News

Here’s your best look yet at the upcoming Google smartphones [UPDATED]

Published

October 3, 2016

Monch Lopez

Google is set to make an announcement Tuesday, and when the hoopla ends, two phones will all but certainly be the face of Google’s smartphone efforts. We’re looking at you, Pixel and Pixel XL. And you’re getting the best look yet at the upcoming handsets.

The renders below come from Canadian telecom operator Bell. Someone must have erroneously published a couple of web pages containing the photos, and — well, you know the rest because you’ve heard it all before. Nothing on the internet escapes the public eye, especially those of Reddit users. Bell has since taken the pages down, though some people were able to mirror the images from before that happened.

Google Pixel (left) and Pixel XL (right)

Funnily enough, another carrier from Canada, Telus, published new renders of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL soon after. The image below comes from Android Police. We’re seeing a pattern here, and you can bet the Mountain View internet giant isn’t feeling much love for Canadian operators right now. We, on the other hand, don’t feel any love for those “bigger than they need to be” top and bottom bezels.

Images pulled from Telus’ website

Case-maker Spigen has also given us a good look at the Pixel XL days ahead of its launch date. The phone is widely believed to sport a 5.5-inch display; Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line processor; 4GB of RAM; the same rear camera sensor inside the Xiaomi 5s; and Android Nougat. You can read up more on the Pixel and Pixel XL here.

At this point, we pretty much know exactly what to expect from Google when chief executive Sundar Pichai comes out to talk about Pixel phones. All that’s left is the official unveiling on October 4th.

UPDATE: Well, the cat (or cats?) is really out of the bag now, so to speak. Store listings for the Pixel and Pixel XL temporarily went live on Carphone Warehouse’s website, revealing just about every detail about the next Google phones. Both will ship with Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, and will be powered by a Snapdragon 821, the fastest Qualcomm chip available today, and 4GB of RAM.

Other specs include AMOLED displays (1080p on the Pixel; Quad HD on the Pixel XL); 32GB or 128GB of storage; 8- and 12-megapixel selfie and rear cameras with optical image stabilization; and 2,770mAh (Pixel) and 3,450mAh (Pixel XL) batteries with quick charging over a Type-C port.

To sweeten the deal, Google is throwing in unlimited photo and video backups through Google Photos.

[irp posts=”10042″ name=”Google Pixel review (3 months later)”]

Source: Reddit, GSMArena

News

Smart showcases cloud gaming platform in partnership with Blacknut

Play over 1,000 titles straight on your smartphones

Published

August 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Philippines mobile service provider Smart showcased the country’s first cloud gaming platform in partnership with Blacknut at the recent Philippine GameDev Expo (PGDX) 2026.

As the event’s main presenter, Smart highlighted its collaboration with the cloud gaming subscription service. Together with its value-packed Power All offers, the network provider is highlighting what the future of gaming can look like.

Smart and TNT subscribers can conveniently access Blacknut Cloud Gaming through a dedicated site. Here, they can play more than 1,000 premium console and PC-quality games on their smartphones.

That’s without the need for expensive gaming hardware or lengthy downloads. Weekly subscriptions start at just PhP 145 and can be conveniently charged to prepaid load following a simple OTP verification process.

To make the experience better, Smart also has Power All offers, which provide generous open-access data for today’s digital lifestyles. There’s a package for cloud and mobile gaming, streaming, content sharing, and productivity.

Gaming

Ghost of Yotei gets a story expansion in October

The Complete Edition comes with the expansion and a roguelike mode.

Published

August 13, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

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.

News

HONOR isn’t taking the Robot Phone global — yet

The hardware is ready. The AI isn’t.

Published

August 13, 2026

Rodneil Quiteles

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.