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Amazon makes a grand announcement of new Alexa-enabled Echo devices

A smart home has to have these

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Amazon continues to make a mark in the smart home market with their announcement of new Alexa-enabled Echo devices. The company released a slew of devices, but let’s know more about the key Echo products that have new upgrades.

Amazon Echo Dot

The new Echo Dot gets redesigned to look stylish and more modern. The plasticky design of the previous model is a thing of the past; the new model now has a fabric design that comes in three colors. The new model also claims to sound louder and better, but it’s still priced at US$ 50.

Amazon Echo Plus

The new Echo Plus has similar upgrades with its new fabric design. It comes with an upgraded 3-inch speaker for stronger bass and clearer mids and highs. Like the Dot, the new model is still priced like its predecessor which is at US$ 150.

Amazon Echo Show

The gigantic Echo Show has been redesigned, as well. It features a new body with a large 10-inch HD display. Of course, the new display comes with a better sound system composed of two 2-inch drivers with a passive radiator and Dolby audio processing.

It also comes with a new 5-megapixel front-facing camera for HD video calls. Alexa will soon support Skype audio and video calls, so you will be able to use Skype straight from your Echo Show. Additionally, it now has a built-in web browser. Pricing remains at US$ 230 like with the previous model.

Amazon Echo Auto

The Echo Auto is probably the most intriguing of the bunch. It’s a US$ 25 accessory (the cheapest Echo, yet) designed to let you access Alexa even while in your car. It powers itself from your car’s power outlet or a USB port and connects to the Internet via Bluetooth through your phone.

Using the Alexa app on your phone, it can play music or give you turn-by-turn navigation. You can also ask it pretty much anything you’d ask with other Echo devices.

The new Echo Dot, Echo Plus, and Echo Show are already up for pre-order and will go on sale starting October 11. The Echo Auto is also up for pre-order, but by request only.

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Smart showcases cloud gaming platform in partnership with Blacknut

Play over 1,000 titles straight on your smartphones

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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.

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Gaming

Ghost of Yotei gets a story expansion in October

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

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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

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HONOR isn’t taking the Robot Phone global — yet

The hardware is ready. The AI isn’t.

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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.

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