News

HONOR reveals 1st images of Magic8 Pro, introduces new AI technologies

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagship launching in China next month

Published

September 28, 2025

GadgetMatch

HONOR has revealed the first few images of the HONOR Magic8 Pro, which will launch next month in China.

The device comes in a light teal colorway that is somehow reminiscent of the Jade Cyan tone on the HONOR X9c.

In addition, the phone has a more squared look, especially its frame, with rounded corners. Meanwhile, the camera bump at the back is still very HONOR-looking.

But very noticeable is an extra button on the right side, which is reminiscent of the camera control button first introduced on the iPhone 16 series.

The HONOR Magic8 series will be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform.

The phone will debut new groundbreaking on-device AI innovations, including Low-bit Quantization Technology for AI Models and Next-Generation Hybrid Retrieval Technology.

HONOR’s agentic AI capabilities and Qualcomm’s mobile platforms will make it possible for the upcoming phone to be even more efficient and packed with computing power. These advancements will also be available on the HONOR MagicPad 3 Pro.

High-efficiency on-device AI modeling

The Low-Bit Quantization Technology addresses computing power, memory, and energy consumption, which HONOR believes are the three biggest challenges of on-device AI.

Thanks to the new Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, this technology will help the HONOR Magic8 series deliver up to a 15% increase in modeling computing, 20% lower model consumption, and 30% less storage space compared to the previous HONOR device.

On top of that, Next-Generation Hybrid Retrieval Technology is designed to dramatically improve the way devices process and surface information.

By encoding text, images, and audio/video data into dense vectors and constructing high-efficiency semantic-level indexes, the system achieves millisecond-level similarity matching and boosts retrieval performance by up to 400%.

The breakthrough not only accelerates multimodal semantic search but also strengthens the foundation for intelligent agents. In turn, responses across a wide-range of real-world scenarios become faster and more accurate.

Magic Color

At the 2025 Snapdragon Summit China, HONOR also unveiled the first agent-powered Magic Color.

This innovation allows users to transform and restyle images or videos with simplicity, completing tasks such as locating an image, extracting key color tones, and applying those tones to a new target.

All the steps in the process are done through intuitive, one-sentence commands. That’s as Magic Color combines efficient on-device AI models and advanced semantic understanding to lower the barriers to complex image editing.

This shall enable everyday users and creators to achieve professional-grade results with ease. Looking ahead, HONOR plans to extend agent-driven capabilities across more than 200 vertical scenarios and 3,000 general scenarios, covering the top 100 applications.

AI Super Sampling for Gaming

Lastly, HONOR introduced its industry-leading Hyper-Fusion Core Architecture in collaboration with Qualcomm.

This deeply integrates HONOR Turbo X’s multiple core performance engines with Qualcomm Oryon CPU architecture.

By dynamically scheduling resources across cores, this architecture maximizes energy efficiency and performance for smoother and more responsive user experiences.

Along with this is the first GPU-NPU Heterogeneous AI Super Sampling Technology based on Snapdragon platforms.

This is designed to transform low-resolution, low-frame rate gameplay into high-resolution, high-frame rate experiences.

Similar to DLSS technology on PC, it leverages AI to reconstruct details, motion features, and lighting effects in real-time.

In practice, this enables demanding open-world titles to achieve 1080p at 120fps from 60fps, delivering both super-resolution and ultra-high frame rates.

Compared to traditional GPU-based upscaling, the combination of GPU-NPU computing reduces latency and jitter.

All the aforementioned advancements highlight HONOR’s vision for the Dual-Engine Era, where AI agent and performance optimizations converge to redefine the user experience and accelerate the arrival of general-purpose intelligent agent era.

News

TCL expands mobile lineup with latest NXTPAPER series

3 new smartphone models featuring a paper-like viewing experience

Published

August 10, 2026

GadgetMatch

TCL has expanded its mobile lineup with the launch of the latest NXTPAPER smartphone series.

