Google's Top Shot Camera Feature Now Works With Short Videos on Pixel 4, Pixel 3, and Pixel 3a Phones

Google introduced an AI-powered camera feature called Top Shot with the Pixel 3 last year. Top Shot was an upgraded version of Google's Motion Photo feature that shipped with previous Pixel smartphones. The feature produces a small video clip while you're taking photos, allowing you to go back and switch to a specific moment, much like Apple's Live Photos feature on iOS. Now the feature will soon work for short videos as well.

The new Top Shot feature will work on the Pixel 4, Pixel 3, and the Pixel 3a phones. By short videos, Google means you'll be able to record a video in 768 x 1024 resolution. The feature is expected to arrive as a software update shortly.

According to Google, when users capture a motion photo or a quick video, the Camera app will recommend another shot from the photo or the video. Users can choose to turn off the feature by tapping on Motion off or set it to Motion auto for the feature to work. Tapping on 'Shots in this photo' or 'Shots in this video' will show up the recommended shots.

Besides Top Shot for short videos, Google has also added a new Neural Core on its new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL phones. The new auxiliary processor will help power the facial unlocking features of the phone. Google also says it'll help speed up processing, enable always-on listening, and machine learning on the device itself.

Google also announced a bunch of new apps and features that could potentially be powered by the new Neural Core. The all-new Google Assistant and the new Recorder app with real-time voice-to-text conversion could be two use-cases for the new auxiliary processor.

While the main processing is still handled by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, the Neural Core does process all the facial data from the different sensors on the phone and sends it to the secure Titan M chip to authenticate and unlock a user's Pixel 4 device.