Microsoft is turning another research product into an iPhone app. Today the company unveiled an alternative to the stock camera app on iPhones that uses a series of algorithms to automatically select the best out of a burst of photos and further enhance it.
Dubbed Microsoft Pix, the app takes 10 frames before and after you expose the shutter, it then tracks faces in your shot to pick the best ones. Pix will automatically discard frames in which your eyes are shut or the subject is blurred, and then improves the best shots by tweaking settings like brightness, contrast and white balance. You will be presented with what the app determines is the best result and, sometimes, a second or third option.
The idea is you don't need to know much about photo editing to get good results, all of the optimization happens on the fly and without any extra user input.
Microsoft Pix also includes its own version of Apple's Live Photos, letting you create live images by stitching together all the burst frames into a looping video. You don't actually get the option of shooting Live Images within the app, however. The feature will simply trigger when Pix detects lots of motion in the shot.
Lastly, Pix also allows you to shoot regular video or import it and then convert it to hyperlapse, automatically stabilizing video and letting you choose the playback speed.
Microsoft Pix is currently live on the App Store if you want to give it a try.