News
HONOR 200 series to feature AI-enhanced portrait experience
Flawless, studio-quality smartphone portrait photography
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.
Entertainment
SEGA, Netflix announce Crazy Taxi film adaptation
1st in planned slate of film adaptations, including Sonic and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN
SEGA and Netflix have announced a new Crazy Taxi film adaptation. This will usher in a new collaboration era with the parties also developing adaptations for Sonic and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN.
Such a slate of future adaptations reflects the range of SEGA’s library as it draws on Netflix’s experience bringing beloved game worlds to new audiences.
The first project features Crazy Taxi, which will be written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. The beloved writing duo was behind the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun.
Also on board to help helm the production are the same visionaries behind the Sonic franchise: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, and Toru Nakahara.
Crazy Taxi has been an arcade hit since 1999, putting players behind the wheel of a fearless cabbie racing the clock through chaotic city streets.
There’s flying off ramps, dodging traffic, and chasing tips with punk-rock energy that has become the series’ signature.
The latest title in the franchise, Crazy Taxi: World Tour, is set for a 2027 release. You can watch its trailer below:
Finance
HONOR, Fidesmo partner for contactless payments across Europe, Middle East
Enabling contactless payments on the HONOR Watch 6
HONOR and Fidesmo have partnered to launch contactless payments across Europe and the Middle East on the HONOR Watch 6.
Powered by Fidesmo Pay, the integration enables users to connect an existing Mastercard or Visa card to their watch and complete contactless transactions directly from the wearable device.
This brings Fidesmo’s network of over 900 banks and financial institutions to HONOR’s customers. Users can connect an existing card to the HONOR Watch 6 instantly through the HONOR Health App, which installs a unique token directly onto the watch.
Acting as a secure reference to the payment method, this token allows customers to pay without storing their actual payment details on the device. Once installed, users can tap the watch at any
contactless terminal to pay, just as they would with a card or phone.
HONOR joins a group of device partners that already includes Swatch, Polar, and Mondaine as Fidesmo continues to build momentum across categories.
Entertainment
Max vs 100 will feature Max Verstappen race against 100 go-karters
The live event will stream at midnight on September 17.
As a child, one of my favorite thought experiments is to imagine who would win in a fight between my favorite characters at the time and a number of other random beings. For example, will Superman prevail against 100 Magnetos? Those are the ways I kept my young mind occupied. Now, as a former child, I still do the same thing but with more realistic people, like imagining if Steph Curry can win against 100 high schoolers. This week, ESPN and Disney+ are making one of those imaginary fights real: Formula 1 legend Max Verstappen versus 100 go-karters.
In an upcoming live event streaming exclusively on Disney+, Max vs 100 will pit the four-time world champion against 100 go-karters from everywhere in pop culture. This gaggle of 100 will include popular content creators such as Twitch streamer ExtraEmily, car photographer Larry Chen, and NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews.
All 101 drivers will race around one of the most iconic tracks in Formula 1 history, Silverstone in England. The track will be reconfigured to match the special race.
Of course, this is more than just a parade of go-karts. Max Verstappen will start at the back of the grid, meaning he has to overtake all 100 racers to win. Now, the Dutch driver is no stranger to winning from the back. In 2024, he won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix despite starting from P17 (out of 20 racers). Max vs 100, though familiar for the driver, presents a different challenge. Can he overtake 100 times to win the race?
Max vs 100 will stream live through Disney+ on September 17, 12:00am PHT.
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