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HONOR unveils the Magic5 Ultimate in China

The more luxurious Magic5 Pro

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Image by GadgetMatch

The HONOR Magic5 and Magic5 Pro were introduced to the global market during MWC 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. Some even speculated that they will also launch an “Ultra” variant.

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything about it — until HONOR announced the Magic5 Ultimate at an exclusive event in China.

The same, Magical flagship

If you’re already aware of the latest Magic5 Pro, you’re bound to see the same set of hardware.

It’s got a 6.8-inch OLED curved display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, Full HD+ resolution, and a 19.54:9 aspect ratio. It also has 1.07 billion colors, DCI-P3 wide color gamut, and up to 10 points multi-touch support.

Image by GadgetMatch

The latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powers this beast of a phone. Battery charging will be speedy thanks to its 66W wired charging + 50W wireless charging support. There’s even IP68 water and dust resistance for those who love to take it along dusty and splashy surroundings.

Image by GadgetMatch

Even its cameras offer nothing different (not that it’s a bad thing). It has the same excellent triple set of 50-megapixel cameras: f/1.6 for the main (wide) sensor, f/2.0 for the ultra-wide with a 122-degree FoV (Field of View), and f/3.0 for its periscope zoom lens that optically zooms in to 3.5x and a digital zoom of up to 100x.

The Ultimate Magic5 Pro

The HONOR Magic5 Ultimate offers more than its luxurious leather back and diamond-cut camera glass cover. Unlike its Pro sibling, it’s equipped with a tougher nano-ceramic glass coating for added 10x durability.

Image by GadgetMatch

Some other improvements include the bigger 5450mAh battery capacity (versus 5100mAh) — that if you’re buying the Magic5 Pro internationally. If you’re in China, you’ll still acquire the same 5450mAh battery either if you pick the Pro or the Ultimate variant.

Being that “Ultimate” flagship, it’s only offered on a sole 16GB + 512GB memory and storage configuration — not that the Magic5 Pro isn’t offered with the same maxed-out configuration. Lastly, the China-exclusive Ultimate version of the Magic5 runs magicOS 7.1 based on Android 13.

Pricing and Availability

The HONOR Magic5 Ultimate is available in two colors: Elegant Black and Burning Orange. As previously said, its sole configuration retails at CNY 6699 (approximately US$ 966 / SG$ 1300 / ₱53,176).

Buying this ultimate flagship phone also presents you a special Montblanc leather case out of the box. And just like any other China-exclusive launch, global rollout may or may not happen anytime soon.

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X’s AI accused Klay Thompson of vandalizing houses with bricks

AI thought joke posts were real

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Image source: Keith Allison, Wikimedia

Despite the ease that the technology promises, artificial intelligence still isn’t the most reliable thing you can depend on. Today’s models can still flub answers. Now, the pitfalls of AI are abundantly clear with a few mishaps on X. Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson was just “accused” of a vandalism spree involving bricks.

Late Tuesday night, X presented an AI-generated news snippet. The article, posted soon after the Warriors’ play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings, reads: “Klay Thompson Accused in Bizarre Brick-Vandalism Spree.”

The snippet hilariously described an incident where Thompson supposedly vandalized houses in Sacramento with bricks. Thankfully, according to the snippet, no one was hurt. It even had a few sources for its claims below the news summary.

The sources, however, are just joke posts stemming from the recently concluded game. In that do-or-die game, Thompson put up a staggering 0 points on ten shot attempts, the most misses without a make by a Warrior since the ’68 season. Naturally, everyone joked that the Warriors guard just threw bricks all over Sacramento.

Now, X is currently experimenting with a new AI feature called Grok. The model collates trending topics and creates snippets of what’s happening for X users. However, it’s not exactly the smartest in determining real news from satiric ones. The feature notes as much, carrying a fine-print caveat warning users to “verify its outputs” because it’s an early feature and can make mistakes.

SEE ALSO: New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

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New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Rolling out globally now

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New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

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Pixel 9 series will reportedly come in four models

A newcomer and a familiar face

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Since its big reinvention, the Google Pixel flagship series subsisted on two main entries: a regular model and a Pro. Last year added a Pixel Fold to the list but kept it away from the main line, launching in May instead. Now, there’s a possibility that the Pixel family, starting with the Pixel 9 series, is growing both in number and closer to each other.

According to Android Authority, Google might launch four different models of the Pixel 9 series later this year. Besides the two traditional entries to the family, there will be two new ones coming this year.

The first new model you might see is the Pixel 9 Pro XL (what a mouthful). Despite the name, the model itself isn’t exactly new. The model is reportedly a successor to the Pixel 8 Pro but with a different name.

Which means that the new model is actually the Pixel 9 Pro. Yes, it’s confusing, but let’s break it down. Similar to Apple, Google might separate its lineup into a regular duo and a premium duo. That said, the Pixel 9 Pro will offer only a bite-sized upgrade to the regular Pixel 9. It’ll be the same size, too.

Since the Pixel 9 Pro XL will be the start of the Pro lineup, what model will it pair with? Well, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, of course. The Pixel Fold is apparently dead in name. Google might repackage the foldable as an official part of the Pixel 9 series and will launch alongside the main lineup later this fall.

SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 8 Pro Review: Making Magic

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