszentrum gerne allein gehabt. Dass es aufgeteilt wird, ärgert die Sachsen. Allerdings gibt es für die Entscheidung inhaltliche Gründe. Eine Recherche von Hanno Böck (Wasserstoff, Politik/Recht)

Chemnitz hätte das Wasserstoff-Forschungszentrum gerne allein gehabt. Dass es aufgeteilt wird, ärgert die Sachsen. Allerdings gibt es für die Entscheidung inhaltliche Gründe. Eine Recherche von Hanno Böck (Wasserstoff, Politik/Recht)