Given the plethora of headlines surrounding ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Galaxy AI, and other astronaut-related terms in recent months, you'd be forgiven for believing that artificial intelligence (AI) is the best thing since sliced bread. Of course, those headlines have often ranged between amazement (see OpenAI) and brutal skepticism (see Humane AI Pin), but it's abundantly clear that a major shift is underway in the smartphone landscape.
Honor is the latest mobile brand to commit its future to the AI revolution. The company unveiled its ambitious “four-layer AI architecture” at VivaTech 2024. What exactly does that mean? We'll spare you the yawn-inducing complexity, but the company behind the world's thinnest foldable phone has essentially outlined its plans to take on the likes of Samsung and Apple with a set of “cutting-edge” generative AI features powered by Google Cloud. .
Honor is keeping the full scope of those features under wraps for now, but the brand has showcased an innovative new AI-powered portrait shooting mode for its upcoming Honor 200 series smartphones. The mode aims to recreate Studio Harcourt's iconic photography method.
If you're not familiar with Studio Harcourt, the 91-year-old French photography studio is famous for its black and white portraits of movie stars and celebrities. Ingrid Bergman, Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, Salvador Dalí, Roger Federer and Monica Bellucci have passed through the doors of the Parisian studio at various points since 1934. Now, through a new creative partnership, Honor plans to leverage Studio Harcourt's photographic expertise. on its upcoming mobile products, starting with the Honor 200 series in June.
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The 'Harcourt method' of portrait photography is characterized by dark, smoky glamor and carefully orchestrated shadows, and Honor says its AI-based software has “learned from a vast data set” of Studio Harcourt portraits to replicate this. process on a smartphone camera.
TechRadar got a glimpse of this supposedly “revolutionary” portrait mode during Honor's VivaTech presentation, and it looks sure to help the Honor 200 challenge for a spot on our list of the best camera phones. . But as with the rest of Honor's upcoming AI features, further details on the brand's partnership with Studio Harcourt will be kept behind closed doors until later this year.
Taking the fight to Samsung
As for how Honor's approach to AI differs from, say, Samsung's approach, Honor CEO George Zhao told TechRadar that his company's four-layer AI architecture, which comprises Cross-device AI, platform-level AI, application-level AI, and interface to cloud-based AI – aims to deliver a more intent-based user experience than Galaxy AI currently offers.
Of course, we'll have to wait until Honor reveals its new generative AI features to find out if the company's mobile-based AI solution can compare to Samsung's increasingly popular Galaxy AI suite, but the recent expansion of access Direct Magic Portal's first feature suggests promising progress.
At its core, Magic Portal is an Honor-exclusive shortcut feature that lets you switch between apps and services with a swipe of your finger. For example, if a friend sends you location information and you want to get there quickly, Magic Portal lets you drag those details (in one fell swoop) from the Messages app to a compatible navigation or transportation app, saving you money. several clicks in the process.
Honor confirmed at VivaTech that Magic Portal now supports more than 100 apps across a wide range of categories, including travel, entertainment, shopping and social media. Therefore, owners of compatible devices like the Honor Magic 6 Pro can be sure that Galaxy AI users will not have all the fun of AI.
