News

Huawei’s P30 ad might have used a stock image [Updated]

Super zoom or super fail?

Published

March 10, 2019

Luigi Leonardo

Image source: Weibo

Following their usual release schedule, Huawei has started their promotional campaign for the P30 series. As such, substantial leaks and preliminary posters have surfaced online. Recently, the company launched new posters ahead of the series’ much-awaited launch. Huawei CEO Yu Chengdong shared the images on Chinese social network, Weibo.

Naturally, the new posters focused on the series’ best feature: the periscope zoom camera. Recently, Huawei also released an incredibly detailed photo of the moon, teasing the P30 Pro’s superzoom capabilities. Likewise, the posters have also advertised the series’ launch: March 26 in Paris. (In fact, one of the posters depicts a zoomed in image of the Eiffel Tower.)

However, without the actual phone, the posters can’t accurately prove the P30’s camera capabilities. Several from the series seem too good to be true. One poster depicts an erupting Anak Krakatau, a volcano off the coast of Indonesia. Curiously, the volcano last erupted late last year. Additionally, the recent eruption collapsed a major section of the volcano. Currently, the volcano is only a mere shadow of its former glory.

Left: Huawei’s poster. Right: Tom Pfeiffer’s image

Further, a reverse image search of the same poster yields a similar photo taken in 2009. The decade-old photo was taken by Tom Pfeiffer, a photographer from Volcano Discovery. The photo is likewise available in all its pixels on Getty Images.

Of course, Huawei might have used another photo instead of this one. At the time of this writing, the other posters have not yielded any results from a reverse image search.

Regardless of the photo used, marketing trickery isn’t a foreign concept in the smartphone industry. In the past, Huawei has duped smartphone photography ads before. Recently, Samsung has also done the same thing. In its defense, Huawei has posted the following statement in the past: “The mobile photos and the content [are] made for illustration only. There might be a difference in the product visuals and sizes than reality, as well as the ad/film content.”

Update (3/12/19): Since the article’s publishing, Huawei’s posters have reached a more global audience. In light of this controversy, the company has issued an official statement:

We’ve been made aware that there might have been some misunderstanding regarding our recent HUAWEI P30 Series teaser posters. We would like to reiterate that those are, in fact, only teaser posters, and are only intended to hint at the unique new features that will come with the HUAWEI P30 Series. Huawei has acquired the licenses to the original images and the posters are artistic renditions of said features only. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the media for their interest in our posters. We have much to announce in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned!

Related Topics:Huawei Huawei P30 Huawei P30 Pro

News

Qualcomm is raising its prices this year

Will the price of smartphones follow suit?

Published

July 27, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The price of technology isn’t fun these days. Because of the ongoing RAM shortage wrought by AI, companies across the industry are raising the prices of their products. Some, however, are still willing to shoulder the burden for their customers. Unfortunately, Qualcomm is soon leaving that list.

As reported by Bloomberg, Qualcomm will raise the prices of its products starting in September. Though the exact figure is unknown, the company did confirm that it’s in the double digits, percentage-wise. According to them, they can no longer shoulder the costs for its customers.

If you’re just a regular user, Qualcomm’s prices might not mean much for you. After all, the chipmaker doesn’t make phones of its own.

That said, Qualcomm is still one of the biggest suppliers for smartphone chipsets, including those that Samsung uses. Pushing the burden from chipsets to phone manufacturers reduces one more buffer against costs being ultimately pushed to consumers.

All things considered, Samsung managed to keep its prices hikes relatively low with the latest batch of foldables. However, with chips getting more price increases, it’s still within the realm of possibility that Samsung will also increase the price of its smartphones. The same can be said for any Qualcomm-powered smartphone available today.

News

Apple is reportedly delaying its smart glasses due to privacy concerns

The brand wants to squash malicious recording.

Published

July 27, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Smart glasses are in a weird place right now. While early adopters are celebrating the ability to record everything, a growing group of critics are decrying the loss of privacy. Formerly at full throttle, Apple, in response to these controversies, will reportedly delay its version of smart glasses to next year.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is heading back to the drawing board to further emphasize the unreleased wearable’s privacy protections, which includes “hardware and software-related privacy features not available on current products.” The report, however, doesn’t enumerate what these features are.

If anything, these features will likely prevent malicious recording. Most smart glasses today have a light that tells passersby that the device is actively recording video. However, users have discovered ways to tamper and disable this light, so their devices can start recording without alerting others. Apple will likely introduce better measure to prevent such tampering.

Additionally, it’s also possible that Apple introduces a version of the smart glasses without a camera attached.

Because of these new initiatives, the brand will delay the launch of the wearable to sometime next year. Previously, there was heavy speculation that the smart glasses will launch later this year.

On the bright side, there’s still substantial reason to believe that Apple is launching its first ever foldable device later this year.

Gaming

God of War Laufey finally confirms its highly anticipated launch date

Set your calendars next year.

Published

July 27, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

It’s about time we get excited for God of War Laufey. The upcoming entry into the acclaimed franchise takes off on a tangent as it follows Faye, Kratos’s late wife, as she traverses an afterlife filled with similarly deceased gods. It’s a different perspective but with still the same action we’ve come to expect from the series. Now, we know when to expect it: February 16.

In the ongoing Norse saga, Faye’s death is everything. Her passing pushes Kratos and Atreus towards a path that eventually led to Ragnarok. In Laufey, a deceased Faye wakes up in Everywhen, an afterlife where gods from different mythologies converge. She then discovers that the carefully laid plans she made to help her husband and her son are unravelling, so she has to find a way to save the living world from past the veil.

Laufey will still have the iconic battles that the God of War series is known for. However, because Faye is nimbler than the burly Kratos, fighting is more fast-paced with a mix of grounded and air-based fighting. All in all, there’s a lot to be excited about for Laufey, despite its different take on the series.

Over the weekend, during San Diego Comic Con, PlayStation confirmed when the title is launching. Thankfully, it’s not a long wait. God of War Laufey is launching for the PlayStation 5 on February 16 next year.

Additionally, Santa Monica Studio has also confirmed that Kratos will lead another entry after Laufey.