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HONOR 200 series to feature AI-enhanced portrait experience

Flawless, studio-quality smartphone portrait photography

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HONOR is set to revolutionize smartphone portrait photography with its upcoming HONOR 200 series. At the VivaTech 2024 event in Paris, France, the company previewed its upcoming line that shall include an AI-enhanced portrait experience.

HONOR revealed that it collaborated with French photography studio Studio Harcourt for the HONOR 200 series. Throughout the process, the two parties leveraged AI technology to recreate the studio’s iconic lighting and shadow effects.

Specifically, HONOR used AI to learn from a vast dataset of Studio Harcourt portraits, breaking the process down into nine distinct steps. This shall help the upcoming smartphones replicate the Studio Harcourt method for “flawless and studio-quality” portraits with every shot.

Fittingly, the HONOR 200 series will launch in Paris on June 12. It will feature MagicOS 8.0, which boasts of an industry-first intent-based UI. The UI features Magic Portal, which understands user behavior and streamlines complex tasks into single-step processes. Magic Portal now supports over 100 apps for seamless AI experiences.

Speaking of which, MagicOS 8.0 will be rolled out to the HONOR Magic V2 and HONOR 90 devices. This makes AI technology accessible to more HONOR users.

HONOR introduces 4-layer AI architecture

Aside from giving the audience a glimpse of the HONOR 200 series, the manufacturer also unveiled its 4-layer AI architecture and how it plans to integrate AI strategically into MagicOS.

The base layer is cross-device and cross-OS AI as foundations of an open ecosystem. Building upon this, the platform-level AI layer enables personalized OS, allowing intent-based human-computer interaction and personalized resources application.

Furthermore, the third layer is app-level AI, which is poised to introduce a wave of innovative and personalized resources allocation. The last layer is interface to cloud-AI services. This provides users easy access to massive cloud services while prioritizing privacy protection.

HONOR expects this multi-layered architecture to lead the future of smart devices and provide users with a holistic and future-forward AI experience.

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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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