Part of the new NXTPAPER roster are the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra, NXTPAPER 70 Pro, and K70 Power 4G.

The new generation of smartphones is designed to deliver smarter, more comfortable, and more powerful mobile experiences for today’s connected lifestyle.

At the heart of the lineup is the company’s proprietary NXTPAPER technology, and award-winning display innovation.

It combines both hardware and software advancements to reduce eyestrain while preserving vivid colors and sharp picture quality. The result is a paper-like viewing experience.

Bannering the roster is the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra. It is powered by a Dimensity 7400 Elite processor and runs on Android 16.

It comes with up to 512GB of internal storage and 12GB of base RAM, plus 12GB more for expansion.

In front is an expansive 7.2-inch 120Hz FHD+ display featuring Nxtpaper 4.0 and a 32MP selfie camera, while at the back is a 50MP main camera, along with a 50MP 3X telephoto camera.

This variant houses a 5,200mAh battery with support for 33W charging.

Right under the 60 Ultra is the NXTPAPER 70 Pro. It is powered by a Dimensity 7300 processor, and comes with a 6.9-inch 120Hz FHD+ display and a 50MP main shooter.

This model has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. It has a similar 5,200mAh battery with 33W charging.

Lastly, the K70 Power 4G is a budget choice, with a Helio G100 Ultra chipset, 6.75-inch 120Hz display, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 50MP main camera.

Price, availability

In the Philippines, the latest NXTPAPER smartphones are available for the following pricing:

NXTPAPER 60 Ultra: PhP 35,995
NXTPAPER 70 Pro: PhP 22,995
K70 Power 4G: PhP 9,495

All devices are available through Shopee.

Apps

Canva teams up with SB19 to turn A’TIN’s passion into creativity

Campaign lets fans access assets, editable templates, more

Published

August 8, 2026

GadgetMatch

Canva Philippines has joined forces with SB19 and Sony Music Entertainment to launch the “Kaya sa Canva” campaign.

This first-of-its-kind initiative is aimed at transforming the popular Filipino boy band’s fanbase into creators by giving them access to official design assets, exclusive templates, and powerful creative tools.

That’s of course as fans have a way of creating artwork, banners, and more outputs to honor their idols.

As such, the partnership enables the A’TIN (SB19’s fanbase) to access the Canva-exclusive SB19’s Creative Hub.

This dedicated space lets fans access assets, including SB19-inspired sticker packs, custom typography, and editable templates inspired by the group.

Fans around the world will initially have access to templates for photo-booth strips, wallpapers, posters, and videos.

The campaign will then expand with Canva-exclusive assets celebrating the group’s New Era, as well as their latest single, “Lawless”.

Meanwhile, the original song “KAYA” is accompanied with an upbeat music video, doubling as a love letter to A’TIN and a masterclass in Canva’s tools.

Every visual and animation is fan-inspired, a celebration of the creativity, passion, and dedication that’s defined in the community from day one.

News

The iPhone 18 might sell out for an unexpected reason

The ongoing shortage might play a part in the phone selling out earlier than expected.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

An iPhone selling out is not news. Because of how popular the phones are, it’s within the realm of probability that Apple runs out of stock at some point. According to a new report, this year won’t be any different… but it’s for an entirely different reason.

First reported by analyst Tim Culpan, Apple is reportedly struggling to meet its demand for semiconductors for the iPhone 18 and the foldable iPhone. The ongoing memory shortage is cutting off Apple’s ability to deliver the required supply of smartphones in a timely fashion. The report even claims that TSMC, which helps produce the iPhone, is sitting on a shipment of processors, worth US$ 1 billion, that don’t have memory chips.

Now, Apple is still confident that it can weather the launch. However, if the shortage persists, the iPhone 18 generation will likely sell out much more quickly than expected.

It’s an interesting time for Apple to experience such a shortage. It’s been heavily rumored that the company will launch its very first foldable phone next month, creating a new market for the brand. Apple definitely wants this attempt to succeed after the tepid response to its last new product, the Vision Pro.