News
Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016) is a cheap Android phone with LTE
Samsung is currently enjoying a renaissance in the premium smartphone segment, but that doesn’t mean it has forgotten about the bargain basement from where most manufacturers get their volume orders and market share. Enter the Samsung Galaxy J1 refresh for 2016.
It’s a slightly bigger and more powerful than last year’s model (4.5 inches and quad-core internals compared to 4.3 inches and dual-core on the 2015 edition), as you would expect, but the big idea behind this small-ish handset remains the same: disrupt the market with a cheap Samsung smartphone that covers the basics and then some.
Having said that, don’t expect to find an octa-core processor, a fingerprint sensor, or a metal chassis anywhere on the J1’s feature set.
This Samsung sticks to the formula set by its predecessor closely, with its 4.5-inch AMOLED display, 5- and 2-megapixel main and secondary cameras, and quad-core chip with 1GB of RAM and LTE integration — a first for the product line — for faster mobile Internet speeds.
Granted, LTE connectivity isn’t widely available on budget models to this day, making the J1 more appealing to first-time smartphone buyers who are looking to subscribe to streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify.
Samsung’s Galaxy J1 is now available in select markets like Singapore and the Philippines, retailing for 208 Singapore dollars (roughly $150) and P5,449 ($120), respectively.
Samsung, as you probably know, is the poster child for much-desired Android gear, what with its sustained focus on product innovation, especially in the high end. The J1 doesn’t fit that vision — but perhaps it doesn’t need to. Maybe the Korean OEM is hoping that if it builds something cheap enough, customers will come.
[irp posts=”11619″ name=”24 Hours in Singapore with the Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime”]
Gaming
Ghost of Yotei gets a story expansion in October
The Complete Edition comes with the expansion and a roguelike mode.
Ghost of Yotei is a classic RPG experience set in the same universe as its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima. In my opinion, Atsu’s journey of revenge feels a lot more fun than Jin’s battle to save his homeland. If you’re in the same boat, Ghost of Yotei is coming back on October 1 with brand-new content.
Without delving too much into spoiler territory, Ghost of Yotei has a conclusive ending. Rather than shoehorning a forced epilogue, Echoes of Sekigahara, the title of the upcoming story expansion, explores Atsu’s past.
As with Tsushima’s expansion, Echoes of Sekigahara features a new map with new enemies, weapons, and collectibles. It will be set in two different time periods.
Besides the story expansion, the upcoming update also has a new mode called Most Wanted, which Sucker Punch Production describes as their “spin on a roguelike.” The mode explores Atsu’s experience as a headhunter, feeding her with bounties and earnable perks.
The two new content expansions will come with in the upcoming Ghost of Yotei Complete Edition. The new edition, coming on October 1, will also come with the co-op Legends mode. It also has a few perks and customization options. The edition will sell for US$ 70.
If you already have the base edition, you can grab an upgrade for only US$ 15. If you don’t want to pay for the upgrade, the game is still getting a few minor tweaks.
SEE ALSO: Ghost of Yotei review: A tale sharpened by vengeance
The HONOR Robot Phone may have officially launched, but don’t expect this version to immediately make its way to global markets.
HONOR told media in Shenzhen that it currently has no plans to bring the current Robot Phone outside China. The main hurdle isn’t the hardware. It’s the phone’s AI experience, which is currently optimized for the Chinese market.
HONOR believes a future generation of the Robot Phone would be better positioned for a true global rollout once its AI experience is ready for markets outside China.
That doesn’t mean HONOR is abandoning the idea. Quite the opposite.
More than a phone with a moving camera
The Robot Phone is HONOR’s attempt to introduce a new idea to the smartphone market. It combines a smartphone with a 4DoF mechanical gimbal, allowing its camera to physically move.
Its AI features take that concept further. YOYO Robot Mode can use voice commands, gestures, and AI tracking to control the camera. It can also automatically pan and tilt to keep a person in frame during vlogs, livestreams, and video calls.
The phone also brings selected elements of ARRI Image Science and professional cinema workflows to its camera system. Its 200MP gimbal main camera supports 10-bit ARRI LogC3 recording, while ARRI Wide Gamut 3 and ARRI Looks give creators more control over their footage.
But HONOR isn’t treating the Robot Phone primarily as a volume-driving product.
The company says its bigger goal is to introduce a new concept to the smartphone market and see what kind of effect it can have.
That makes the Robot Phone an interesting experiment for HONOR. The hardware is already here. The company now wants to learn what happens when a smartphone can physically move, respond to its surroundings, and use AI to help operate itself.
For now, though, China is where that experiment begins.
News
HONOR Robot Phone’s camera can move on its own
Its built-in gimbal lets the camera move itself.
The HONOR Robot Phone’s biggest trick is also the easiest to understand: its camera can physically move.
Instead of keeping its cameras fixed inside the phone, HONOR built a mechanical gimbal directly into the device. The system can tilt, rotate, and reposition the camera, opening up movements that aren’t possible with a conventional smartphone camera.
HONOR calls it the Titanium Agile Gimbal, and the company says it is the industry’s smallest 4DoF gimbal system. It packs more than 100 precision components into a module that’s just 9.59mm thick.
A tiny gimbal inside the phone
The 4DoF mechanical system is designed to deliver the benefits of a separate gimbal without requiring users to carry another piece of equipment.
HONOR says it reduced the gimbal’s overall volume by 65% compared with traditional gimbals while increasing its structural strength by 200%. The system uses more than 100 precision components and is backed by more than 100 patents.
At its core is a 2.6-gram titanium gimbal motor that can rotate at up to 360 degrees per second. A separate HONOR Shield Steel Flip Motor provides a torque density of 120 Nm/L.
Those numbers sound impressive, but their practical purpose is straightforward: the camera needs to move quickly and precisely while remaining small enough to fit inside a smartphone.
The camera can move on its own
The Robot Phone’s gimbal isn’t limited to simply stabilizing the camera.
It supports six dynamic camera movement modes: AI SpinShot, Default Stabilization, Tilt Locked, Super Steady, FPV, and FPV Vertical. AI SpinShot, for example, can perform 90- or 180-degree camera rolls, while the other modes are designed for different types of movement and shooting.
The phone also has three smart tracking modes: Gimbal Tracking, Subject Tracking, and Pre-Composition. These are designed to help the camera follow a subject or maintain a particular composition while the phone moves.
That’s the important distinction between the Robot Phone and a conventional smartphone with image stabilization. The camera isn’t just correcting for your movement. It can actively move to create or maintain a shot.
You can tell it what to do
HONOR also gives the gimbal its own set of AI-powered controls.
Through YOYO Robot Mode, the Robot Phone can combine voice commands, gesture recognition, AI perception, and physical movement. Users can wake the mode and deploy or stow the gimbal with a flip gesture.
Voice commands can be specific, too. HONOR says users can tell the gimbal to turn left by a certain number of degrees, look toward the sky, or rotate for a specified amount of time.
The phone can also use AI Subject Tracking to automatically frame and follow people during video calls, vlogging, and livestreaming.
That makes the Robot Phone particularly interesting for people who regularly shoot themselves. Instead of setting up a phone and constantly checking whether they’re still in frame, the camera can do some of that work itself.
The real question is how naturally all of this works in practice. We’ll get to answer that when we spend more time with the Robot Phone.
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